Watch CBS News

Snow Snarls Mountain Highways, Denver Roads

CLEAR CREEK COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - Snow, wind and ice combined to make Denver and mountain roads treacherous on Monday in the season's first major storm.

Highway 119 between Boulder and Nederland was closed Monday night because of poor conditions and accidents. Blowing snow during rush hour stalled traffic across much of the metro area. A multi-car crash at the mousetrap at Interstate 25 and Interstate 70 froze traffic.

The storm shut down lanes of Interstate 70 near Georgetown, Vail Pass and Avon shortly after noon. They reopened a few hours later after traffic accidents had choked portions of the interstate closed.

I-70's westbound lanes from the Georgetown exit through the Eisenhower Tunnel were closed shortly after noon, the Colorado Department of Transportation said. I-70 was also closed in both directions at Vail Pass and eastbound at Avon.

Ramp work scheduled Monday night for Interstate 25 and C-470 was canceled.

Snow is expected to continue to fall across much of Colorado throughout the week, as a major cold front descends on the state. About 1 inch of snow was expected in the Denver area.

Across metro Denver, CDOT said 268 maintenance personnel were planning to operate 143 pieces of equipment on 12-hour snow removal shifts throughout the storm. Along I-70, CDOT planned to deploy a crew of nearly 40 and up to 55 pieces of equipment in three eight-hour shifts.

"All the trucks that were hauling asphalt, they're now going to transition and they're going to be plowing snow," Denver Public Works spokeswoman Heather Burke said.

Any construction projects that involved pouring concrete or asphalt will be temporarily halted, but work on some major projects will continue this week.

High winds also caused problems along the Front Range, including toppling trees and causing power outages in Loveland.

One homeowner nearly had a tree fall through her front door.

"I saw the tree start falling toward me, and I thought, 'Oh my gosh I so hope it doesn't hit the house,' " homeowner Sarah Jensen said. She was without power as crews worked to restore it to homes in the area.

Noco wx
Fallen trees in Loveland (credit: CBS)

Some cities along the Front Range experienced temperature drops near 30 degrees over two hours on Monday morning. Tuesday's high temperature will be in the teens, and it will likely be colder on Wednesday. Warmer temperatures return on Friday, with highs in the 30s, before another surge of cold air returns this weekend.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.