Neil Alderson, executive director of the Schlessman YMCA, moves snow for patrons as a late winter storm packing hurricane-force winds and snow sweeps over the intermountain West Wednesday, March 13, 2019, in Denver.

Runways were cleared, the lights came back on and stranded motorists and airline passengers were back on the move on Thursday as the blizzard that pounded the U.S. Rocky Mountain and Plains states shoves eastward and fizzled to rain.

Shortly after midnight, four of the six runways at Denver International Airport had been cleared, spokeswoman Emily Williams told Reuters.

And while some flights resumed, the airport was not expected to be fully operational until midday on Thursday as airlines had still had to dispatch more planes to Denver to replace those diverted or canceled earlier, she said.

Flight cancellations were down to around 600 for Thursday, from more than 1,300 in the region a day earlier.