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An 'astounding' third snowstorm in 3 weeks sweeps across Colorado

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published January 6, 2007

DENVER - The third snowstorm in as many weeks barreled into Colorado on Friday, blanketing the Denver area with up to 8 inches of new snow and further hampering efforts to rescue thousands of cattle stranded by last week's blizzard.

Crews worked around the clock to clear roads so residents could get to stores for food and medicine. Several school districts canceled classes because wind gusts up to 30 mph reduced visibility.

In Kansas, an estimated 60,000 people were still without power after more than a week, and the new storm was headed their way after dumping nearly a foot of snow in the foothills west of Denver.

In hard-hit southeastern Colorado, no more than 1 inch of new snow was expected, but the winds made road clearing difficult.

Agriculture officials were still trying to determine how to deal with the carcasses of thousands of livestock that were killed in the blizzard or starved afterward.

An estimated 3,500 cattle are believed to have died on rangeland in six southeastern Colorado counties alone, said Leonard Pruett, the region's agriculture extension agent for Colorado State University.

"The magnitude of the snow out here is astounding," said Ed Cordes, project manager for Pioneer Pork, which has about 7,500 sows and 4,000 young pigs on a ranch covering about three square miles near Springfield, about 200 miles southeast of Denver.

American Humane Association workers arrived Friday to help rescue and feed young pigs that might have been orphaned.

[Last modified January 6, 2007, 00:34:21]