Roundup: February snowfall breaks record since 1912 in U.S. Denver

The last week of February saw U.S. Colorado rocked by three separate snowfalls that broke records across the state and the 103-year-old monthly total for the state capital Denver.

A Thursday-Friday snowstorm dumped up to 18 inches in suburban areas and broke Denver's 1912 record of 22.1 inches at the Denver International Airport (DIA) with meteorologists saying the new February record will be close to 26 inches.

The end of week blast closed Denver schools Friday, caused dozens of minor accidents, and brought bitter cold to Colorado's "Front Range," the flat farmlands on the eastern half of the state where overnight temperatures dipped to -13 degrees Fahrenheit (-25 degrees Celsius), and zero degree Fahrenheit (-18 degrees Celsius) in downtown Denver, according to KKTV-11.

As the month ended Saturday, a snowstorm from the south was moving into the area with 1-2 inches more snow expected on the eastern plains and up to 2 feet in the mountains.

Homeless shelters in the city reported Saturday they were filled to capacity. With temperatures dropping precipitously after nightfall, the Salvation Army is conducting search and rescue operations to save homeless people from freezing to death by driving them to shelters, CBS News said.

The City of Boulder, 30 miles (48 km) to the northwest of Denver, was blasted with more than 44.4 inches of snow in February, the biggest monthly total since records began in 1895, and breaking the 2012 record of 32.1 inches by more than a foot.

"I'm from Sweden and I know about snow...but Boulder got dominated this year," said Ludvig Ragnarsson, 24, a junior Physics major at the state's biggest school, the University of Colorado.

Colorado's ski resorts are located in the western mountainous part of the state and represent a major part of the local economy. They suffered through one of the driest Januarys on record and are thrilled by the big February turnaround.

"We're very excited. The whole town is alive, and conditions here are just amazing," said Meaghan Lynch, a spokesperson for the Aspen-Snowmass resorts, where more than a foot of snow is expected over the weekend and hotels are operating at maximum capacity.

Although somewhat sporadic, most ski resorts at Colorado's high elevations enjoyed considerable snow in February.

Over the past week, the Wolf Creek Ski area in the southern part of the state was hammered by 65 inches of snow, while a foot was added to Winter Park's 212-inch season total, and 58.5 inches fell in February at the northwest resort of Steamboat Springs, according to spokesman Travis Brown. Endi