Blizzard moves across Colorado, snow lets up this afternoon

DENVER –A fast-moving winter storm started moving across the state early Saturday morning, and what was expected to bring 12 inches of snow to the metro area is now only supposed to drop around 3 to 8 inches total.

Winter storm and blizzard warnings continue for or Denver and much of the eastern plains, but there are no longer warnings for Larimer and Weld counties

Saturday was the coldest day of the week, with strong northerly winds creating blowing & drifting of snow and reducing visibility in the plains, where a blizzard warning remains in effect until 11 p.m.

The snow is starting to taper off up north toward Wyoming.

Denver’s Winter Storm Warning will continue until 5 p.m. this evening, but snow will only continue to fall until about 7 p.m. Total snow fall for the Denver metro area has ranged from 3 to 8 inches, but much of it has melted.

Roads remain wet and slick, and adverse travel conditions are expected throughout the day. Drivers are encouraged to take extra caution when heading out.

Here are a list of current closures from the Colorado Department of Transportation:

• Eastbound/Westbound I-70 between Airpark and Burlington
• Westbound US 24 between Limon and Colorado Springs
• US 40 between Limon and Kit Carson
• NB SH 71 between Limon and Brush
• Westbound I-70 at the Eisenhower Tunnel- traffic being detoured to US 6 over Loveland Pass

Winds will gust across the Front Range from now through 5 p.m.  There will be places south of the city and west in the foothills that could exceed 12″, according to meteorologist Nick Carter.

Several school districts have canceled Saturday activities, including Denver schools. Check here for a list of closed centers and makeup dates.

About 500 flights were canceled Saturday at Denver International Airport. Check status of flights here.

–LINK: Follow this storm in our blog
–LINK: School districts, other organizations cancel Saturday activities

The storm will be gone by Sunday allowing skies to clear and temperatures to climb to near 40 degrees.

On Monday, a warm-up will come with highs expected in the mid to upper 40s and we will see highs in the 60s later this week.