Nary a flake had fallen, but Wednesday in the calm before the storm, people, nonprofits and road crews were gearing up for what could be the biggest snow event to hit Colorado in years.
Grocery store parking lots and checkout lines were packed. HOPE for Longmont was readying to provide shelter, food and even propane to those in need. And the Colorado Department of Transportation was bracing for whatever Mother Nature was ready to dish out.
Just how much snow is coming is still a bit unclear, but it is expected to start falling Thursday afternoon and keep coming through Monday morning. Forecasts call for 5 to 8 inches on Friday, with accumulations of 1 to 3 feet by Monday morning.
Even if predictions for snow totals vary, “historic” is being frequently used to describe the weather that’s on the way, with some expecting it to rival a March 2003 storm, during which it snowed steadily and heavy for three days, adding up to as much of 6 feet in accumulation in parts of the state. That storm produced enough moisture to end a drought, according to CBS Denver.
Shelter and food
HOPE for Longmont is working with Faith Point Church, 833 15th Ave., to offer overnight shelter Friday through Sunday to individuals experiencing homelessness. The overnight shelter will move to Journey Church, 2000 Pike Road, on Sunday, according to Alice Sueltenfuss, HOPE’s Navigation Services Director.
HOPE will offer breakfast, lunch and dinner to individuals taking shelter at Faith Point Church throughout the duration of the storm, she said.
“We will have food at Faith Point, and so if anyone did find themselves in need of a meal, they're very welcome to stop by there, and we would not mind that at all. We'd still be honored to help anyone in need during the snowstorm,” Sueltenfuss said.
Food also will be available at the HOPE office warehouse, 704 S. Lincoln St.
“We are prepping to have enough packed meals available for people who stop by and need food and maybe a bottle of water. Water is an important item also, and so we'll have that available at the office warehouse for people who stop (on foot, bicycles or cars),” Sueltenfuss said. “We’re just gonna try and make sure that people with food insecurity during the snowstorm can stop by for even something as simple as a packed meal.”
OUR Center plans to offer extra to-go meals Friday in case people can’t make it to its weekend hot meals program “so households do not have to travel in treacherous conditions to receive a hot meal,” executive director Marc Cowell said. “Additionally, we will have a couple staff on site this weekend during the noon hour in case any member of the community does stop by the OUR Center. We do not want anyone to leave without a meal in hand.”
HOPE also has been in contact with the city’s Office of Emergency Management to plan for emergency transportation for staff and clients to get them moved safely, Sueltenfuss said.
“When we had the cold snap three weeks ago, we relied on our HOPE staff and their personal vehicles, and we relied on volunteers who stopped by … this time I'm hoping for it to be a little more organized on how to get our clients moved from one church to the other,” she said.
HOPE recently launched a propane program for people who need it to stay warm and donations are welcome, as are gifts of other cold-weather gear.
“Gloves are a high commodity that we struggle to keep on hand because they're a little expensive. So even just helping (with) something as simple as gloves would be amazingly helpful,” Sueltenfuss said.
To learn more about donating, call 720-494-4673.
HOPE’s SafeLot program, which provides space at local churches for people living in their cars to park overnight and access meals, showers and more, is working with Westview Presbyterian Church to ensure those clients also have enough supplies for the next few days, she said.
Roads and shoveling
The Colorado Department of Transportation on Wednesday urged people to plan for the storm and do their traveling before the heavy flakes start to fly on Friday night.
“Regardless of your destination, get there before the storm hits,” CDOT stated in a post to its website.
It also urged motorists to avoid traveling during the storm on roads throughout the Denver metro area, on the Interstate 70 mountain corridor and in the Interstate 25 South Gap construction zone between Castle Rock and Monument. “CDOT is likely to close these roadways for safety reasons depending on the severity of the storm,” the post states.
Locally, Longmont Public Works’ snow and ice control program includes plowing 140 miles of roadway, according to the city’s Snow Savvy Guide. The primary goals of the snow and ice program are to “provide access to emergency services,” “maintain the safest possible flow of commuter traffic through the city during the storm” and to “restore normal driving conditions as soon as possible after the storm has ended,” according to the guide.
“It is not possible to maintain normal driving conditions during and immediately after all storms,” the guide states. “Plan your trips wisely using snow routes and minimize travel or — if you can — hold off until the storm has passed and road conditions improve.”
