Spring Blizzard Blankets Rockies

Flights Canceled, Travelers Stranded, Power Out After Snowfall

(CBS/AP)  Flights were also canceled out of Colorado Springs, 60 miles to the south. And whiteout conditions closed highways throughout the day, including Interstate 25 between Denver and Colorado Springs and farther south between Pueblo and the New Mexico line.

Interstate 70 was expected to remain closed overnight between suburban Aurora and the Kansas border. About 300 truck drivers were waiting out the storm at the TA Truck Stop in suburban Wheat Ridge, said general manager Richard Lemm.

Xcel Energy said about 2,000 customers were without power Sunday night, down from 11,000 customers who lost power at the peak of the storm. Thousands of schoolchildren had classes canceled for Monday.

CBS News Meteorologist George Cullen says Colorado is experiencing a week of weather extremes: On Saturday, the temperature in downtown Denver was 65 degrees, while overnight there was a foot of snow on the ground there. However, he predicts temperatures rising to about 40 later Monday and in the 50s on Tuesday.

The bad weather in Colorado could spell trouble for other parts of the country.

"Springtime snowstorms are common across the Rockies, but this is a very dangerous situation, because what we have is very cold air over the Rockies, warm, moist air over the plains," Cullen said. "That usually leads to severe thunderstorms, and we probably will see some very powerful storms stretching all the way from Iowa to Louisiana today."

Fat, moisture-laden flakes of snow began falling in Denver before dawn Sunday, blown sideways by winds gusting to 30 mph. Trees and shrubs drooped with the weight and limbs began crashing to the ground within hours.

By nightfall, snowfall totals included 22 inches near suburban Littleton, 23 inches around Genesse in the hills west of the city, and 23 inches near Strasburg east of Denver. Two feet of snow fell in Greenland, about 20 miles north of Colorado Springs.

Residents in southeastern South Dakota were bracing for another round of storms a day after heavy rain, strong wind and hail hit.

Sunday's storm hit Menno and Cannistota the hardest, with winds at around 90 mph. Power was out for about nine hours in Menno, and in Canistota, the storm downed power lines, destroyed most of the baseball field and left cars and houses buried beneath trees.

Roger Jensen woke up to find two of his pickups underneath downed trees.

"I got a rude awakening," Jensen said.