Snow walloped the Front Range, from Fort Collins in the north to Pueblo in the south–and beyond–as Governor Bill Ritter issued a disaster declaration and cars piled up on the Interstate. It was a “climatological sucker punch,” according to The Denver Post, that wiped out memories of a string of warm days, bringing nearly a foot of snow to much of the state. About 30 cars crashed into each other on Interstate 70 near Federal Boulevard, and 75 more ran off the road on U.S. 36 near Boulder. No deaths from those accidents have been reported. Schools, businesses, museums and the Denver Zoo all closed, according to this Post story. A Denver judge even halted the Ward Churchill trial, notes the Colorado Daily, and newspaper deliveries were delayed, including the Denver Business Journal. While snow has been reported today, 9News meteorologist Ashton Altieri says it will let up this morning, although a blizzard warning remains in effect for the southeastern part of the state. The Greeley Tribune reports that one of these storms a week would help break the state’s dry spell.