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Blizzard dumps two feet of snow on parts of CO, marking Denver's fourth-largest snowfall of all time

27.1 inches fell at DIA on Saturday & Sunday
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Denver blizzard
Posted at 8:18 AM, Mar 15, 2021
and last updated 2021-03-15 13:35:16-04

An enormous blizzard blew through Colorado over the weekend, dropping about two feet of snow over a large swath of the state.

Between Saturday and early Monday morning, the storm dumped more than 27 inches of snow on Denver — by far the state's most populous metro area. At the Denver International Airport, 27.1 inches of snow was recorded, making the weekend storm the fourth-largest in city history.

Crews are currently working to clear runways at the Denver Airport. All morning flights have been canceled and all runways remain closed.

While the storm has passed and the snow has ended, cold and icy conditions have left many roads in Denver were impassable as of Monday morning. High temperatures in the city are expected to reach the upper 30s Monday afternoon under a partly cloudy sky.

The foothills and mountains east of the Continental Divide received around 12-36 inches of snow, with a few mountain locations recording up to 60 inches of snow. The plains east Denver have seen a mix of rain and snow but should get at least an inch of welcome moisture (melted total).

Gov. Jared Polis has activated 50 Colorado National Guard soldiers and airmen to be prepared to respond to stranded motorists and for search and rescue operations.

The storm has also left some in the state without electricity. Xcel Energy is reporting 397 outages that are affecting 21,869 customers, mostly in northern Colorado. Poudre Valley REA is reporting outages impacting 2,906 customers. and outages in Larimer County have 3,972 customers in the dark.

More snow is expected in the Denver area on Tuesday and Wednesday. However, the city and state's extended forecast is looking up — current forecasts project highs in Denver on Friday will reach the 60s.

This story was originally published by Katie LaSalle on KMGH in Denver.