The spring storm that moved into eastern Colorado developed into a blizzard across the Northeast Plains as an intense surface cyclone formed. The combination of freezing rain, followed by heavy snow and damaging winds led to widespread electrical outages.
Every event with a place to put it; 5 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS BOU wrote it up.
The spring storm that moved into eastern Colorado developed into a blizzard across the Northeast Plains as an intense surface cyclone formed. The combination of freezing rain, followed by heavy snow and damaging winds led to widespread electrical outages. Snowfall totals generally ranged from 6 to 18 inches. The heaviest snow occurred near the Front Range Foothills, the Palmer Divide, stretching from just south of Denver, then east and northeast into northern Lincoln and Washington Counties, and near the Nebraska state line. Sustained winds from 35 to 58 mph with gusts to around 75 mph were recorded. Snow drifts up to 10 feet deep were reported around Limon. Elsewhere, snow drifts from 3 to 6 feet deep were observed. Interstate 25 was closed at Lincoln Avenue, cutting off access from Denver south to Colorado Springs. To the north, I-25 was closed just south of the Wyoming border. Interstate 70 was also closed from Gun Club Road, east of Denver, to the Kansas state line. Denver International Airport was completely shut down for the first time in its brief 6-year history. Power surges and outages constantly crippled the airport's massive computer system. The airport was closed at 5 am and did not reopen until mid-afternoon. Power outages affected nearly all of northeast Colorado. Some areas only had scattered outages for a few hours, while more remote areas were blacked out for over a week. The only businesses that remained open during the storm, were those utilizing backup generators. As a result, most businesses were closed and school classes canceled. Overall, 220,000 Xcel Energy customers were affected, making it the worst outage in the company's history. Previously, the worst event occurred in September of 1995, when downed trees and branches from a snowstorm left 100,000 customers without electricity. Overall, at least 500 poles were downed or damaged during the storm. The company replaced 120 electrical poles, repaired 180 additional poles, and repaired or replaced another 400 cross-arms. Approximately $1.6 million was spent on repairs across northeastern Colorado.Other rural eastern Colorado electric companies suffered significant damage as well. Highline Electric in Holyoke lost 1000 poles. Mountain View of Limon lost 450 poles and 7 transmission lines. Morgan County Regional Electric Association lost 500 poles. United Power of Brighton lost over 300 poles. Y & W of Akron lost 200 poles and Poudre Valley of Fort Collins lost another 100 poles. Damage estimates to these companies were at least $1.5 million.In Morgan County, winds gusts to 76 mph leveled the screen at a historic drive-in movie theater. The wind also blew off a membrane protecting a section of roof under repair at Fort Morgan High School. In Washington County, four railroad cars containing empty cargo trailers, stacked two deep, were blown off the tracks. Near Akron, three young boys who were sledding got disoriented during the storm and became lost. They were found safely after a brief search. Along the Urban Corridor, storm totals included: 18 inches in southeast Aurora, 16 inches at Centenniel Airport, and Parker, 14 inches at Broomfield, 13 inches at Louisville and 4 miles west of Jamestown, 12 inches at Lakewood and Morrison, 11 inches at Ken Caryl and Thornton, 10 inches, 7 miles northwest of Elizabeth, 1 mile west of Larkspur, the former Stapleton Airport and Wheat Ridge, 9 inches at Westminster and 8 inches at Littleton. Elsewhere, snow amounts ranged from 3 to 7 inches. Across the Northeast Plains, storm totals included: 12 inches at Akron, 11 inches at Limon, 9 inches, 4 miles northwest of Greeley, 8 inches at Julesburg, Grover and Sedgwick, 7 inches, 1 mile north of Strasburg, with 6 inches, 3 miles northwest of Deer Trail, Frederick, Greeley, 4 miles west of Hudson. Elsewhere, snow amounts ranged from 2 to 5 inches. Peak wind gusts included: 76 mph (66 kts) at Fort Morgan, 70 mph (60 kts) at Akron Airport, 68 mph (59 kts) at Limon Airport, 60 mph (52 kts) at Denver International Airport and 4 miles east of Haxtun. At the Limon Airport, sustained winds to 58 mph (50 kts) were recorded for several hours during the morning.
The local office's own words before the first event, 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 the first event at Apr 11, 3:33 AM MST, 2 hours 27 minutes earlier.
NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER COLORADO
315 AM MDT WED APR 11 2001...UPDATE
SHORT TERM DISCUSSION: HAVE HAD JUST ABOUT EVERY KIND OF WX TO
DEAL WITH TNGT WITH TSTMS...GRAUPEL...RAIN...SNOW AND WIND. ONLY
THING HAVENT HAD IS A NICE SUBTROPICAL TRADE WIND I COULD ENJOY
WHILE ON A VERANDA SIPPING SASPARILLA. ALL THIS WX COURTESY OF A
DEEP AND NEARLY VERTICALLY STACKED LOW MOVING ACROSS SERN CO INTO
SWRN KS. HAVE HAD SVRL CNVRGNC BANDS WITH EMBEDDED TSTMS ON RADAR
WHERE SNOW HAS BEEN DUMPED AT 2 INCHES PER HOUR. OTHER AREAS ARE
GETTING 1/2 TO 1 INCH PER HOUR. WITH CAA LOWERING FRZG LVL OVER FAR
NERN CO EXPECT RAIN TO CHNG OVER TO SNOW IN AKO AND POINTS E BY TIME
ZONES GO OUT. MDLS ALL AGREE THAT SNOWFALL TO PICK UP IN NERN ZNS
WITH ANYWHERE FROM 3 TO 10 INCHES BTWN 12Z AND 00Z THIS AFTN. LESS
ACCUM ALG FNT RANGE AND IN FTHLS AS LOW LVL WINDS ALREADY FROM NW
WHICH IS DWNSLP. WITH RECENT WARM TEMPS BLV GOOD AMOUNT OF MELTING
TO OCCUR SO WILL UNDERCUT THESE AMTS BUT STILL LOOKS LIKE 4-8 INCHES
POSSIBLE WHICH IS WITHIN THE CRITERIA FOR HVY SNOW ON PLAINS.
QUESTION IS WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE HIGHLIGHTS. SEE NO REASON TO DROP
WINTER STORM WARNING YET AS BEST SNOW AND STGST WINDS YET TO ARRIVE
OVER MOST OF PLAINS ZONES. WITH NWLY WINDS NOW OBSERVED ALG THE
FTHLS AND I-25 CORRIDOR AS LOW PULLS INTO SWRN KS WILL LOWER SNOW
AMTS A LITTLE FOR THESE ZONES AND WILL PSBLY DOWNGRADE WRNG TO
SNOW/BLOWING SNOW ADVSY. WILL WAIT TIL LAST MINUTE AND SEE WHAT
RADAR/METARS ARE SHOWING AT 4 AM. AS FOR MTNS INTERESTING THAT
RADAR DOES NOT SHOW MUCH ACTVTY...YET HAVE A GOOD COLD BACKWASH
CLOUD SHIELD IN PLACE OVER THAT AREA THAT SHUD BE PRODUCING A
DECENT AMT OF SNOW. CALL TO EISENHOWER TUNNEL CONFIRMS MOD TO
HVY SNOW...THRFR WILL LEAVE WARNING IN PLACE FOR MTNS AS WELL.
SEE NO REASON TO LOWER WIND SPEEDS IN FCST. TEMP FCSTS IN
BALLPARK WHICH MEANS MOS GDNC TEMPS ABT 10 DEGS TOO WARM.
UPON FURTHER REVIEW HAVE DECIDED TO DOWNGRADE TO SNOW AND BLOWING
SNOW ADVISORY FOR ZONES 38 AND 39 THIS MORNING. SNOW ON THE
DECLINE AS WINDS IN THESE AREAS NOW BECOMING DOWNSLOPISH.
007
LONG TERM DISCUSSION...MODELS CONTINUE TO BE IN FAIRLY GOOD
AGREEMENT THROUGH THE MEDIUM RANGE. WRAP AROUND MOISTURE WILL
PERSIST ACROSS THE NORTHEASTERN PLAINS THIS EVENING BEFORE WINDING
DOWN. ELSEWHERE...SHORT WAVE H5 RIDGE WILL BE OVER THE AREA BUT
RESPITE IN THE WEATHER WILL BE BRIEF. RIDGE WILL BE DIRTY AS
OVERRUNNING MOISTURE STARTS TO INCREASE AHEAD OF THE NEXT SYSTEM
WHICH IS EXPECTED TO MOVE ACROSS NORTHERN COLORADO THU AND THU
NIGHT. THIS SYSTEM WILL NOT BE AS COLD OR AS POTENT AS THE ONE
TODAY. FOR THE MOUNTAINS...SNOW WILL REDEVELOP TONIGHT AHEAD OF THE
TROUGH AND CONTINUE THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT. ALTHOUGH THIS SYSTEM IS
WEAKER...SEVERAL FACTORS SHOULD AMOUNT FOR SOME DECENT MOUNTAIN
SNOWFALL. WEAK BUT PERSISTENT H7-H3 QG ASCENT...GOOD MID LEVEL
INSTBY (7-8C/KM) AND FAVORABLE OROGRAPHIC (DIRECTIONAL) COMPONENT.
WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED TO SEE SOME ADVISORY CRITERIA TYPE SNOW. WL
LET LATER SHIFTS DEAL WITH THIS POTENTIAL PROBLEM. IN THE PLAINS
...SFC WINDS BECOME MORE SOUTHEASTERLY WITH GOOD DENVER CYCLONE
DEVELOPING BY THU AFTERNOON. LOW LEVEL THETA-A RIDGE ORIENTED OVER
MUCH OF EASTERN COLORADO AT 00Z FRI...THEN THIS AXIS SHIFTS EAST
THROUGH THE EVENING. ETA SOUNDING FOR THIS TIME FRAME RANGE FROM
200-400 J/KG ALONG THE URBAN CORRIDOR TO 400-800 J/KG IN THE
PLAINS. SO GOOD THUNDERSTORMS POTENTIAL THU AFTERNOON INTO THU
NIGHT. AS FOR FRI...DRIER ZONAL FLOW WILL BE OVER THE AREA AS THE
SYSTEM SHIFTS NORTH. A FAST MOVING SHORT WAVE EMBEDDED IN THIS FLOW
BRUSHES NORTHERN COLORADO SATURDAY SO WILL ADD A CHANCE OF SHOWERS
TO THE MOUNTAINS AT THAT TIME. MRF DOES INDICATE A SURGE ALONG WITH
SOME PCPN MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY FOR THE PLAINS. WL KEEP DRY FOR
NOW...BUT THIS MAY CHANGE IF NEXT RUN IS CONSISTENT WITH THIS
SOLUTION. COOPER
.DEN...WINTER STORM WARNING THIS MORNING...40>45.
...WINTER STORM WARNING TODAY..ZNS 30..32>34..37.
...WINTER STORM WARNING TODAY..ZNS 46..48>50.
...SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY THIS MORNING...38 AND 39.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, April 2001
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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5238156, 5238157, 5238158, 5238159, 5238160.