Storm Closes Denver Airport, Flights Cancelled

A blizzard caused the closure of Denver Airport on Wednesday, with 1,200 flights cancelled, after the storm briefly knocked out power and made takeoffs and landings unsafe.

The storm, which hit Denver early on Wednesday, caused ripple effects across the country as planes awaited clearance to depart for snowbound Denver.

"We've got blowing snow out there, wet snow on the ground, icy conditions, low visibility, so we're fighting all those things," Denver airport spokesman Heath Montgomery said.

Montgomery said it marked the first time the airport had been forced to shut down due to heavy weather since 2006, when Denver was blanketed with several feet of snow.

The closure came one day after a suspicious package was found at the airport's main terminal, prompting a brief evacuation amid heightened security in response to the attacks in Brussels.

Montgomery said officials could not yet say when the airport would reopen, although forecasters expected the storm to ease later in the afternoon.

A main road to the airport was impassable, stranding passengers in terminals.

A power outage at about 5:20 am local time shut down many of the airport's systems for about an hour, Montgomery said, preventing crews from fueling and de-icing aircraft.

A total of 626 departing and 579 arriving flights had been cancelled by about 1 pm, according to flight tracker FlightAware.

The Denver area was expected to see between 6 and 12 inches (15-30 cm) of snow on Wednesday, with the storm moving across northern and northeastern Colorado, the National Weather Service said.

The weather system was expected to move to the upper Midwest as it heads toward New England, according to the weather service.