Snowstorm brings Denver to near-standstill

Airlines canceled about 200 flights at Denver's airport early Friday due to a major snowstorm forecast to drop nearly 2 feet snow. Public schools in Denver and just west of the city canceled classes Friday, as at least 22 inches of snow fell in the Denver area. Colorado's Eastern Plains, toward Kansas, faced life-threatening blizzard conditions with more than 2 feet of snow and 40 mph wind gusts through 6 a.m. MST Saturday, the National Weather Service reported. "I wouldn't be surprised, by the time it's all said and done, if some areas get 3 feet, maybe down in Douglas County or up against the foothills," weather service meteorologist Scott Entrekin told The Denver Post. Roads were treacherous Friday morning, even with highway crews working 12-hour shifts, the state Department of Transportation said, urging people to stay home until the storm passes Saturday. Those who brave the roads should stay with their vehicles if they become stuck and wait for help to arrive, the department said. Colorado's Front Range, just east of the Rocky Mountains, and the foothills, north to the Wyoming border, were under a winter storm warning until 11 p.m. Friday. Wind storm warnings were in effect for Boulder and Fort Collins, Colo., the weather service said. After burying Colorado, the storm was forecast to head east into the southern and central Great Plains. But it would lose some of its punch, forecasters said. Winter storm watches were posted into northwest Kansas, much of Nebraska and western Iowa from Friday night through Saturday night, the weather service said. The storm was forecast to move into the Ohio Valley, possibly crossing the Appalachians and reaching the mid-Atlantic region Saturday night, the weather service said.