I'm reading stories of roads impassbile (still), people getting stuck in airports for 5 days, stores still closed...
I thought Denver was a city that got a lot of snow. Here in southern New England, we consider ourselves to be relative lightweights in the snowfall department (compared to, say, Buffalo or Maine) and we occasionally get a big one (in 1978, for example, there was 50 inches of snow and 10 foot drifts). In 2005 (our last "blizzard" as it is defined by the weather service, heavy snow alone doesn't constitute a blizzard) we got 22 inches of snow with drifts up to around four feet. The city of Providence was cleared out by the late afternoon of the next day.
What's wrong with Denver?
2006-12-22 00:16:31 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Weather
No, this area did not handle the blizzard of 1978 well. Part of that was that they thought it would be a dusting to an inch of light snow and it turned out to be the worst blizzard the area's seen in 100 years, and by the time people were let out of work and school it was too late. Cars were stranded on the highway so it was hard to clear the roads.
What I'm saying is that the Providece area, where I lived at the time, got a similar blizzard in 2005 with 22 inches of snow and 4 foot drifts (Eastern Mass bore the brunt of that one getting somewhere around 30 inches of snow plus the drifts, but was still not the mess that Denver is now). Denver's all of a sudden acting like it's Atlanta and got all that snow. Shouldn't they be prepared for this?
2006-12-22 00:27:35 · update #1
I live very close to the Denver area about an hour off. Where I live, Fort Collins got hammered by the blizzard too and I can tell you that the blizzard paralized Denver because it was the 5th biggest snowstorm EVER to hit the Denver area. Also the meterolgists did not think it was going to be that big of a storm and so were not able to get the word out quickly enough. As of today most roads like I-25, E-470, etc are now passable but I-70 is still shut down. Most of the stores that are currently closed are expected to re-open on Monday with normal schedules. Some transportation services are open like RTD but they are running shortened schedules.
2006-12-22 01:11:52 · answer #1 · answered by leged56 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ya know what? We had this discussion today. We are from an area not far from Denver. I was very surprised to hear that they were not handling the snowfall. They should be used to it. We live in northern Japan and we've been here for more than 8 years now. We get a lot of snow and we're used to getting snowfall well over what Denver experienced and yet life still goes on. Nothing closes down or stops. Or if it does it is only for a matter of hours, not days. I have no idea what is wrong with Denver but it is strange that a place that should be used to snow suddenly acted like they're in Southern Calif. or something.
2006-12-22 00:20:17 · answer #2 · answered by Amelia 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Having experienced blizzards in my youth, I think the combination of a larger than expected snowfall, and very high winds, make for a situation that is very difficult to manage.
Have you been to Denver's airport? It's out there, far from anything that might slow down the wind. You can clear runways but the wind will drift them closed soon after. Some areas used to put up snwofences on the west side of roads and highways to try drop the snow out of harm's way. Also, I think the snowfall accumulated very quickly - and above some number of inches per hour, you will not be able to "keep up".
2006-12-22 02:12:42 · answer #3 · answered by les 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't get what you're asking... you seem to think that because they're used to snow that they have magic cars and airplanes that can go through it. When you had 50 inches, were people driving around? I doubt it. I lived in Mass. during a winter and we had to stock up on food and supplies before a blizzard because we knew we wouldn't get to a store after the snow fall. It works the same way everywhere around the world.
2006-12-22 00:19:44 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The sheer volume of snow probably had something to do with it. Brrr.
2006-12-22 00:18:41 · answer #5 · answered by justin_and_toni 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
blizzards have a tendency to do that
2006-12-22 00:44:32 · answer #6 · answered by bprice215 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I LIVE IN FLORIDA
FLORIDA GETS HURRICANES
WE'RE USED TO THEM BUT THEY
STILL PARALYZE THE STATE.
2006-12-22 00:25:24 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i dont know
2006-12-22 00:17:45 · answer #8 · answered by tijuemson 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