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Government Polis declares a state of emergency

Vaseline November 8, 2024

A severe winter storm could dump more than a foot of snow on Colorado’s Front Range and the Denver metro area starting Friday. Colorado Governor Jared Polis issued a state of emergency Thursday evening and authorized members of the Colorado National Guard to provide winter storm response support.

The Governor’s statement activates the Colorado State Emergency Operations Center and the State Emergency Operations Plan and directs the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) to “take all necessary and appropriate State actions to assist affected jurisdictions with their response, recovery and mitigation efforts. “

Polis also wrote, “The storm is expected to develop throughout the day, and this declaration is necessary to ensure resources are available to support rescue efforts across the state as the storm worsens into the evening.”

Winter storm in Colorado: Travel advisories issued

On Thursday, the Colorado Department of Transportation advised motorists to avoid travel through much of the southeastern part of the state, including areas east of Interstate 25 and south of Interstate 76 to the Kansas and New Mexico state lines.

“The storm may appear to move out later this afternoon, but the next round is expected to be worse than what we have already seen,” John Lorme, director of maintenance and operations for CDOT, said in a statement. “Drivers should be prepared for extended closures and should avoid driving in the most affected areas of the state during the storm.”

The National Weather Service in Boulder issued a winter storm warning for the entire Denver metro area at 5 a.m. MST on Friday, predicting accumulations of up to 12 to 20 inches of “heavy wet snow” over the next 24 hours.

Winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories were also issued for large parts of the state through Saturday.

“Moderate to heavy snowfall is expected by the afternoon and will continue overnight, creating very difficult winter driving conditions across much of northeast and north-central Colorado, including the Urban Corridor,” the National Weather Service said.

Governor Polis also announced that government offices in Colorado’s Front Range would begin working remotely where possible on Friday, and state public offices were allowed to close Friday based on weather conditions.

Max Hauptman is a trending reporter for USA TODAY. He can be reached at [email protected]