DENVER (AP) - A second storm in a week pounded Colorado, dumping more than 2 feet of snow in the foothills and forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights and the closure of highways and government offices on Friday.
However, the first wave of the storm passed without some of the massive disruptions of a pre-Christmas storm that trapped 4,700 travelers at Denver International Airport and virtually shut down business and commerce for 3.8 million residents of the state's main "Front Range" population corridor.
Aided by hindsight and lighter snowfall, governments mobilized a massive plowing effort and kept main streets and the runways open into Friday at the nation's fifth-busiest airport. Many government offices planned to stay closed and state officials urged people to stay home unless they needed to travel.
About 600 people spent the night at the airport, not because they were stranded but because they wanted to get an early start, said airport spokesman Steve Snyder.
Tom Clune, 84, and traveling companion Peg Teemley, 82, from Westminster were among them. Clune didn't want to risk missing his flight to Seattle for an annual reunion with his five siblings.
"We've got our tickets and our boarding passes, so if it goes, we go, if it doesn't, we go home," Clune said after spending the night on a green American Red Cross cot provided by the airport.
The forecast called for a follow-up punch, bringing more snow and potentially hazardous winds from Friday into Saturday. As of 6:30 a.m. Friday, 7 inches of snow had fallen on downtown Denver; 8.5 inches on suburban Aurora and the Fort Collins to the north, 14 inches in Boulder, 27.5 in Evergreen to the west in the foothills.
The storm covered an area stretching from the Rocky Mountains into the western Plains.
Interstate 70 closed from Denver to the Kansas line early Friday, a fairly common winter precaution because of blowing snow.
While last week's blizzard dumped nearly 2 feet of snow in about 36 hours, the new storm was expected to bring snow over three days, leaving airlines and city officials confident they can avoid the clogged streets and airport runways that brought the city to a standstill.
"Right now we're planning to operate a full schedule starting at noon," Robin Urbanski, spokeswoman for United Airlines, said early Friday. Light rail trains, buses and public transit in the metro area planned to run a regular weekday schedule.
Greyhound canceled all trips out of Denver on Friday and more cancelations could follow this weekend.
With fresh memories of stranded holiday travelers and backed up flights around the country last week, New Year's travelers jammed the airport Thursday trying to get out of Colorado.
United and Frontier Airlines, which together account for 80 percent of the airport's traffic, canceled a combined 322 flights through Friday morning.
Four of the airports six runways were open, roads to the airport were clear, and the monitor screens showed scheduled flights on time. The two closed runways are not usually open during winter, said spokesman Steve Snyder.
Chris Malmay of San Diego hoped to spend the holidays with his family in Colorado but didn't arrive in Denver until Sunday, Christmas Eve, because of last week's storm. His flight out of Denver was canceled Thursday. The experience had him thinking about moving next year's holiday gathering to California.
"It's been crazy," Malmay said as he waited board his plane Friday. "I'm saying please let me go back where it's sunny. You won't get snowed in, I promise."
Both Frontier and United waived change fees to encourage passengers to catch earlier flights.
"Let's try and get as many people out ahead of the storm as we can," Frontier spokesman Joe Hodas said, adding that the airline expected to be fully operational. United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said many passengers took earlier flights.
The city of Denver - criticized for a storm response that left many residential streets deeply snowpacked a week after the first storm - doubled the number of plows on the streets by putting blades on smaller trucks and hiring private contractors.
At daybreak Friday, downtown Denver streets had only light snow. Plows rumbled and workers with shovels labored through the night to keep 16th Street, a pedestrian mall through downtown, open.
In New Mexico, the storm forced officials to close Interstate 40 from Albuquerque to Santa Rosa and Interstate 25 from Bernalillo to Las Vegas, N.M. Numerous crashes were reported along both, state officials said.
Residents of Cheyenne, Wyo., also braced for the second snowstorm to hit the area in a week. Heavy snow began falling around dusk, and forecasters said up to a foot was expected.
Forecasters in California warned of dangerous winds, with gusts over 70 mph, through Friday morning in the region's valleys and mountain passes.
Click here for related story 'Storm dumps more than 2 feet of snow west of Denver'.
Click here for related story 'Winter storm sets record for Cheyenne's December snowfall'.
Click here for related story 'Wyo braces for winter storm'.
Click here for related story 'Storm could disrupt travel'.
Information:
Click here to go to the Casper Star-Tribune.net home page. At the bottom of the page find the AP video 'Snowstorm threatens to close Denver airport'. Other videos include:
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Associated Press writers Dan Elliott and Don Mitchell contributed to this report.
Posted in State-and-regional on Friday, December 29, 2006 12:00 am
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