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Remember the blizzard of 1997? Ed Greene does.

While snow isn't completely unexpected the amount that fell in October 1997 was quite a surprise. Ed Greene discusses the blizzard.

DENVER — All this week on 9NEWS mornings, you’re going to see some familiar faces. We’re invited former anchors and reporters to join us. 

The average first snowfall for Denver is Oct. 18, according to statistics from the National Weather Service.

That means snowfall during the month of October is not unusual, but the amount that fell on Oct. 25, 1997 was quite surprising.

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"Some areas got up to 52 inches of snow," said Ed Greene who was working at 9NEWS at the time. "Officially out at the airport we had 14 but if you look at the old airport in Stapleton which was closer to downtown, they had 22. Parts of the suburbs got 30 to 40 inches."

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The storm left thousands of people stranded at Denver International Airport. At the time there was no hotel at there and it wasn't as easy as it is now to check your flight status ahead of time. That meant travelers were left at the airport with nowhere to go.

Credit: KUSA
Travelers stranded at DIA following the Oct. 1997 blizzard.

"It was just lying the floor and catching the sleep that you could and waiting for your plane to be rescheduled," Greene said. 

Out of the top five storms ever recorded in Denver, this storm is number three, according to Greene. 

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"I remember, Mark Koebrich and I out on I-225, and I mean standing on the highway cause there was this much snow, and cars had stopped they couldn't go any farther," Greene said. "We were going down walking on 225 interviewing people in cars."

Credit: KUSA

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After leaving 9NEWS Greene spent years working as a meteorologist at another television station in town. He has spent 40 years working in Denver television news.

Greene currently hosts a Saturday morning radio show on 850 KOA in Denver.

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