Denver braces for October snow; 18 inches expected...

**PocketProtector** · October 28th, 2009, 10:57 AM

Thank God for GW or this could be 24"....

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13656358

Front Range braces for snow as forecast calls for big storm
By Tom McGhee and Victoria Barbatelli
The Denver Post
Posted: 10/28/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT
Updated: 10/28/2009 05:53:20 AM MDT

They're snow excited Alex Semanko, 20, holds on as her boyfriend, Evan Jinks, 22, pulls off a snowboard boot Tuesday at Colorado Ski & Golf in Arvada. Like a lot of other skiers and snowboarders, they were gearing up to enjoy the season's first big snowstorm. (Joe Amon, The Denver Post)

Weather observers could be measuring snowfall in feet in parts of Colorado over the next two days, with as much as 18 inches expected in parts of metro Denver.

The alarming early-season forecast placed local governments and airlines at Denver International Airport on notice. City vehicles were fitted with plows Tuesday in advance of the storm, and some airlines offered limited fee waivers to travelers worried about possible flight cancellations.

In the foothills, up to 24 inches of snow is possible. Higher elevations could get 3 feet.

"We'll be working around the clock if it occurs the way it has been predicted," said Charlie Blosten, public services director of the city of Littleton. "We'll be out there whether
Colorado Weather

it snows or not to hit the ground running; we've got workers showing up before midnight to get crews ready to move to the streets. We'll be as ready as you can get before Mother Nature really tells us she's in charge."

If road conditions are as bad as predicted, Denver will deploy all 68 of its heavy plows, said Ann Williams, spokeswoman for Denver Public Works.

"The plows are being mounted this afternoon," she said Tuesday. "Right now we have to monitor conditions; when the snow starts to accumulate, we will start plowing."

The Colorado Department of Transportation has about 75 trucks mounted with plows ready to remove snow in the Denver area, said spokeswoman Stacey Stegman. "We will see how the storm progresses," she said.

More CDOT crews will work the Interstate 70 mountain corridor.

Snow crews were expected to show up at work at midnight Tuesday in Aurora, said Lynn Center, Aurora capital projects manager for street services. By midafternoon Tuesday, Aurora's plows were ready, sand trucks loaded and chemical trucks filled.

"We will run however long it takes until the snow is gone," Center said.

At Denver International Airport, crews started preparing hundreds of pieces of equipment Tuesday afternoon, said DIA spokesman Chuck Cannon.

"We do what we do for any sizable storm. We get all of our equipment ready, and then we stand by and wait and see what happens," Cannon said.

United, Southwest and Frontier airlines will grant travel waivers to allow passengers to change their flights to avoid bad weather without paying fees. There are limitations on the waivers, and people should check the airlines' websites for more information.

Xcel Energy had crews on standby, Xcel spokesman Mark Stutz said. "A lot will depend on the type of snow we get. What always kills us is that wet, heavy snow that sits on trees and pulls the branches down" onto power lines, he said.

A winter storm warning in October isn't out of the ordinary, said Kyle Fredin, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

"It's pretty normal when you start getting snowfalls into October and early December, then it dries out December through February, then ramps up really fast with the snowiest month of the year, March. It's just Colorado climatology," Fredin said.

While local drivers may not muster much enthusiasm for the snow, skiers across the country are abuzz with news of Colorado's first significant snow, said Amy Kemp, a spokeswoman for Vail Resorts.

"Skiers and snowboarders are excited and tweeting about the first big snowstorm in Colorado," she said.

**MRMATT** · October 29th, 2009, 06:08 AM

Good thing the Rockies didn't make it to the World Series.

**autotech6506** · October 29th, 2009, 07:42 AM

Darn global warming!

**Berks_Iraq_Vet** · October 29th, 2009, 08:05 AM

Gore needs to go give some speeches in Colorado to raise CO2 levels.

**velkly** · October 29th, 2009, 08:37 AM

"It's pretty normal when you start getting snowfalls into October and early December, then it dries out December through February, then ramps up really fast with the snowiest month of the year, March. It's just Colorado climatology," Fredin said.

How can he say such things! Doesn't he know this is only more proof of climate change??