(Image source from: Indiatimes.com)

A bomb cyclone of high winds and drifting snow has slammed the United States Rocky Mountain and Plain states on Wednesday stranding motorists, canceling more than 1,300 airline flights and leading to the death of a Colorado state trooper.

A state of emergency was declared by Colorado governor Jared Polis due to the storm and said he had activated the state National Guard to assist in search and rescue operations.

The National Weather Service issued blizzard warnings for parts of Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, and the Dakotas as schools and businesses were closed and local authorities called on residents to hunker down.

Meteorologists cited to the storm as a "bomb cyclone," a winter hurricane that forms when the barometric pressure drops 24 millibars in 24 hours.

"So far, we have received 125 (updated) traffic crash reports and #Denver remains on #AccidentAlert," the Denver Police department said on Twitter.

At this point #DPD has recieved 125 Crash Reports. The only portion of the city that remains on #AccidentAlert is District 3 (SouthEast portion of #Denver). If you absolutely have to head out, please be cautious. #BombCyclone

— Denver Police Dept. (@DenverPolice) March 14, 2019

The Colorado State Patrol said one of its troopers, Corporal Daniel Groves, 52, was struck by a car that veered out of control on Interstate 76 and died of his injuries a shortly at Platte Valley Medical Center in Brighton.

The state patrol said that "high speed in poor driving conditions" was being investigated in connection with the crash that caused his death.

All six runways at Denver International Airport were closed due to drifting, blowing snow. An airport spokesman said 1,339 flights had been canceled as of mid-afternoon. Colorado Springs Municipal Airport canceled all incoming flights.

All school districts in the seven-county Denver metropolitan were obstructed, along with most state and city government offices and many business organizations.

Utility company Xcel Energy said approximately 130,000 commercial and residential customers in Colorado were without power due to high winds and wet heavy snow.

"Limited visibility has affected our ability to respond," Xcel Energy spokesman Mark Stutz said, adding it was unclear when power would be restored.

(Image Source: Evening Standard)

Interstate 70 was blocked east of Denver to the Kansas state line and sections of Interstate 25 were also closed, according to Colorado Department of Transportation.

(Image Source: Indiatimes.com)

"They typically do get strong systems this time of the year in that part of the country, but this one is maybe a notch stronger than what you typically see," said meteorologist Marc Chenard of the weather service's Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.

Winds of up to 70 miles per hours (110 kph) are expected to sweep across a wide area of states to the south, including parts of Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Kansas, according to forecasters.

The weather service said the storm was also expected to bring heavy rain to areas of Iowa, eastern Nebraska, Minnesota, and Wisconsin that hitherto have a good deal of snowfall on the ground, increasing the menace of river flooding.

By Sowmya