DENVER -- High winds and blowing snow forced officials to close eastbound Interstate 70 at Vail Pass for a brief time Thursday morning because of the number of spun-out vehicles.

Vail officials reopened the interstate just after 11 a.m. but said it was still slow going for many miles and for many hours later because of the dangerous driving conditions.

"It is a winter wonderland if you head up the mountains right now. I-70 is getting hit very, very hard," said Eric Escudero with the Colorado Department of Transportation. "If you are heading up to the mountains, you can expect long, long delays for the rest of the day."

U.S. 6 Loveland Pass is closed because of adverse conditions.

Chains are required on eastbound and westbound I-70 at Floyd Hill for all commercial vehicles, including buses and vans with a capacity of 16 people or more. The town of Avon is on accident alert.

Down in the Mile High City, there's no snow but lots of high wind.

"A Pacific storm is moving through Colorado, and the winds will be quite gusty through the day. Expect westerly winds around 25 mph to 30 mph, gusting to 50 mph along the foothills. Stronger gusts -- upwards of 70 mph -- will be possible in the Front Range and central mountains," said 24/7 Meteorologist Richard Ortner.

Gusts of 75 mph were reported at Chatfield Reservoir, 64 mph at Denver International Airport, 52 mph at Jefferson County Airport, and 45 mph at Broomfield and the Tech Center.

Ortner said the mountain snow will continue through the day but taper off Thursday evening, leaving total accumulations of 5 to 10 inches.

"The strong winds will continue, however, and blowing snow will continue to be a problem for the rest of the state," Ortner said.

For about 10 minutes on Thursday, downtown Denver was also hit with a gust of snow, rain, lightning and thunder and then the skies cleared.

A strong gust of wind blew through downtown Denver breaking the limbs off of an old tree at Fourth and Clarkson. The tree limb knocked down a power line and also damaged a car sitting underneath. There were no injuries reported, but the street was closed for most of the morning.

A rotted tree at 43rd and Logan also fell through a fence and onto the roof of a pickup truck. No one was inside the vehicle. A tree fell also on a house at 34th and Wyandot in Denver, causing some damage to the home.

Because of downed trees and power lines, there have been reports of scattered power outages across the city.

The windy weather means unsettled weather is on the way, with a storm that will affect the metro area expected on New Year's Day. Stay tuned with 7NEWS and TheDenverChannel.com for updates on that storm system.