Heavy, Wet Snow Brings Some Power Outages To Denver

Ryan Warner/CPR News
Heavy, wet snow felled a tree branch around 13th Ave. & Franklin St. in Denver, April 16, 2021.

Updated 2:23 p.m.

Winter never really leaves, does it? For some, it's a state of mind. For the bulk of the Denver metro that woke up on Friday, it's a wet and snarled commute — with some power outages and broken trees thrown in.

As of a 6 a.m. report, Denver International Airport has 5.7 inches of the white stuff. The larger metro, according to the snowfall map from the National Weather Service, has seen 8.5 inches in Arvada, 8.1 inches in Evergreen, 10.2 inches in Genesee and 8.5 inches up in Nederland. Xcel's outage map says there are 3,750 customers (as of 2:12 p.m.) without power, mostly centered south of downtown Denver and toward the southwest suburbs.

As per the usual when snow socks the Front Range and central mountains, travel conditions can be a bit perilous, especially along Interstate 70. All the usual reminders apply: if you must travel, slow down and give yourself plenty of space to slow and stop with the wet conditions.

Snow is likely to stretch later into the day with an expected low of 27° tonight. The storm is moving to the northeast, bringing an expected 3 to 6 inches of snow that corner of the state and the Kansas border. The forecast suggests it's not going to be a nicer weekend with a slight chance of snow on Saturday and sunny and cooler conditions on Sunday with a high of 56°.

Megan Verlee/CPR News
Trees are having a tough time of it with the heavy, wet snow that fell overnight in Denver. This boxed-in van covered in branches is in the Sloans Lake neighborhood, April 16, 2021.