Snowstorm shuts down Denver airport, cancels over 1,000 flights

A blizzard shut down Denver International Airport on Wednesday, canceling more than 1,000 flights after temporarily knocking out power and making takeoffs and landings unsafe, airport officials said.

The storm, which hit the Denver area early on Wednesday, caused ripple effects in other parts of the country, as planes were forced to sit on tarmacs while awaiting clearance to depart for Denver.

“Denver International Airport has made the decision to close the airport until further notice,” the airport said on Twitter. “Passengers should not plan on coming to the airport until further notice.”

The closure came one day after a suspicious package was found at the airport’s main terminal, prompting a brief evacuation amid heightened security in response to deadly suicide bombings in Brussels.

Power was knocked out at the airport for more than an hour, briefly preventing crews from fueling and de-icing aircraft, airport spokesman Heath Montgomery said.

A total of 573 departing and 549 arriving flights had been canceled at the airport by about 1 p.m., according to the tracking website flightaware.com.

Other flights destined for Denver were delayed by more than five hours, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

Heavy snow and wind gusts up to 50 miles per hour continued during the day, Montgomery said. The storm made roads hazardous and caused school closings.

The Denver metropolitan area was expected to see between 6 inches and 12 inches of snow on Wednesday, with the fierce storm moving across northern and northeastern Colorado and blizzard conditions affecting the Interstate 25 corridor, the National Weather Service said.

The weather system is expected to move on from the central Rocky Mountains to the upper Midwest as it heads toward New England, the weather service added.