Alert archive / Colorado / Winter Storm Warnings in 2019

Winter Storm Warning 18, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

December 12, 20199 counties in Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this winter storm warning at Dec 12, 2019, 4:10 AM MST for 9 counties in Colorado. It took effect at Dec 12, 2019, 5:00 PM MST. It was in force for 54 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Dec 12, 2019, 4:10 AM MST (11:10 UTC)
In effect from
Dec 12, 2019, 5:00 PM MST
Expired
Dec 14, 2019, 11:00 PM MST
In force
54 hr
Issued by
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

Counties Boulder County, CO, Clear Creek County, CO, Gilpin County, CO, Grand County, CO, Jackson County, CO, Jefferson County, CO, Larimer County, CO, Park County, CO, Summit County, CO

The radar

The Denver radar (KFTG), 102 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 11:10 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Grand Junction, CO (KGJT), launched 00:00Z, 11.2 hours before the alert went out and 254 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Grand Junction, CO at 00:00Z on 2019-12-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Grand Junction, CO at 00:00Z on 2019-12-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 5 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1545 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
5 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
84 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this winter storm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before this winter storm warning went out at Dec 11, 7:36 PM MST, 8 hours 34 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 11, 7:36 PM MST, 8 hours 34 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 11, 11:02 AM MST, 17 hours 8 minutes before
Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO
1102 AM MST Wed Dec 11 2019

COZ030>051-121815-
Jackson County Below 9000 Feet-
West Jackson and West Grand Counties Above 9000 Feet-
Grand and Summit Counties Below 9000 Feet-
South and East Jackson/Larimer/North and Northeast Grand/
Northwest Boulder Counties Above 9000 Feet-
South and Southeast Grand/West Central and Southwest Boulder/
Gilpin/Clear Creek/Summit/North and West Park Counties Above
9000 Feet-Larimer and Boulder Counties Between 6000 and 9000 Feet-
Jefferson and West Douglas Counties Above 6000 Feet/Gilpin/Clear
Creek/Northeast Park Counties Below 9000 Feet-
Central and Southeast Park County-
Larimer County Below 6000 Feet/Northwest Weld County-
Boulder And Jefferson Counties Below 6000 Feet/West Broomfield
County-
North Douglas County Below 6000 Feet/Denver/West Adams and
Arapahoe Counties/East Broomfield County-
Elbert/Central and East Douglas Counties Above 6000 Feet-
Northeast Weld County-Central and South Weld County-Morgan County-
Central and East Adams and Arapahoe Counties-
North and Northeast Elbert County Below 6000 Feet/North Lincoln
County-
Southeast Elbert County Below 6000 Feet/South Lincoln County-
Logan County-Washington County-Sedgwick County-Phillips County-
1102 AM MST Wed Dec 11 2019

This hazardous weather outlook is for northeast and north central
Colorado.

.DAY ONE...Today and Tonight

There will be a chance of light snow in the mountains tonight with
accumulations of an inch or two in some areas. Winds will increase
over the mountain ridges and higher east slopes of the Front
Range. Gusts up to 60 mph will produce localized blowing and
drifting snow.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday

The next storm system is expected to move into the mountains
Thursday night and continue through much of the weekend with snow
and winds causing blowing snow issues. Abundant moisture from the
eastern Pacific will be brought into Colorado by a strong jet
stream which will produce nearly continuous snowfall through most
of the weekend. It is difficult at this time to determine snowfall
amounts, however significant snow accumulations are possible in
the high country as the snow stacks up over a three day period.

The plains will have a slight chance of snow from Friday night
through Saturday and then an increased chance of snow Saturday
night and Sunday with a frontal passage. At this time the
snowfall looks light, though there is a bit of uncertainty.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation will not be needed today or tonight.

Gimmestad/Schlatter

Nearby

Winter Storm Warnings in Colorado, 2019Every winter storm warning in 2019

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.