Snow day in Pueblo brings the best and worst moments
The snow in Pueblo brought both good and bad times.
Drivers in the county today had to deal with snowy, icy and slushy road conditions.
Some parts in the city and Pueblo West were completely covered in snow.
Eddie Willis drove from Pueblo to Colorado Springs. He said he was in no hurry to get to where he was going.
“You don’t want to go too fast. I been keeping at least, it is 75 mph on I-25, I been keeping it about 50. I don’t want push it too much more than that,” he said.
Not only has it been challenge for drivers, but also snow plow crews.
CDOT said a driver crashed into one of its plows on Highway 78 in the county.
Chuck Decker, a supervisor with the department, said crews have to worry about more than just snow.
“You know, the challenges that we face are just trying to keep up with the heavy snow and keep traffic moving. You know, it’s just snowing a little faster than we can keep up with. Traffic, you know, anytime there is one little accident it shuts things down for us and we can’t get through and the rest of the highway suffers,” Decker said.
CDOT has 20-25 crews working 12-hour shifts to keep the roads clear. The department has already used more than 20,000 pounds of liquid deicer and close to 30 tons of the salt and sand mixture on the streets.
Snow was not the only concern in Pueblo West. Weekend winds blew in tumbleweeds to the area and the far west was hit hard.
Brandon Budge lives in the area. He said the weather ruined his family’s hard work.
“Actually, because of the snow, this stuff blew in last night. Most of it was cleaned up my wife and kids while I was at work. They had a hay day and cleaned up the fences and did that stuff. It was all cleared up, now it’s back,” Budge said.
Pueblo West allows people to burn tumbleweeds, but you need a permit in order to do it.
While the snowy weather brought out terrible conditions, most people made it fun.
Kids took advantage of a snow covered hill on Thatcher Avenue. While most people on the roads wanted to take it slow because of the snow, the kids wanted to see how fast they can go on the powder. In downtown Pueblo, an artist used snow from around the area to create a snowman in front of the Daily Grind Caf. He said it took three hours to create.
The snow also made a man want to reach his goal.
Lou Pecek, 69, will be trekking more than 20,000 feet up Mt. Everest in May.
He used the snow covered stairs near the Arkansas River Levee to train.
“The folks I’m going to go with say that at 18, 19, 20,000 feet, there could be snow, and I want to approximate the weather, the snow, conditions and the pace,” Pecek said.
Even though the snow can bring treacherous conditions, it can also be used to entertain and accomplish monumental targets.
