Big Snowstorm Wallops Colorado, Wyoming

Eileen Hargrave walks her dogs Nessie, left, and Pete in the snow in Denver, Colo., on Thursday,...

Eileen Hargrave walks her dogs Nessie, left, and Pete in the snow in Denver, Colo., on Thursday, Oct.29, 2009. A slow-moving storm has dumped more than 2 feet of snow on parts of Colorado and much more is expected. It's expected to be the state's strongest October snowstorm in 12 years. Up to 18 inches of snow was forecast in Denver and up to 4 feet was possible in the Colorado mountains. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

(AP)

An early blast of winter walloped some western states with deep snow and slowly pushed into Nebraska and Kansas Thursday, bringing blizzard conditions to the eastern plains and causing treacherous roads, closed schools and hundreds of canceled flights.

The fall storm spread 3 feet of snow and left much higher drifts across parts of northern Utah, Wyoming and Colorado, before its leading edge hit neighboring states just to the east.

Wind-driven snow built to blizzard conditions over much of eastern Colorado. The weather service warned most area roads would be impassible Thursday night because of blowing snow and near-zero visibility.

The heaviest October snowfall in the Denver area in a decade forced the closure of hundreds of schools and businesses. Roads across the region remained snowpacked and icy.

"Big storms like these, they seem to come around every 10 to 12 years," said Kyle Fredin, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

Denver-based Frontier Airlines said it canceled 44 flights in and out of Denver International Airport. Other flights were delayed by up to four hours. United Airlines, the airport's dominant carrier with about 400 flights per day, canceled half its flights Thursday to prevent delays and cancelations from spilling over into Friday, spokesman Charlie Hobart said.

Airport spokesman Chuck Cannon said crews were using 174 pieces of snow-removal equipment to keep runways and taxiways clear as they dealt with severe wind gusts. Cannon said two departure and two arrival runways were open. The airport received at least 16 inches of snow with 5-foot snow drifts east of Denver, the weather service said.

The Colorado Department of Transportation closed a 140-mile stretch of Interstate 70 from near Denver to Burlington and 55 miles of Interstate 76 from Lochbuie to Fort Morgan. Plows struggled to keep up with the blowing snow, said CDOT spokesman Bob Wilson.

No serious accidents were reported, likely because shuttered businesses meant fewer cars on the road, Wilson said.