Unwelcome arrival: Second storm hits Denver airport

DENVER – New Year’s travelers jammed the Denver airport Thursday, trying to get out of town ahead of a snowstorm that threatened to close runways and gum up the nation’s busy holiday travel season for the second time in a week.

By Thursday evening, 8 inches of snow had been recorded in the Denver area, and snow falling at a rate of 4 inches an hour piled up 18 inches in the foothills west of the city. The heavy snow forced officials to close Interstate 25, about 60 miles north of the city near Wyoming.

Gov. Bill Owens again declared a statewide disaster emergency, just a week after a pre-Christmas blizzard shut the airport for two days, stranded 4,700 holiday travelers and backed up flights around the country.

The broad storm stretched from the Rocky Mountains into the western Plains; winter storm warnings were in effect for parts of Colorado, Wyoming, western Nebraska and Kansas, New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle.

Earlier Thursday, managers at the nation’s fifth-busiest airport drew up snowplowing plans, and airlines urged ticket-holders to flee Denver early or delay departures until after the storm. United Airlines and Frontier, which together account for 80 percent of traffic at Denver International Airport, canceled 322 flights for Thursday evening and this morning.

Greyhound also canceled all trips out of Denver today and more cancelations could follow this weekend.

The airport and airlines called in extra workers, and security lines moved relatively quickly. But long lines formed at ticket counters as travelers tried to adjust their plans. The Frontier line snaked across the cavernous terminal and wrapped around behind the lines of other airlines on the other side of the building.

Frontier waived its usual change fee to encourage passengers to catch earlier flights. “Let’s try and get as many people out ahead of the storm as we can,” Frontier spokesman Joe Hodas said.

After running out of bedding for stranded passengers during the first storm, airport managers lined up cots and blankets and urged food vendors to ensure they had plenty of supplies on hand.

In New Mexico, the storm forced officials Thursday to close Interstate 40, one of the state’s major highways. Numerous crashes were reported, state officials said.