VIDEO: Storm sweeps through state; disaster declared

You could count the flakes when the snow began to fall on downtown Colorado Springs shortly before noon Thursday.

Ninety minutes later, the storm that forecasters had been hyping like Don King before a prize fight had arrived, ready to deliver an early spring pummeling that would erase talk of the region's meek winter.

Streets grew covered and slick, and violent winds whipped the snow sideways, locking interstate traffic in a standstill and reducing visibility to within a block or two. Schools, businesses and government offices competed for air time to announce closures, cancellations and delays.

"And so it begins ..."

That was how a city dispatcher introduced one of the first weather-related crashes of the day, a several-car mash-up that tangled traffic on Constitution Avenue and offered a taste of things to come. Slide-offs and fender-benders piled up with the snow.

After hammering northern Colorado with a fury that brought a disaster declaration from Gov. Bill Ritter, the spring storm swept into the Pikes Peak region and reached the "blizzard" threshold in some parts within a few hours.

The storm met that definition in Colorado Springs by 7 p.m., after blasting the city with snow and howling winds and casting a pall that shrouded Pikes Peak and its foothills in an opaque, gray-and-white haze.

The National Weather Service defines a blizzard by visibility and wind speed. A blizzard includes visibility of less than a quarter-mile with falling or blowing snow, and sustained wind or frequent gusts of at least 35 mph. All that has to happen for three hours or longer, said Joe Ceru, a meteorologist from the Pueblo office.

By early afternoon, courts were closed, city and county offices halted business and shuttered their offices early, and many flights to and from Colorado Springs were delayed or canceled, stranding travelers at the Colorado Springs Airport.

They sat in front of laptops, leafed through books and filled the airport bar.

"It's my mom's birthday today, so I was trying to get out there to surprise her," said Emily Schneider, a Colorado College student trying to get home to North Carolina. "But that's not going to happen."

Three hours after the flight was canceled, Schneider was still among the disappointed crowd, waiting at the airport for a ride back to campus.

In Denver, airlines canceled hundreds of flights at Denver International Airport, schools shut down, and roads were closed as the storm brought heavy snow and gusty winds to much of Colorado.

The governor's disaster declaration Thursday activated the National Guard to assist with rescue operations and authorized up to $200,000 in state funds for emergency assistance.

It was unclear whether National Guard members had been sent on assignment.

Up to 75 vehicles crashed or slid off Interstate 25 in northern Colorado, and six people were hospitalized in fair condition in Cheyenne. Three others were treated for minor injuries and released.

Authorities initially said 33 people were hurt in traffic accidents, six seriously, but later said about two dozen people who were taken to a hospital either turned out to be uninjured or refused treatment.

Authorities shut down more than 40 miles of I-25, from the northern Colorado town of Wellington into Wyoming.

A 10-mile section of westbound U.S. 36 between Denver and Boulder was closed, but eastbound lanes were reopened. A 45-mile stretch of I-25 between Pueblo and Walsenburg in southern Colorado was also closed.

The Red Cross opened six shelters for stranded motorists, including one in Monument at St. Peter's Catholic Church.

The Air Force Academy was already in blizzard territory by 2 p.m., with wind gusts reaching 42 mph.

The violent winds died down about 2:30 p.m., in what proved to be a brief lull before the next storm band arrived about 4 p.m. That pattern was expected to continue for the duration of the storm warning, which was to expire at noon today.

"The storm is nowhere near - nowhere near - passing by," Tom Magnuson of the National Weather Service warned Thursday afternoon.

By 6 p.m., snowfall totals ranged from 3 inches on the south side of Colorado Springs up to 8 inches in Black Forest, the National Weather Service reported. The highest officially measured wind gust by that point was 43 mph, at the Colorado Springs Airport.

This was not a storm in which people ignored warnings. The city dispatched its snowplows early, many businesses released employees early in the afternoon and downtown Colorado Springs, normally thriving on a Thursday afternoon, was left mostly deserted with rows of empty parking and few people on the streets.

Things were bustling, however, at the Salvation Army shelter on South Sierra Madre Street.

At least 200 people found a warm place to sleep Thursday, a shelter employee said.

Anyone could seek shelter, provided they were sober and not on the county's sex offender registry.

Still, some of the community's homeless seemed determined to weather the elements.

Hunkered down in his tent at a homeless camp near South Shooks Run Park, 49-year-old Royal Bennett insisted he could rely on the secrets that have kept him going through three Colorado winters: closed-cell foam bedding, an Army surplus feather-lined sleeping bag and plenty of blankets.

"Too many people confuse inconvenience with hardship," he said through the tent wall.

"This is inconvenient. It's not a hardship."

As winds battered the mostly deserted camp where nine other tents sat empty, Bennett suddenly had a change of heart and asked for a ride to the shelter about 5:30 p.m.

"OK," he said. "This is a little much even for me."

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Call the writer at 636-0366

Bill McKeown, Bill Reed, Perry Swanson, Elizabeth Findell, Christopher Short, Brian Newsome and Carlyn Ray Mitchell contributed to this report.

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DETAILS

SNOWFALL TOTALS

Colorado Springs: 3-4 inches central, 6 inches in foothills. An additional 8 inches possible overnight.
Woodland Park: 6 inches
Cripple Creek: 2-3 inches
Fountain: 3 in.
Monument: 10 in.
Black Forest: 9 in.
Broomfield: 14 inches
Crested Butte: 18 inches

FORECAST

Friday: High 30, 80 percent chance 1 to 3 new inches.
To find updates: gazette.com and www.crh.noaa.gov/pub/

ROADS AFFECTED

Interstate 25 restricted at Monument Hill and Pueblo, chains on commercial vehicles and large vans, closed from milepost 94-52. U.S. Highway 24 east from Colorado Springs to Limon open with snow and icy spots. Colorado Highway 83 between Colorado Springs and Parker open with snow and icy spots. U.S. Highway 50 closed west of Pueblo.

CLOSURES

Government offices, many businesses and the following shopping areas: Shops at Briargate, Chapel Hills Mall, The Citadel mall. Schools throughout El Paso and Teller County closed Thursday afternoon. Academy District 20 and other districts said Thursday evening that schools will remain closed through today. All nearby universities closed Thursday afternoon. Focus on the Family is closed and will remain closed through Friday. All library facilities closed Thursday afternoon. Most churches canceled evening activities.

Sources: National Weather Service, Colorado Department of Transportation

RECENT BLIZZARDS

• October 1997: Massive blizzard buries Colorado Springs under 17 inches of snow. Statewide, it's blamed for at least nine deaths.

• April 2005: A spring blizzard slams the state, forcing highways and schools to close, stranding travelers and knocking out power to thousands of homes and businesses. The blizzard blankets Greenland, about 20 miles north of Colorado Springs, with 2 feet of snow.

• October 2006: Fierce storm dumps 20 inches on Colorado Springs, causing schools and businesses to close, delaying or canceling dozens of flights at the airport and cutting power to nearly 20,000 homes and businesses.

• December 2006: Back-to-back blizzards paralyze the city, closing schools and businesses, delaying garbage pickup and stranding travelers at the airport and motorists on snow-drifted roads in southeastern Colorado. The cleanup puts a large dent in government budgets.

Sources: The Gazette and The Associated Press