The weather outside was frightful as a massive spring storm slammed into Denver in mid-March.

Yet the blizzard didn’t stop many editorial and production employees of The Denver Post and JOA partner Rocky Mountain News from making it into work.

Their efforts enabled Post-News publisher the Denver Newspaper Agency (combined daily, 610,009; Saturday, 621,221; Sunday, 789,137) to print March 19 editions of the papers.

The March blizzard, the second largest ever to hit Denver, ultimately dumped more than 30 inches of snow in the city and up to 5 feet in nearby foothills communities.
Photo: Marcelo Duran

Impassable road conditions the morning of March 19 made it impossible for DNA carriers to deliver most papers, although limited distribution did occur. The storm, the second largest ever to hit Denver, ultimately dumped more than 30 inches of snow in the city and up to 5 feet in nearby foothills communities.

“We had to use less press capacity because our employees had so much trouble getting in to work,” said Larry Charest, director of production at the DNA’s Fox street facility, which primarily prints The Post.

Charest said that production of the newspapers was slowed, but not stopped by the blizzard. During the two heaviest days of the storm, the facility produced only one edition instead of its normal two-edition run.

“This enabled us to use less press capacity and get the paper out faster,” he said.

During the height of the storm, key production staff were ferried to the plant via four-wheel-drive vehicles. Employees who couldn’t get home stayed in nearby hotels.

City and state officials strongly encouraged the public to stay off the streets during the blizzard. Snowplows kept the main streets and thoroughfares relatively clear, but side streets were strewn with stalled cars and feet of snow.

In a column published the Saturday after the blizzard, Rocky Mountain News Publisher John Temple credited employees who helped the paper keep its deadlines. The paper had missed only one other day of production in memory, during an equally heavy Christmas Eve storm that pummeled Denver in 1982.

“So much stopped during the storm,” Temple wrote, “but there’s something about newspaper people: When big news happens, they want to be in on the action. Press operators somehow still got to the printing plants. Journalists walked to the office.”

Initially, employee morale was high, but cabin-fever soon set in, Charest said.

“I think for the most part morale was good,” he said. “After two or three days it was getting old. I think most employees chipped in and did their part to make it work.”

Most subscribers received a copy of the March 19 issue with the regular delivery of the March 20 paper. Others had to wait a few more days to get issues of the paper because some of the highways were closed due to avalanche warnings.