Rockies, Plains prepare for another winter storm

Airlines were trying to get travelers to leave early or wait until after the storm.
DENVER (AP) -- New Year's travelers jammed the Denver airport Thursday, trying to get out of town ahead of a snowstorm that threatened to close runways and gum up the nation's busy holiday travel season for the second time in a week.
The storm was expected to dump up to 18 inches of snow on the Denver area overnight and prompted Gov. Bill Owens to again declare a statewide disaster emergency, just a week after a pre-Christmas blizzard shut the airport for more than two days. The shutdown stranded 4,700 holiday travelers and backed up flights around the country.
The broad storm stretched from the Rocky Mountains into the western Plains; winter storm warnings were in effect for parts of Colorado, Wyoming, western Nebraska and Kansas, New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle.
Managers at the nation's fifth-busiest airport drew up snowplowing plans, and airlines urged ticket-holders to flee Denver early or delay departures until after the storm. By 2 p.m. United Airlines and Frontier, which together account for 80 percent of traffic at Denver International Airport, canceled more than 180 flights.
Mill and Ann Younkers arrived hours early to check in for an evening Frontier flight back home to Naples, Fla. The couple's trip to see their daughter in Denver was delayed three days by the first storm, and they did not arrive until Christmas morning.
Mill Younkers said he was holding a backup reservation for Sunday and was ready to reclaim his rental car if needed.
"You just have to have a good sense of humor and keep your patience," he said. "Try to always have a Plan B."
The airport and airlines called in extra workers, and security lines moved relatively quickly. But long lines formed at ticket counters as travelers tried to adjust their plans. The Frontier line snaked across the cavernous terminal and wrapped around behind the lines of other airlines on the other side of the building.
Frontier waived its usual change fee to encourage passengers to catch earlier flights. "Let's try and get as many people out ahead of the storm as we can," Frontier spokesman Joe Hodas said.
Some travelers made frantic arrangements to salvage their plans.
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