As of this posting, city officials had not responded to requests for information about plans and prep for the weekend storm, but in an email sent Wednesday evening, the Longmont Downtown Development Authority stated, “The City of Longmont is scheduling extra snow removal crews and hours to help during the winter storm predicted this weekend. They will have crews Downtown for 12 hours on Saturday and 12 hours on Sunday (5 a.m. - 5 p.m.).”
Municipal code states that sidewalks must be cleared of snow 24 hours after snow stops falling. Cultivate, an organization whose mission is to “help seniors flourish through active engagement with their community,” has a SnowBusters program that connects community members with seniors who need help clearing their sidewalks. For more information, call 303-443-1933.
Power problems?
All Longmont Power and Communications line crews are on standby and additional staff will be on call to quickly respond where needed, spokesperson Scott Rochat said in an email Thursday.
“We have set up a recon team that can be deployed to check for downed electric lines,” Rochat said. “Several LPC staff members are ready to assist our outage call center, if needed, by taking calls remotely.
“Longmont has always had an excellent history of electric reliability and we work hard to keep it that way,” he said.” Any customers that experience an outage should call us at 303-651-8386 so that our crews can take care of the issue. Anyone who spots a downed power line should move away from it and anything touching it, and call us immediately at 303-651-8386. (Downed power lines can energize the ground up to 35 feet away!)”
In addition, Longmont Public Works and Natural Resources will assist LPC with plows if crews need access to any side streets, Rochat said. And LPC will work with Boulder County if it needs any help reaching customers in Lyons, he said.
Xcel Energy in a news release emailed Wednesday said it is preparing to increase the number of employees and contractors it can call on “to quickly and safely repair any damage that may be caused by heavy snow.”
“Spring snowstorms have the potential to cause tree limbs to break, causing damage to power lines,” Xcel stated in the release.
Outages can be reported to Xcel online at xcelenergy.com/out, by texting "OUT" to 98936 or calling 800-895-1999 and following the prompts.
The status of outages can be checked by texting STAT to 98936 or on the Xcel website. The site also features an outage map that displays information on the number of customers impacted nd anticipated time for restoration.
The Colorado Public Utilities Commission also sent an email advisory Wednesday evening advising people to remove any ice and snow buildup from their natural gas meters.
“The accumulation of snow and ice on natural gas meters is a safety hazard,” Joe Molloy, chief of the Public Utilities Commission’s Gas Pipeline Safety Unit, stated in the advisory. “Keeping meters clear of snow and ice will help prevent damage that could result in a dangerous situation.”
“Accumulated snow and ice places stress on the regulator or meter piping, and could cause gas to leak into your home and create a hazardous condition. Excessive snow cover also may result in abnormal pressure, affect appliance operation and interrupt your service,” the advisory states.
COVID testing, vaccines canceled
The forecast also prompted UCHealth to close its COVID-19 vaccine clinics on Saturday and Sunday.
UCHealth is contacting everyone who has an appointment this weekend to reschedule their vaccinations for next week, senior media relations specialist Kelly Tracer stated in an email. There about 2,500 appointments scheduled this weekend, she said. Patients with appointments this weekend do not need to change their appointments themselves, UCHealth will call or send messages to help them reschedule, she said.
“Importantly, CDC guidelines say the second dose of the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines may be provided up to six weeks after the first dose, this delay will not affect the overall effectiveness of vaccination,” Tracer said in her email
Free COVID testing sites at the Boulder County Fairgrounds in Longmont and the Stazio ball fields in Boulder also will be Saturday and Sunday, Boulder County Public Health announced Thursday. Testing also could be on a delayed start on Monday. Up-to-date information is available at boco.org/COVIDTesting.
Online learning on Monday?
St. Vrain Valley School District in an email to parents on Thursday said it is closely monitoring weekend forecasts. If snow totals meet projections or if buildings lose power, SVVSD could switch to an online learning day Monday for all students, according to the email.
It anticipates making a decision by noon Sunday and will notify families by email, text, and/or voicemail based on their Infinite Campus notification settings, according to the email.
If there is a move to online learning on Monday, schools could be on a different schedule, according to the email. Exact schedule times will be set by individual schools. Schedules for LaunchED Virtual Academy students will not change, according to the email.
Parents who wish to do so can still call their school to obtain excused absences for their students, according to the email.
Leader staff writer Silvia Romero Solis contributed to this report.
