ACCUWEATHER GLOBAL WEATHER CENTER-A snowstorm of epic proportions swept across the western United States this weekend, dropping over 3 feet of snow in many areas and leaving tens of thousands of residents without power under the heavy blanket of record-breaking snow totals.
The storm left historic mounds of snow in its wake, dropping 25.8 inches of snow in Cheyenne, Wyoming, the most snow from a single storm the city had ever seen. The previous record was set in 1979 when the city received 25.2 inches over two days.
This same system would become the fourth-largest snowstorm in Denver history, leaving over 27 inches of powder at Denver International Airport. Throughout Colorado, five locations received at least 3 feet of snow, led by Buckhorn Mountain’s 42 inches recorded over the weekend.
In Wyoming, even the most winter-proofed lifelong residents wouldn’t be able to recall a storm that packed this heavy a punch. Along with Cheyenne’s all-time record, a site atop Windy Peak in the Laramie Range reported 52 inches of snow, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). The “historic” conditions spewed far enough to even drop 19 inches of snow in Nebraska, triggering the closure of Interstate 80 near Gering, according to The Associated Press.
By early Monday morning, the 27.1 inches of snow reported at the Denver International Airport, forced all airlines to cease operations, leading to the cancellation of 1,072 departing flights and 1,116 arriving ones.
Other locations in Colorado received in excess of 3 feet such as Aspen Springs, which recorded 40 inches of snow.
By Sunday night, snowfall amounts had exceeded 30 inches in Cheyenne, easily eclipsing the city's old record for the heaviest snowstorm in history, which stood at 25.6 inches set from Nov. 19-21 in 1979.
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Colorado Gov. Jared Polis announced that he activated the Colorado National Guard to respond to search-and-rescue requests through the state's Emergency Operations Center from 12 p.m. Friday until 12 p.m. Monday.
The dangerous winter conditions also sparked widespread power outages, leaving more than 33,000 customers in the dark at one point on Sunday morning.
"I urge you to stay home if it’s going to snow hard in your area, so you don’t need them to rescue you," Polis said. Colorado State Patrol echoed that motorists should stay off of the roads amid what a trooper referred to as “Snowmaggedon” or “Snowpocalypse” in a video recorded and sent out on Twitter.
The Douglas County Sheriff's Office in Colorado reported that it was responding to many people throughout the county who were stranded in their vehicles on Sunday. A deputy and a Colorado Department of Transportation plow were among the vehicles that were having problems.
Denver International Airport's fleet of snow-removal vehicles prepared early, so they could take on the snow as soon as it arrived.
“The good news is that snow in Denver is not unusual, maybe this much is, but we plan all year for big storms,” The Denver International Airport Spokesperson, Emily Williams, said.
Along I-25, The NWS office in Boulder reported that roads were getting "slushy" on Saturday night, and conditions deteriorated in a hurry throughout the day on Sunday, leading to travel becoming nearly impossible.
Portions of I-25, I-70, I-76 and I-80 were shut down as a result of the treacherous travel conditions on Saturday night.
Conditions on I-70 began to get "treacherous," as the snow fell steadily. Colorado State Patrol announced a westbound closure at C-470 on 260, with all traffic being diverted east on Colorado 470.
By Sunday afternoon, the Colorado State Patrol said conditions continued to deteriorate to the point that flares put out to block the ramp to westbound I-70 from C470 were no longer visible.
Traffic cameras in the area all showed the same scene: roadways covered with so much snow that they became indistinguishable from the surrounding ground.
On Sunday morning, I-25 was closed north of Fort Collins, Colorado, near Wellington, to the Colorado and Wyoming border.
"We just received a report from a caller in Wellington who said 10-inch- diameter trees were snapped in his neighborhood and power lines are laying on the ground. Roughly 14 inches of snow is on the ground," NWS Boulder tweeted.