Golden gets snowed in

Significant city operations –; from Denver International Airport to the Colorado School of Mines –; closed on March 23.

And many Goldenites also had a snow day.

Golden’s City hall and administrative offices closed for the entire day, as did the Jefferson County offices.

Many arts and entertainment destinations of the area also closed: the Foothills Art Center, Golden’s community center, the Colorado Railroad Museum and Colorado Mountain Club, which is headquartered at the American Mountaineering Center in Golden.

The Golden History Museums also closed for the day –; the blizzard causing the history center to postpone its VIP reception for the 38-star Koenig American flag.

Only personnel critical to the operations of the city, emergency crews such as fire and police departments and snowplows were working in Golden during the snow storm.

“We prepared for a significant weather event,” the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) said during a 3 p.m. media conference call, “then it changed to a blizzard.”

The weather forecast changed at about 4 or 5 a.m., calling for more accumulation than anticipated, CDOT stated.

At 8 a.m., Golden witnessed 3 inches of snowfall, and by 12:30 p.m., neighboring city Wheat Ridge had a snowfall total of 18.2 inches, according to the National Weather Service.

And it kept falling.

The intensity of the snowfall began to taper off metro-wide by late afternoon, but the severe weather warning remained in effect in Jefferson County until 6 p.m., according to accuweather.com, which is a link provided from the CDOT website for up-to-date weather forecasts.

Close to 100 snowplows were out on the highways in the Denver-metro area throughout the day. Crews will also be working overnight, clearing roads and de-icing, CDOT reported.

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