Governor Polis declares a state of emergency

On By Littum

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

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

Polis also wrote that “The storm is expected to develop throughout the day and this statement is necessary to have resources in place to support rescue efforts around the state as the storm worsens into the evening.”

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Colorado Winter Storm: Travel Advisory Issued

On Thursday, the Colorado Department of Transportation advised motorists to avoid traveling 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 look like it’s leaving later this afternoon, but the next round is expected to be worse than what we’ve already seen,” John Lorme, CDOT director of maintenance and operations, said in a statement. “Drivers should be prepared for long-term closures and should avoid driving in the most affected areas of the state for the duration of the storm.”

The National Weather Service in Boulder issued a winter storm warning for the entire Denver metro area that went into effect at 5 a.m. MST Friday and predicted 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 declared for much of the state through Saturday.

“Moderate to heavy snowfall is expected in the afternoon to continue overnight, creating very difficult winter driving conditions for much of northeast and north-central Colorado, including the urban corridor,” according to National Weather Service.

Governor Polis also announced that state government offices in Colorado’s Front Range would move to remote work where possible on Friday and that public-facing state offices were permitted to close on Friday based on weather conditions.

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