Massive snowstorm shuts down Colorado

Shelters provided
The Red Cross provided 140 cots for nearly 350 people stranded at a Greyhound bus station in downtown Denver, Thompson said.

Weather Service program manager Byron Louis said it was the most powerful storm to hit Colorado since March 2003, when a massive blizzard dumped up to 11 feet of snow in the mountains over several days and was blamed for at least six deaths.

Major malls closed early Wednesday. One, Flatirons Crossing Mall in Broomfield, northwest of Denver, offered warmth for motorists stranded along U.S. 36, the major link between Denver and Boulder.

Mail service was canceled in the eastern half of the state because mail carriers and trucks delivering mail four days before Christmas couldn’t get through.

'We don't want to take the risk'
“We don’t want to take the risk of clogging up the system just by being out there,” said Al DeSarro, a U.S. Postal Service spokesman in Denver. “We’re considering delivering on Sunday to make up for what’s sure to be a backlog of mail.”

Will Powers / AP Jennifer Arnold of New York City sleeps by a sign in the Denver International Airport on Wednesday night after she got a blanket donated by the city.

Thirteen hours after Alan Barr left his Denver office for a bus ride home to Boulder, he was stuck at a Red Cross shelter in Denver, not much closer to home than when he left. His bus had set out from Denver hours late, then had to turn back.

Barr trudged into the shelter shortly after midnight with other discouraged riders but said he had not given up on the bus system.

“Days like today are an exception,” he said. “I believe in public transportation.”

Commuters on several buses had similar experiences, said Scott Reed, spokesman for the Regional Transportation District: “It was absolute gridlock.”

Public transit service was not expected to resume until late Thursday at the earliest.

“It was comical for a while,” said bus rider Matt Notter of Boulder. “Then we realized, this is an all-night thing.”

MORE FROM WEATHER

Weather Section Front

East Coast digs out from big storm   Subfreezing weather batters Europe, causing deaths   ‘Super Saturday’ snowed out on East Coast Winter storm disrupts East Coast games The lowdown on winter solstice   Watch 3-day national forecast   Snow complicates holiday travel in U.K. East Africa drought leaves millions in need Weather Section Front   Add Weather headlines to your news reader: