Heavy Snow, Eastern San Juan Mountains
- When
- December 5, 3:00 AM MST to 4:00 PM MST
- Where
- Eastern San Juan Mountains forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 38.747, -106.194 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow in Colorado, December 5, 1998
A strong weather system brought a favorable southwest airflow over the Eastern San Juan mountains. Snow accumulations ranged from 4 to 8 inches in Mineral and Rio Grande counties from early morning through most of the afternoon.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS PUB wrote it up.
A strong weather system brought a favorable southwest airflow over the Eastern San Juan mountains. Snow accumulations ranged from 4 to 8 inches in Mineral and Rio Grande counties from early morning through most of the afternoon. Nearly 8 inches of snow fell on Wolf Creek Pass, and 4 to 6 inches occurred in and around South Fork. As the weather system moved across the rest of southern Colorado, cold air surged south over the eastern plains. A brief burst of snowfall brought 1 to 4 inches of snow from the Colorado Springs area through Pueblo and into the Wet mountains.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Heavy Snow
- Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornadoes and High Wind in California, December 5 to 16, 1998
- Winter Storm in California, December 5 to 6, 1998
- Tornado in California, December 5, 1998
- Dense Fog in Florida, December 5, 1998
- Heavy Snow in Colorado, December 5 to 6, 1998
- Heavy Snow in California, December 5, 1998
- High Wind in Alaska, December 5 to 7, 1998
- Heavy Snow in Washington, December 5, 1998
- Heavy Snow in Oregon, December 5 to 6, 1998
- Heavy Snow in Washington, December 5 to 6, 1998
- Heat in Oklahoma, December 5, 1998
- Flood in U.S. Virgin Islands, December 5, 1998
More
Every storm in Colorado in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, December 1998
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5674478.