Skip to main content
Friday, November 13, 2026Nov 13
Subscribe
All Sections
Search
More

One-two punch of storms threatens Thanksgiving travel in US

A maintenance man uses a snowblower to clear a sidewalk outside a condominium complex along Grant Street as a storm packing snow and high winds sweeps in over the region Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2019, in Denver. Stores, schools and government offices were closed or curtailed their hours while on another front, Thanksgiving Day travellers were forced to wrestle with snow-packed roads and flight delays or cancellations throughout the intermountain West. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
A maintenance man uses a snowblower to clear a sidewalk outside a condominium complex along Grant Street as a storm packing snow and high winds sweeps in over the region Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2019, in Denver. Stores, schools and government offices were closed or curtailed their hours while on another front, Thanksgiving Day travellers were forced to wrestle with snow-packed roads and flight delays or cancellations throughout the intermountain West. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) A maintenance man uses a snowblower to clear a sidewalk outside a condominium complex along Grant Street as a storm packing snow and high winds sweeps in over the region Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2019, in Denver. Stores, schools and government offices were closed or curtailed their hours while on another front, Thanksgiving Day travellers were forced to wrestle with snow-packed roads and flight delays or cancellations throughout the intermountain West. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

By COLLEEN SLEVIN and DAVID KOENIG / The Associated Press 6 min read

DENVER (AP) – Heavy snow and wind shut down highways Tuesday in Colorado and Wyoming, closed schools in Nebraska and forced more than 1,000 travelers to sleep overnight in Denver’s airport after hundreds of flights were canceled just as Thanksgiving travel moved into high gear.

The storm was heading to South Dakota, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, while a “bomb cyclone” weather phenomenon began toppling trees, knocking out power and dumping snow as it barreled into California and Oregon – making for a double whammy of early wintry weather.

Authorities on both sides of the California-Oregon border reported numerous crashes and closed roads. The National Weather Service urged people to wait to travel for the holiday until the weather improves.

At Denver International Airport, about 10 inches (25 centimeters) of snow mixed with winds that limited visibility prompted the cancellation of about 30 percent of the airport’s average daily 1,600 flights.

The storm dumped nearly 3 feet (1 meter) of snow in parts of northern Colorado and closed long stretches of highways there and in Wyoming. One person was killed, and two others were injured when a tractor-trailer jackknifed and was hit by two other trucks on Interstate 70 near the Colorado ski town of Vail.