Big Weather System Dumps 16 Inches Of Snow On Colo., Hits Plains With Thunderstorms

DENVER (AP) _ A storm system piled more than a foot of snow on the Colorado foothills on Tuesday and hit the Plains with violent thunderstorms, flooding rainfall and hail. <br/><br/>A tornado damaged several

Tuesday, April 24th 2007, 5:39 pm

By: News On 6

DENVER (AP) _ A storm system piled more than a foot of snow on the Colorado foothills on Tuesday and hit the Plains with violent thunderstorms, flooding rainfall and hail.

A tornado damaged several buildings near the small town of Wild Horse about 110 miles southeast of Denver, but no injuries were reported, the Cheyenne County Sheriff's Department said. The department did not immediately have details on damage.

``I was terrified,'' said Wild Horse resident William Skinner, 47, of Wild Horse. ``It was right there, by my neighbor's, just about 200 feet away.''

A second twister was reported near the Colorado-Kansas line about 35 miles east of Wild Horse, but there were no immediate details.

High winds caused some damage in the Dallas-Forth Worth area, and two tornadoes were reported. It was unclear whether the twisters caused the damage.

Evergreen, Colo., in the foothills west of Denver, reported 16 inches of snow, and other foothills towns had up to 14 inches.

``There's cars sliding off the roads everywhere,'' said Rick Olde, owner of Olde's Convenience Store in Evergreen.

Some schools were closed in the mountains and foothills.

Tumbling boulders, a fallen power line, accidents, slick pavement and poor visibility forced nearly a dozen road closures, including on Interstates 25 and 70.

A jackknifed semi backed up traffic for nearly 20 miles on southbound I-25 between Denver and Colorado Springs.

Hail the diameter of quarters peppered parts of southeastern Colorado, and authorities said some rural roads were blocked by flooding from heavy rain in northeast Colorado, northwest Kansas and southwest Nebraska.

Up to 7 inches of rain was likely in parts of Nebraska, said National Weather Service meteorologist Cindy Fay in Hastings, Neb.