DENVER — A strong and fast storm system is rolling through Colorado triggering winter weather alerts across portions of the state with the heaviest of snow expected east and west of the Denver metro area. Roads in the Denver area are mostly just wet.
Denver7 chief meteorologist Lisa Hidalgo said it will be windy with gusts near 70 mph along the eastern plains with dangerous travel conditions possible east on I-70.
Blizzard warnings for the Palmer Divide have been cancelled Tuesday morning, however a winter weather advisory remains in effect for portions of Elbert and Douglas Counties including the Castle Rock area until 2 p.m. for high winds and blowing snow.
You can check the current winter weather alerts at this link.
The Denver7 news team is tracking the latest storm updates, closures, and sharing news from local agencies. Refresh this page for updates and keep checking back for new details.
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Tuesday, March 4
5:30 a.m. | Lisa Hidalgo's forecast update | Heavy snow along with powerful wind gusts is leading to blizzard conditions across the eastern plains. A blizzard warning is in effect until 5 p.m. Tuesday for those areas as they could see wind gusts up to 70 mph and an additional 2 to 5 inches of new snow. It will make travel very difficult, if not impossible at times today.
Watch Lisa's update in the video player below.
5:20 a.m. | High winds a concern | Denver7's Allie Jennerjahn is checking driving conditions on the eastern plains as a high wind warning remains in effect Tuesday. Drivers should be on alert for high wind gusts up to 70 mph. Here's what to expect.
5:05 a.m. | Latest on power outages | Thousands of Xcel Energy customers are without power overnight. As of early Tuesday morning, the latest numbers showed 60 outages in the Denver metro area impacting around 2,459 customers. That number is down from Monday evening where nearly 7,000 customers were impacted.
4:55 a.m. | I-70 update | The brunt of the winter storm is expected to hit the eastern plains. Hwy 24 and Hwy 86 are closed, but both directions of I-70 are open early this morning. CDOT cameras showed blowing snow across roadways.
4:35 a.m. | High wind warning | A large portion of Eastern Colorado remains under a high wind warning until 5 p.m. Tuesday for wind gusts up to 70 mph.
4:25 a.m. | Latest closings, delays | Check for updates here.
- Akron R-1 | Delayed 2 hours
- Bennett School District 29J | Closed Today
- Byers School Dist. 32-J | Closed Today
- Castle Rock Senior Center | Closed Today
- Deer Trail School District 26J | Closed Today
- Elbert School District 200 | Closed Today
- Elizabeth School District | Closed Today; Closed - Remote for 6-12th grade and all staff
- Kiowa Schools | Closed Today
- Northeastern Junior College - Sterling | Opening at 10:00 AM
- Parker Water District | Delayed 2 hours
- RE-1 Valley District-Sterling | Delayed 2 hours
- Wells Concrete | 2 hour start delay for the plant on Tuesday
- Yuma School Dist. 1 | Closed Today
4:15 a.m. | Check of Castle Rock area | Denver7 traffic expert Jayson Luber says it's windy out there but road conditions "aren't that bad" with mostly wet roadways and areas of "sloppy" conditions in neighborhoods. Downtown Denver is mostly dry.
4:05 a.m. | Forecast update | Blizzard warnings for the Palmer Divide and portions of the eastern plains have been cancelled by the National Weather Service (NWS) in Boulder. A blizzard warning does remain in effect for Yuma and Kit Carson Counties.
4:00 a.m. | LIVE NEWS | Denver7 has crews tracking the latest road conditions this morning. Watch Denver7's live news stream at this link or the player below starting at 4:30 a.m.
Click here to watch the Denver7 live weather stream.