Early season storm sweeps dust, snow across West

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) -- A major early season cold front brought gusting winds and cool temperatures to the Southwest and prompted warnings of heavy snowfall and blizzard conditions in parts of Wyoming and Colorado.

Forecasters with the National Weather Service predicted two days of snow starting overnight for Cheyenne and the northern Colorado Front Range. The storm could bring 12 to 18 inches of snow, as well as blizzard-like conditions, to the Cheyenne area through Thursday.

"It's a major early season storm," said Mike Weiland, National Weather Service meteorologist in Cheyenne. "The results are going to be quite a bit of snow and a fairly long duration snow event."

The weather kicked up heavy winds and dust on Tuesday in Nevada, Arizona and California.

Blowing dust was blamed for unhealthy air quality throughout the San Joaquin Valley in California. Regional officials urged residents with asthma and other respiratory ailments to stay indoors and limit outdoor activity.

To the east, thick, gray clouds hung over the Las Vegas Strip just before sunset, and weather officials said gusts had been measured at 47 mph at nearby McCarran International Airport. The front pushed high temperatures down into the high 30s and 40s Tuesday in northern Nevada, about 25 degrees cooler than the day before.

In Arizona, the mountains that surround Phoenix vanished in a gray haze. Several traffic accidents were blamed in part on low visibility.

The front brought snow to northern Utah, where snow along the Wasatch Front slowed some morning commuters in and around Salt Lake City.

Weiland said the storm was moving southeast over east-central Nevada and west-central Utah on Tuesday evening. Forecasters predicted the storm would move to the Four Corners before heading east and northeast to the High Plains through Thursday.

In Colorado, 8 to 14 inches was forecast for the Front Range and 5 to 10 inches in the Denver area. Up to 2 feet was possible in the northern Colorado Front Range foothills and the Laramie Range in southeast Wyoming.

United Airlines and Frontier Airlines, which both have hubs in Denver, were relaxing some fees for changing travel plans in light of the storm forecast.

Winter storm warnings were posted for southeast Wyoming, most of Colorado and parts of Nebraska and Utah.

Cheyenne already has had a snowy October, with 14 inches so far. The average for the month is 3 inches.

The Wyoming Department of Transportation was urging its plow drivers to rest up ahead of this storm, agency spokesman Bruce Burrows said.

"The skier in me is saying, `Yeah, bring it on,"' Burrows said. "But it is challenging for our folks."

Whether highways remain open depends a lot on the wind. In Wyoming, large storms often kick up strong winds that cause constant drifting over roads.

"A lot of snow we can deal with pretty well. If the wind comes up, it makes it very difficult to keep up, even with our best technology and our best efforts," Burrows said.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)