More than 100 flights were canceled at Denver International Airport on Tuesday as a powerful storm system dropped snow over the Rocky Mountains, while tornadoes were reported from Texas to Nebraska, officials said.
A blizzard warning was issued for a large swath of northeastern Colorado and western Kansas because of the storm system, which originated in Alaska, according to the National Weather Service.
The weather service said the storm would continue to move eastward after it closed roads east and south of Denver, which had been forecast to receive heavy snow but was spared from the heaviest snowfall.
The town of Elizabeth, some 40 miles southeast of Denver, was hit by 19 inches of snow, while the nearby town of Parker had 16 inches, the weather service said.
The Colorado Department of Transportation reported numerous accidents and highway closures. Local broadcaster KUSA said as many as 150 cars had been stranded on Interstate 25 in the morning.
Several tornadoes were spotted over northern Texas, western Kansas and southern Nebraska overnight, according to weather forecasting site AccuWeather.
Denver International, one of the busiest U.S. airport hubs where more than 100 inbound and outbound flights were canceled, advised passengers to allow extra time to get through security. The weather service recorded wind gusts of 58 mph at the airport.
In Seattle, one person was killed and more than 200,000 homes and businesses lost power Tuesday as another storm packing wind gusts up to 49 mph hit the Puget Sound area of Washington state, closing roads and triggering a small mudslide, local authorities said.
Merlin Halverson, a county fire chief, said a motorist had been killed on Tuesday near the town of Monroe when a rain-soaked tree fell from a cliff onto the driver’s car.
“Many roads are closed from downed trees, active power lines, floodwaters,” Halverson said. “It’s a hell of mess here.”
The wind knocked down trees and closed a bridge over the Hood Canal, northwest of Seattle, and gusts up to 49 mph were recorded on the SR 520 bridge over Lake Washington, which links Seattle to suburbs such as Redmond, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.
A mudslide closed State Route 20, a two-lane road that traverses the Cascade mountains, between the communities of Newhalem and Diablo, the Department of Transportation said.
King County, in which Seattle is located, reported moderate flooding for the Snoqualmie River, which runs through the county.
The National Weather Service has forecast rain and wind for much of the week.