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Governor Polis declares a state of disaster emergency

A major winter storm could potentially dump more than a foot of snow on Colorado's Front Range and the Denver metropolitan area starting Friday. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis issued a disaster emergency Thursday evening, authorizing members of the Colorado National Guard to provide assistance in responding to winter storms.

The governor's declaration activates the Colorado State Emergency Operations Center and the State Emergency Operations Plan and directs the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) to “take all necessary and appropriate state actions to assist affected jurisdictions in their response, recovery and and to support mitigation efforts.”

Polis also wrote, “The storm is expected to develop throughout the day and this statement is necessary to ensure resources are available to support rescue efforts across the state as the storm worsens toward the evening.”

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Winter storm in Colorado: Travel warnings issued

On Thursday, the Colorado Department of Transportation advised motorists to avoid driving through much of the southeastern part of the state, including areas east of Interstate 25 and south of Interstate 76 to the Kansas and New Mexico state lines.

“It may look like the storm will move away later this afternoon, but the next round is expected to be worse than what we have already seen,” John Lorme, CDOT director of maintenance and operations, said in a statement. “Motorists should be prepared for long-term closures and avoid driving in the hardest hit areas of the state for the duration of the storm.”

The National Weather Service in Boulder issued a winter storm warning for the entire Denver metro area that went into effect at 5 a.m. MST Friday and predicted accumulations of up to 12 to 20 inches of “heavy wet snow” over the next 24 hours.

Winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories were also issued for much of the state through Saturday.

“Moderate to heavy snowfall is expected this afternoon and will continue overnight, creating very difficult winter driving conditions for much of northeast and north-central Colorado, including the Urban Corridor,” the National Weather Service said.

Governor Polis also announced that state government offices on Colorado's Front Range would transition to remote work to the extent possible on Friday and that state offices open to the public would be allowed to close on Friday due to weather conditions.

Max Hauptman is a trends reporter for USA TODAY. He can be reached at [email protected]

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