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"Oh man,
is it DEEP!"
It rained all day on Monday, March 17, before changing to snow around midnight. It then snowed until Wednesday noon, March 19. By then we had 3-4' drifts in the front and back yard. Loveland received 24", Fort Collins 32", Estes Park 42", Red Feathers 64" (Dowdy Lake), and Rocky Mountain National Park received 100"! |
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"Dad is paying me $.05
per shovel full!"
In Denver, the second highest snowfall on record was 32". For a time, I-70 and I-25 were closed in every direction. Some sections were closed for three days. Many people were trapped in their vehicles and thousands lost electricity. DIA shut down for two days stranding over 4000 people. The main terminal was even evacuated when the famous roof tore. |
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"Now this is March Madness!" Mom was attending a national Family Literacy conference in Long Beach, CA, and wasn't scheduled to depart LAX until 5pm on Tuesday. Upon hearing the forecast, she rescheduled her flight to 6am. Up at 2:30am to catch the 3:30am shuttle to the airport, her flight arrived on time at DIA at 9:15am, but had to sit on the tarmac for 20min for a gate to become available. Even then, it took another 10min to maneuver the skywalk through the snow to the plane. Mom was lucky as news stations talked to passengers on flights who arrived just an hour later than she did, yet sat on the tarmac for 5, 6, even 7 hours! The 10:05am shuttle to Loveland showed up at DIA at 11:15 and finally arrived at the drop-off at I-25/Hwy 34 close to 1:45. We made it home at 2:30pm taking Hwy 34 from Loveland toward Greeley, which closed shortly after we passed through because of blowing and drifting snow. What an adventure! |
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"Snow basketball dunk! Ooops...sorry!!!" We ended up having three snow days off from school! The post office didn't deliver the mail for two days. |
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"Snow
boulders from the snow plow!"
By Thursday morning, the meltdown continued at a dramatic pace. The main concern became roof collapses as hundreds gave way in Denver and Fort Collins. The other concerns were numerous avalanches and massive flooding. We desperately needed the moisture because of the drought, but we didn't need the damage, injuries, and even loss of life! |
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"King of the Mountain!"
On the Friday evening newscast, it was reported that 50,000 to 75,000 people were trapped in their homes in Jefferson County, southwest of Denver. Snow depths were 5-11'. Many were reported to be without power and water. |
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"Is this how you built igloos, Dad, when you were a kid?" |
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"With the sun shining, it's HOT out here!" |
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"Wow, it looks COOL in here!" |
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"The End???" |