3 heavy snow, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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 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 Pueblo, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 12, 3:49 AM MST, 11 minutes earlier.
SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST COLORADO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO COLORADO 349 AM MST WED DEC 12 2001 SNOW AMOUNTS TODAY THE CONCERN. CURRENTLY...SURFACE FRONT OVER THE EAST HANGING UP BRIEFLY ALONG THE ARK RIVER AS OF 10Z...WITH WEAK SFC LOW JUST SOUTH OF KLHX. VORT MAX ROUNDING THE BASE OF THE TROUGH IN SWRN NM WITH COOLING CLOUD TOPS SPREADING TOWARD SRN CO. STILL NOT MUCH PRECIP ACROSS THE AREA...THOUGH LATEST 88D LOOP AND SFC OBS SHOWING A SLOW INCREASE IN -SN ALONG THE PALMER DIVIDE FROM MONUMENT HILL EASTWARD TOWARD KLIC. MODELS SHOWING FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT AND RUN-RUN CONSISTENCY REGARDING PLACEMENT OF SFC AND UPPER FEATURES TODAY. TODAY...BEST WINDOW FOR -SN WILL BE FROM 12Z-20Z AS SFC FRONT SURGES SWRD ACROSS THE PLAINS AND S/W TROUGH LIFTS OUT OF NM. BRIEF JUXTAPOSITION OF SYNOPTIC SCALE UVV/FRONTOGENIC FORCING AND UPSLOPE SHOULD BE ENOUGH TO WRING OUT SOME ACCUMULATING SNOWS ACROSS THE SERN MTNS AND PLAINS...THOUGH SHORT DURATION OF LIFT AND INITIALLY DRY SURFACE AIR MASS WILL LIMIT AMOUNTS. WILL GO WITH A 1 TO 3 INCH FCST FOR THE PLAINS...2 TO 4 FOR THE MTNS. SUSPECT KCOS AND KPUB AREAS WILL BE ON THE LOW END OF THE 1-3 RANGE AS NERLY UPSLOPE IS USUALLY NOT TOO FAVORABLE HERE...WITH BEST CHANCES FOR SIG ACCUMS OVER THE SRN SANGRES AND ALONG THE RATON MESA. FOR NOW...DOESNT APPEAR WE WILL NEED ANY HIGHLIGHTS. TEMPS A LITTLE TRICKY WITH THE PLAINS ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE ARK RIVER NEAR THEIR FCST HIGHS CURRENTLY. WILL NUDGE A FEW MAXES UP OVER THE SOUTH...BUT SUSPECT HIGHS WILL BE EARLY AS CAA WINDS OUT BY MIDDAY. TONIGHT...BEST LIFT MOVES QUICKLY EASTWARD WITH S/W LIFTING ACROSS KS. SFC AND MID-LEVEL FLOW BECOMES NWRLY WHICH SHUTS DOWN UPSLOPE WHILE LAST PIECE OF THE UPPER TROUGH SWINGS BY TOO FAR SOUTH TO PROVIDE MUCH IN THE WAY OF LIFT. WILL TRIM BACK OVERNIGHT SNOW TO JUST EVENING FLURRIES AND THEN DECREASE CLOUDS AFTER MIDNIGHT. ANY SNOW COVER AND CLEARING SKIES SHOULD ALLOW MINS TO DROP...GUIDANCE AND CURRENT ZONES LOOK OK. THURS...NWRLY FLOW ALOFT DEVELOPS WHICH SHOULD PRODUCE DRY AND WARMER CONDITIONS AREAWIDE. REMOVED -SHSN CHANCES FROM ALL BUT THE CENTRAL MTN ZONES AS LITTLE/NO UVV PROGGED. SOME DISAGREEMENT AMONG GUIDANCE NUMBERS WITH FWC WARMER THAN MAV...SPLIT THE DIFFERENCE FOR NOW...WHICH FITS CURRENT ZONES FAIRLY WELL. FRI...NEXT UPPER SYSTEM DIGS INTO THE WRN U.S. WITH A LEAST THE THREAT OF A FEW -SHSN OVER THE CENTRAL/SW MTNS. EXTENDED...LATEST AVN/MRF CONTINUES TO FLIP-FLOP AROUND WITH STRENGTH OF THE UPPER TROUGH OVER THE WEEKEND. 12/00Z RUN NOW LOOKS A LITTLE STRONGER THAN 24 HRS AGO. NEW ECMWF HOWEVER HAS TRENDED BACK TOWARD A WEAKER SYSTEM. SUSPECT WELL SEE A COUPLE MORE MODEL GYRATIONS UNTIL TROUGH HITS THE WEST COAST THURSDAY NIGHT. CURRENT SAT/SUN FCST WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW STILL LOOKS FINE AND WILL NOT CHANGE. .PUB...NONE. PETERSEN
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
A southward moving cold front produced areas of heavy snow along the eastern mountains and plains of southeastern Colorado. The heaviest snow amounts were as follows: 5 inches at Rye in Pueblo county and at La Veta in Huerfano county, 6 inches at Manzanola in Otero county.
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, December 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: 5275440, 5275376, 5275441.