Road conditions across the Front Range mountains and foothills and metro Denver could become impossible to navigate starting Wednesday evening as the upcoming major winter storm rolls in.
Colorado Department of Transportation and Department of Public Safety officials warned drivers in a Wednesday morning news conference to stay off the roads if possible and be ready for safety closures on major highways.
The heaviest snow will be focused on the Front Range Mountains and foothills, where up to 4 feet of snow could fall in some areas, and along Interstate 25 south of Castle Rock.
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John Lorme, CDOT maintenance & operations director, said there will likely be several safety closures throughout the storm on major roads such as Interstate 70 between Golden and the Eisenhower Tunnel, Interstate 25 between Castle Rock and Colorado Springs, and U.S. 285 between C470 and Fairplay.
“Don’t travel if you don’t have to over the next 24 to 36 hours,” he said.
The closures will usually be triggered by winds over 15 mph causing low visibility for drivers and plows.
Colorado State Patrol Chief Colonel Matt Packard said they were planning on the storm to last a while and warned drivers to obey CDOT closures.
“If we’ve told you the road is closed, it’s for your safety,” he said.
Packard advised drivers who do have to be on the road to keep emergency supplies on hand in case they get stranded and it takes emergency responders a long time to rescue them.
If the roads are impassable for regular drivers, Packard said, they could also be impossible for emergency responders to drive as well, but rescue teams will work through the storm if possible to rescue stranded drivers.
In the mountains and foothills, travel conditions could stay dangerous well into Friday until the dig-out starts.
Forecasters advise drivers to avoid the mountains starting Wednesday afternoon or evening as the heaviest precipitation sets in. Two to three inches of snow per hour could fall, and conditions will deteriorate rapidly.
In metro Denver, forecasters at the National Weather Service in Boulder expect widespread rain showers throughout the afternoon that will likely switch to wet, heavy snow between 8 and 10 p.m. The metro area could get between 8 and 16 inches of snow, with some western suburbs getting up to 20 inches.
Peak snowfall rates in metro Denver will likely stay in the one-to-two-inch-per-hour range.
As well as the dangerous road conditions, there could also be scattered power outages in the areas most hit by the snow due to it being such heavy snow.
Xcel Energy officials in a Wednesday news release said they are preparing for the storm with more than 100 workers on standby for possible outages.
“Nearly 165 employees and crew members will be on standby statewide throughout the storm to safely restore electric and natural gas service as quickly as possible,” the news release states.
Officials advised residents to stay away from any downed power lines and to keep their home natural gas meters clear of snow and ice to avoid any potentially dangerous natural gas buildup indoors.
