Snow slams northern El Paso County
A winter storm walloped northern El Paso County Sunday, with more than a foot of snow on the ground from Monument to Black Forest.
While downtown Colorado Springs saw snow through much of the day, little stuck to the ground. Just a few miles up the road, residents saw near white-out conditions for much of the morning as the powerful jet stream sent torrents of flakes over the Palmer Divide.
The National Weather Service reported 15 inches on the ground near Black Forest Sunday afternoon and weather spotters said more than a foot was on the ground northeast of Monument, said Joe Ceru, a forecaster with the agency's office in Pueblo.
"They're still getting snow," he said. Worse,the snow was driven by wind gusts that topped 40 mph in some places.
The wild weather was expected to calm down by evening as the storm clouds moved east to the plains.
That wasn't soon enough for the Colorado State Patrol, which responded to dozens of crashes on the snow-slicked roads.
"It's treacherous," a dispatcher with the patrol said before hanging up to take another crash call.
A dispatcher with the El Paso County Sheriff's office was just as harried but more blunt.
"Stay off the roads," she said.
Firefighters in Black Forest spent the day helping motorists who had slid off roads. Spokesman Scott Taylor said there were no serious injuries to report. But conditions, he said weren't improving.
"This my public service announcement," he said. "Stay home."
The heavy snow caught weather forecasters by surprise. They had predicted less than inch of snow Sunday for northern El Paso County.
Ceru said a freak set of conditions led to the piling snow and led forecasters to revamp their predictions.
Colorado Springs police said accidents in the city were comparatively few Sunday, but plenty of drivers were sliding around on the city's icy roads
"People need to slow down, don't tailgate and realize that slush can be just as slippery as ice," said police Sgt. Steve Ward.
Outside the city, conditions were bad enough to prompt the Colorado Department of Transportation to briefly close Highway 24 from Colorado Springs to Limon early Sunday. The highway reopened at 9:15 a.m.
Heavy traffic and slippery lanes brought cars to a crawl on Interstate 25 between Colorado Springs and Denver, the Transportation Department said.
The snow was slowing Sunday night, with clear weather expected for Monday. The Weather Service predicts Monday's high temperature to hit the 50s in Colorado Springs under sunny skies.
Winter weather will return Tuesday night with another, milder round of snow. Tuesday night low temperatures are expected to stay in the 20s Tuesday night in the Pikes Peak region with less than an inch of snow in the forecast.
