Heavy snow and rain fall on Colorado Rockies

Scattered power outages were reported in below-freezing weather.
DENVER (AP) -- A spring storm dumped more than a foot of wet, heavy snow Friday on the Colorado Rockies, shutting down schools, knocking out power and closing highways with rock slides and dangerous slush.
The storm dealt a one-two punch, with well over a foot of snow in the mountains and a soaking rain at lower elevations. Both fell on heavily populated areas, including Denver, but the snow quickly melted in the rain.
Few complained. Colorado has been mired in a years-long drought along with much of the West.
"We need the moisture so bad," said James Krajeck, manager of the Black Diamond Casino in Cripple Creek, which welcomed just two gamblers when it opened. "Even though we're going to lose some business out of this deal, I'm glad to see the moisture."
Power out
Scattered outages were reported around the state, including 2,000 Xcel Energy customers in the Alamosa area who lost electricity as temperatures dropped well below freezing after midnight.
The weather caused dozens of accidents. Interstate 25 was closed for about 12 hours at the Colorado-New Mexico line because of poor conditions and spinouts near 7,834-foot-high Raton Pass. U.S. Highway 550 at Red Mountain Pass, in southwest Colorado, was closed by a rock slide covering 75 feet of road.
Fatal crash
Rain was blamed for a two-car collision Thursday that killed four people near Sterling, 125 miles northeast of Denver. Most roads were wet Friday but not snowpacked, state transportation officials said.
Many school districts in the Colorado Springs area were closed after up to a foot of snow made driving too dangerous.
The highest snowfall amount reported at midday Friday was 16 inches near Nathrop, west of Colorado Springs. Other areas received a foot, 13 inches fell west of Boulder and the foothills west of Denver received 8 inches.
Mike Gillespie, snowpack expert with the Natural Resource Conservation Service, said the storm put a dent in the drought. "We've got quite a ways yet to go," he told KCNC-TV.
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