DENVER — Denver has its snow plows and drivers ready for whatever Mother Nature drops as the city prepares for its first storm of the season.
A Winter Storm Warning is up for the Denver area, with 5-12 inches of snow the most likely for most of the metro area.
"Hard to say what we’re really going to get," Nancy Kuhn, director of communications for the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure. "The forecast is varying pretty widely between two inches [to] seven inches. We’ve got warm pavement temperatures so some of that may melt first. So either way, we’ve got the trucks, we’ve got the people, we’ve got the material and they’ll be able to address whatever comes our way this time around."
Kuhn said crews that were out sweeping and paving Friday are getting plows on trucks.
Overnight, they'll bring in about 20 plow drivers to keep an eye on conditions, treating bridges and overpasses that might need their attention.
“So really, we’re going to start at 10 p.m., we’re going to have some people on overnight and then we’re going to ramp up as the weekend goes on," Kuhn said. "We’re going to have more people out tomorrow, maybe 45 or 50 people ready to get in their trucks and do whatever they need to do,” Kuhn said.
With slick roads and snowy conditions, Julie Bridges, trauma program director at Lutheran Medical Center, said poor conditions can make it tough at times for folks in the front range to reach them.
“It certainly can be, if the roads are backed up or if there are accidents, it can be difficult for people to get here,” Bridges said.
In the Denver metro, Bridges said if anyone going out to celebrate the Halloweekend should dress smart, which includes not wearing heels on icy streets.
Still, with the first snow in sight, Bridges says emergency departments are staffing up to handle the uptick in traffic.
“Our first snowstorm of the season falling on the weekend before the Halloween holiday will definitely have some impacts and we’ll definitely see a higher than normal volume based on that,” Bridges said.
Bridges said they'll likely treat some cases of hypothermia and frostbite at the hospital. But, she said the biggest problem when winter weather arrives is people falling.
“Especially with the first snow that we have, we see a lot more patients who come in with fall injuries – slips trips and falls,” Bridges said.
To combat that, Bridges said, try to keep walkways clear and lookout for black ice on the roads.
And if you have to drive, go slow and give the drivers and the plows plenty of space.
“Be safe and go slow,” Kuhn said.
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