Southern Colorado Gets Heavy Snow And Ice
DENVER (AP) - Up to 10 inches of snow fell from Colorado Springs south to the border in a winter storm that also forced the cancellation of a handful of flights and disrupted travel plans because of icy roads.
Most of the state got around 1 to 4 inches of fresh snow, National Weather Service forecaster Jim Kalina said Thursday. Forecasts had warned of widespread heavy snow across the state on Wednesday. A winter weather warning remained in effect Thursday afternoon for northeast Colorado as the storm moved out of the state.
Kalina said the last storm tracked farther south than expected, hitting Arizona and New Mexico.
"It definitely wasn't as heavy as we expected in some areas," Kalina said.
Five flights to Colorado Springs were diverted to Denver International Airport, but snow crews kept runways at DIA clear and there were only a handful of cancellations on Thursday.
As many as 100 cars were forced to turn around after they got stuck on roadways in Colorado Springs due to icy conditions Wednesday night.
The Colorado Department of Transportation dispatched hundreds of snow plows across the state.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Forest Service said it plans to take advantage of the snow to burn slash piles of dead trees on federal land that have been left standing because of a continuing drought.
Rangers said they will evaluate conditions day to day to determine if the controlled burns are safe.
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