by Peter Mertz
DENVER, the United States, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Sunshine and blue skies greeted residents of Colorado Thursday as an unprecedented, three-day, non-stop snow storm finally moved east out of town.
In the wake of this historic storm, local residents scrambled to clear sidewalks and streets and parents bundled up the children before seeing them off into the night to collect candy -- in unseasonably frigid climes.
"Halloween trick-or-treaters should prepare for temperatures in the 20s (about -1 to -6 degrees Celcius) on Thursday night and zero overnight -- it would be the first time in Denver's recorded history that the mercury would hit 100 degrees in one month -- only for it to drop below zero the next," cautioned local KUSA-TV weatherman Marty Coniglio.
Authorities in Denver, capital of the state, warned residents to remove snow from sidewalks in preparation for heavy Halloween pedestrian traffic in the Halloween evening, or face hefty fines.
Denver public school officials cautioned parents whose children would be outside for Halloween to wear "extra layers" of clothing.
The remarkably early season Arctic blast broke snow and cold records across the Centennial State for October -- bringing chaos to city residents unprepared for the early ice-wave.
"New record low! We've dropped to 3 degrees Fahrenheit (-16 degrees Celcius) this morning," Coniglio reported Wednesday.
Denver International Airport, where more than 1,000 flights were cancelled or delayed Tuesday, reported Wednesday "55 of the previous 71 hours" of unrelenting snow for a third day -- making it one of the top 12 snowiest Octobers in Denver's history.
Police reported hundreds of car crashes on icy roads throughout the area. Schools and businesses were shuttered Wednesday, and Denver shelters were filled overnight as police and rescue workers brought homeless people to safety, local media reported.
The early season storm blanketed the Denver metro area and its 3 million inhabitants with more than a foot of snow -- with the biggest October surprise since 1997 -- the twelfth heaviest October in a century.
"It had never stayed so cold on these dates in the past," CBS4 weather reported, noting that daytime high records were shattered.
When skies cleared across the state Thursday, officials at Colorado's world-renowned ski resorts were elated.
The 2018-2019 season saw abundant snowfall -- Colorado resorts set a record for ski visits with 13.8 million, according to Colorado Ski Country USA -- but 2019-2020 is off to an even more blustery beginning.
"It's great to start off the season this way," said Jeff Hanle, vice president of Communications at the Aspen Skiing Company that runs the four-mountain Aspen Snowmass resort, including Buttermilk, where the Annual ESPN X-Games are held.
"It drives people to the website and starts them thinking about the season early," he told Xinhua, noting that bookings show that "people are getting excited" about the upcoming season.
The Rocky Mountain region set a record with 24.4 million skier visits in 2018, which is nearly twice as many as the second-ranked Northeast region with 12.5 million, according to the National Ski Areas Association.
