Denver, CO : Five die in separate northern Colorado crashes as winter weather hits state on Wednesday, February 1st 2017

Five people died in five separate traffic crashes on Wednesday as winter weather, including ice storm conditions, blasted parts of northern Colorado.

Investigators on Wednesday night could not definitively say that all five fatal crashes were caused by adverse weather, but weather did play a role in some.

“Certainly weather is playing a factor in terms of treacherous conditions,” said Trooper Josh Lewis, a State Patrol spokesman.

“It is out of the ordinary,” Lewis said of the multiple fatal crashes.

A winter weather advisory, posted by the National Weather Service, for wide areas of northeastern Colorado, remains in effect until 8 a.m. Thursday and calls for freezing drizzle and ice accumulations up to one-tenth of an inch in some areas.

The advisory includes the Front Range from the Wyoming state line south to Pueblo and parts of the Eastern Plains, including Lincoln, Kit Carson and Cheyenne counties.

In Larimer County, U.S. 287 was shut down Wednesday afternoon by multiple traffic crashes. A two-vehicle collision at about 4:55 p.m. on the highway near County Road 72 killed one person. Another person was taken to a hospital, Lewis said.

Another two-vehicle crash on U.S. 287 resulted in several people being taken to a hospital, Lewis said. The highway was shut down at about 5 p.m. from Ted’s Place to the Wyoming state line because of “multiple crashes and icy conditions,” the state Department of Transportation said. It remained still closed as of 7 p.m.

Two fatal crashes happened in Weld County. One person was killed and two injured in a crash involving two pickups. The crash happened about 3:26 p.m. on Colorado 14, Lewis said.

On Colorado 392 near Weld County Road 45, a woman died in a single-vehicle rollover in a GMC SUV, Lewis said. The crash happened just after 3 p.m.

In Morgan County, on Colorado 52, a two-vehicle crash at about 4 p.m. killed one man, and a woman was taken to a hospital with injuries.

On I-76 in Logan County, a single-vehicle rollover killed the driver of a 1991 Chevrolet pickup. The crash happened about 7 p.m.

Larimer and Weld counties went on accident alert Wednesday evening. Thornton and Boulder also went on accident alert.

Fog and light freezing precipitation will restrict visibility in some areas to less than a quarter of a mile overnight into Thursday, the weather service said.

Driving and travel will be difficult at times, the weather service warned.

Denver’s high temperature Wednesday reached 31 degrees at about noon, the weather service said. The high temperature Tuesday in the city was 63 degrees.The low Wednesday night in Denver will be around 19 degrees.

Freezing drizzle will continue before 11 a.m. Thursday, and there will be patchy fog after that. The high Thursday will be around 39 degrees.

Sunny skies are expected for Friday and the weekend in the Denver area.

The high will be around 40 degrees on Friday and will leap to the upper 50s Saturday and Sunday, according to the weather service. On Monday it will be sunny with a high of 58 before clouds roll over the metro area in the evening.

There is a chance for snow on Tuesday, the weather service says.

Source :
Five die in separate northern Colorado crashes as winter weather hits state