DENVER A late winter storm raged Wednesday in the West and Upper Midwest, with blizzard conditions expected to engulf parts of Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska and South Dakota.
DENVER — A late winter storm raged Wednesday in the West and Upper Midwest, with blizzard conditions expected to engulf parts of Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska and South Dakota.
The storm could rival one that hit the region in 1979 in terms of the extent of coverage of heavy snowfall, according to meteorologist Richard Emanuel with the National Weather Service in Cheyenne, where the wind was gusting up to 60 mph (96.5 kph) with heavy snowfall.
About 1,000 flights into and out of Denver were canceled. Planes in Casper and Cheyenne also were grounded.
School was called off in many places where more than a foot (30 centimeters) of snow and winds as high as 80 mph (129 kph) were possible.
State and local government workers in Denver, Wyoming and South Dakota were told to stay home and many colleges also closed their campuses for the day.
Hundreds of miles of interstate and smaller highways were closed in Wyoming and western Nebraska because of heavy snow and whiteout conditions.
A 250-mile (402-kilometer) stretch of Interstate 80 from Cheyenne to Rock Springs in southern Wyoming was closed, along with a 300-mile (483-kilometer) section of Interstate 25 from Buffalo, Wyoming, to the Colorado border.
About 100 miles (161 kilometers) of Interstate 80 was closed in western Nebraska.
Winter storm warnings for heavy snow were issued throughout the region, including areas of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
Rivers in Wisconsin are expected to reach flood stage over the next few days as thunderstorms and showers melt away snow that has accumulated this winter.
