The winter weather that rolled into the blizzard-weary metro area and foothills on Thursday could drop a foot or more of snow in the metro area by this morning and may last until Sunday, according to constantly evolving forecasts.
Gov. Bill Owens once again declared a statewide disaster emergency.
The expected one-two punch of the storms, which already have turned snow-clogged roads into skating rinks for the evening commute and prompted airlines to cancel flights out of Denver International Airport on Thursday, is expected to leave as much as two feet of snow in Denver and west into the mountains.
Forecasters with the National Weather Service predict the storm will drop as much as 16 inches of snow along the Front Range – with more in the foothills – by rush hour today.
After a brief break during the day, a second, slow-moving storm system will follow, bringing another 8-18 inches to areas that still are digging out from last week’s blizzard.
“It looks like it’s like two individual systems following each other,” said Frank Benton, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder.
The agency on Thursday afternoon extended its winter-storm watch for the Front Range and Eastern Plains until Sunday and warned that high winds tonight and Saturday could create blizzard conditions.
Spinning around low-pressure pockets, the storms tend to create “upslope” conditions in which the winds blow out of the east and bring more snow to the Front Range than in the mountains, said meteorologist Rob Krohn.
“When you have low pressure, air around it flows in a counterclockwise motion … and that will push the moisture up against the foothills and the areas east of the Continental Divide,” he said.
Still, the mountains should receive significant snow from the storms. Jim Roemer, a.k.a. Dr. Weather from BestSkiWeather.com, has predicted that some resorts may get as much as four feet of new snow by Friday.
By Thursday afternoon, the Colorado Department of Transportation and the Colorado State Patrol were advising people to avoid traveling if at all possible.
Additionally, the agencies recommended that commuters leave work early and carry emergency supplies including scrapers, warm clothing and blankets, tire chains, flashlights, non-perishable food, first-aid kits and extra wiper fluid.
A Colorado State Patrol spokesman said that the agency had received several calls from stranded motorists on Interstate 70 west of Denver, but couldn’t say how many.
“We’re not having as many calls as during the first storm and aren’t seeing as much traffic,” said Trooper Gilbert Mares, a Colorado State Patrol spokesman.
Despite the treacherous road conditions, the state patrol had not received any reports of fatalities as of Thursday evening.
Colorado State Patrol in Pueblo said much of the southern part of the state is on accident alert. Also, chains were required for northbound commercial vehicles on Monument Hill on Interstate 25. On LaVeta Pass chains were required for commercial vehicles heading both directions. Northbound of Trinidad on I-25, vehicles carrying wide loads weren’t permitted to travel.
Staff writer Kim McGuire contributed to this report
Staff writer Steve Lipsher can be reached at 970-513-9495 or at slipsher@denverpost.com
