December 29, 2006
AP / MSNBC
Travelers jammed Denver International Airport, trying to get out of town as a new snowstorm threatened to snag holiday travel for the second time in a week. NBC's Leanne Gregg reports.
Photo: Cars inch along snow-covered I-25 in Colorado Springs; hundreds of planes were canceled in Denver. (AP)
DENVER - A second storm in a week pounded Colorado, dumping more than 2 feet of snow in the foothills and forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights and the closure of highways and government offices on Friday.
The storm covered an area stretching from the Rocky Mountains into the western Plains. The National Weather Service said it could buffet the region with wind gusts up to 45 mph, whipping heavy snow into blinding whiteouts. Denver could get 18 inches of snow by Friday morning.
Areas west of Denver got 28 inches of snow Thursday, with about 8 inches falling in the city. Up to a foot could fall on the eastern Plains before the storm moves out of Colorado by Sunday.
While last week’s blizzard dumped nearly 2 feet of snow in about 24 hours, the new storm was expected to bring snow over three days, leaving airlines and city officials confident they can avoid the clogged streets and airport runways that brought the city to a standstill.
“Right now we’re planning to operate a full schedule starting at noon,” Robin Urbanski, spokeswoman for United Airlines, said early Friday. Light rail trains, buses and public transit in the metro area planned to run a regular weekday schedule.
'ALWAYS HAVE A PLAN B'
Greyhound canceled all trips out of Denver on Friday and more cancellations could follow this weekend.
With fresh memories of 4,700 stranded holiday travelers and backed up flights around the country last week, New Year’s travelers jammed the airport Thursday trying to get out of Colorado.
Managers at the nation’s fifth-busiest airport drew up snowplowing plans, and airlines urged ticket-holders to flee Denver early or delay departures until after the storm. United and Frontier Airlines, the largest carriers at Denver International Airport, both canceled 322 flights through Friday morning.
Mill and Ann Younkers arrived hours early to check in for an evening flight back to Naples, Fla. The couple’s trip to see their daughter in Denver was delayed three days by the first storm, and they did not arrive until Christmas morning.
Photo: Eric Tessire of Denver makes an attempt to push his car out of the snow in preparation for Friday morning's commute after a second major snowstorm hit on Thursday. The winter storm dumped up to two feet of snow in the Denver area overnight. (By Bill Ross, AP)
Mill Younkers said he was holding a backup reservation for Sunday and was ready to reclaim his rental car if needed.
“You just have to have a good sense of humor and keep your patience,” he said. “Try to always have a Plan B.”
The airport and airlines called in extra workers, and security lines moved relatively quickly. But long lines formed at ticket counters as travelers tried to adjust their plans. The Frontier line snaked across the cavernous terminal, weaving behind the lines of ticket counters on the other side of the building.
Frontier waived its usual change fee to encourage passengers to catch earlier flights. “Let’s try and get as many people out ahead of the storm as we can,” Frontier spokesman Joe Hodas said.
STOCKING UP
After running out of bedding for stranded passengers during the first storm, airport managers lined up cots and blankets and urged food vendors to ensure they had plenty of supplies on hand.
Plows drenched Denver streets with deicer, offices closed early and residents stocked up on groceries.
In New Mexico, the storm forced officials to close Interstate 40 from Albuquerque to Santa Rosa and Interstate 25 from Bernalillo to Las Vegas, N.M. Numerous crashes were reported along both, state officials said.
Residents of Cheyenne, Wyo., also braced for the second snowstorm to hit the area in a week. Heavy snow began falling around dusk, and forecasters said up to a foot was expected.
In California, another powerful winter storm left tens of thousands of people without power as winds gusted to near-hurricane force and blowing snow closed a stretch of Interstate 5 in the mountains north of Los Angeles.
Forecasters in California warned of dangerous winds, with gusts over 70 mph, through Friday morning in the region’s valleys and mountain passes.
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