article_snippet.sent: A spring snowstorm and icy roads caught Colorado drivers by surprise Friday, causing a 39-vehicle pileup near Boulder and other bad wrecks that shut down highways during the morning commute.
article_snippet.sent: Numerous crashes and spin outs on icy and snowy highways have closed portions of several interstates and highways in the Denver and Colorado Springs area as well as the mountains . '
article_snippet.sent: At lower elevations, the storm left only light snow on grass, and roads were largely clear because of recent warm weather.
article_snippet.sent: However, motorists driving at normal speeds were surprised by icy patches, especially on bridges, said Trooper James Schmidt of the Colorado State Patrol. '
article_snippet.sent: We have four seasons in one day,' Trooper James Schmidt of the Colorado State Patrol said after the sun emerged.
article_snippet.sent: The snowpack in the the Colorado State Patrol and Wyoming valleys where the river originates now ranges from 51 to 79 per cent of normal, said Brian Domonkos, the Colorado State Patrol supervisor of the U.S. Department of Agriculture snow survey, which monitors snowfall and water availability.
article_snippet.sent: Warm temperatures and scarce snowfall in early March caused the snowpack in Colorado to shrink significantly. '
article_snippet.sent: A storm brought up to 11 inches of snow on Thursday and Friday to parts of the Colorado mountains and foothills, but much of A storm fell east of the Continental Divide and will eventually melt into the South Platte and Arkansas rivers.
article_snippet.sent: Preliminary readings showed the snowpack in Colorado on Friday in the South Platte basin was 87 per cent of normal and 79 percent of normal in the South Platte basin.
article_snippet.sent: A pedestrian moves along a sidewalk while framed by branches covered with snow from a spring storm in Denver .
article_snippet.sent: A cows grazes as her calves lay next to her on a farm after a light snow, near Eldorado Springs, Colo., not far from a lagging Colorado River .