12 winter storm, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 12 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 Mar 9, 2:56 AM MST, 23 hours 4 minutes earlier.
SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST COLORADO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO COLORADO 256 AM MST FRI MAR 9 2001 FORECAST CHALLENGE REVOLVES AROUND INCOMING FRONT ON SATURDAY AND POPS FOR SATURDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SUNDAY WITH NEXT SYSTEM... TODAY/TONIGHT...MODELS ALL PRETTY SIMILAR WITH NEXT UPPER LOW CURRENTLY OVER PACIFIC NORTHWEST WHICH DIVES SOUTH INTO SRN CA AND THE SRN TIP OF NV BY 12Z SAT. SOME DIFFERENCES EXIST HOWEVER WITH AVN A BIT DEEPER THAN OTHER MODELS BY 12Z SAT. UPPER RIDGE WILL BE OVER THE AREA THROUGH TODAY WITH LEE SIDE TROUGH IN PLACE. 850 TEMPS OFF ETA IN THE +14C RANGE WITH AVN THE TYPICAL 2C WARMER. THIS WOULD BODE FOR SOME UPPER 60S (MAYBE EVEN A 70) ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST PLAINS TODAY...WITH WARMEST READINGS JUST EAST OF MTNS IN BEST DOWNSLOPE. MOISTURE INCREASES ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS LATE IN THE AFTERNOON WITH ETA/AVN PRINTING OUT SOME LIGHT PRECIP. LAPSE RATES OF AROUND 7 AND ETA MODEL SOUNDINGS INDICATE A LITTLE INSTABILITY MAY PRODUCE AN AFTERNOON SHOWER OR TWO. MOISTURE INCREASES OVER THE SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS OVERNIGHT WITH OROGRAPHIC SNOW MODEL GIVING AROUND 3 TO 5 INCHES OF SNOW FOR ZONE 61. Q-G LIFT INCREASES OVER THE AREA LATE...ESPECIALLY OFF ETA MODEL WHICH BY 12Z IS STRONGER WITH THE UPPER LEVEL JET ALONG THE SOUTHERN SIDE OF UPPER LOW. AVN IS WEAKER WITH THE UPPER JET WHICH IS PROBABLY A RESULT OF KEEPING THE SUBTROPICAL JET MORE OF A SEPARATE FEATURE. NGM/ETA TRY TO BLEND THE TWO JETS BRIEFLY..WHICH MAY BE RESULTING IN AN INJECTION OF STRONGER JET WINDS AROUND SOUTHERN SIDE OF LOW. HARD TO SAY WHICH IS MORE CORRECT...BUT PLAN TO BUMP UP POPS FOR THE SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS TONIGHT. ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST PLAINS...EXPECT FAIRLY WARM NIGHT AS CIRRUS AND AC STREAM IN OVERHEAD. MAIN FEATURE TO WATCH IS COLD FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH NRN STREAM SHORTWAVE. ETA/MESO ETA DEPICT FRONT ALONG THE PALMER DIVIDE BY AROUND 12Z. AVN IS FURTHER NORTH AS USUAL...AND WILL BASE TIMING OF FRONT OFF ETA/MESO ETA DUE TO BETTER TERRAIN RESOLUTION. SAT/SAT NIGHT...MESO ETA BARRELS FRONT THROUGH SE PLAINS BY 15/18Z ...ABOUT 6 HRS PEARLER THAN PREVIOUS MODEL RUNS FROM YESTERDAY INDICATED. THEN FAIRLY DEEP UPSLOPE DEVELOPS BY SAT AFTERNOON. AVN/NGM ARE MUCH SLOWER WITH THE SOUTHWARD PROGRESSION OF FRONT...AND IN FACT KEEP IN FURTHER NORTH AS WELL. WILL BASE FORECAST OFF ETA AS IT SEEMS TO HANDLE THE SOUTHWARD PROGRESSION OF COLD FRONTS THE BEST...AND WILL NEED TO DROP BACK TEMPS FOR SATURDAY ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST. MODEL DIFFERENCES START TO APPEAR IN UPPER LEVELS AS WELL WITH AVN 500 LOW CLOSED OFF AND FURTHER N. ETA OPENS UP THE SYSTEM AND IS A TAD FURTHER SOUTH. UNCERTAIN AS TO WHICH SOLUTION IS MOST CORRECT HERE. ALTHOUGH ALL MODELS SHOW LEFT FRONT QUAD OF UPPER JET OVER SOUTHEAST COLORADO PLAINS IN THE AFTERNOON...AVN PUNCHES UP A DRY SLOT INTO THE SW MTNS SAT MORNING WHICH ETA KEEPS MUCH FURTHER SOUTH. ISENTROPIC LIFT DEVELOPS ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST PLAINS SAT AFTERNOON WITH BEST LIFT ON I295 SFC LATE SAT AFTN AND EVENING... WHICH THEN SHIFTS EASTWARD INTO KS/WRN OK BY 06Z SUN ACCORDING TO ETA. UPSLOPE WILL ALSO FACTOR IN FOR A HEAVIER SNOW POTENTIAL FOR THE SOUTHEAST MTNS...MAINLY WETS AND SRN SANGRES...WHERE NE FLOW OF 15 TO 20 KTS WILL AID IN ENHANCING LIFT. ETA SNOW ACCUMS PRINTING OUT 6 INCHES ALONG EASTERN SLOPES OF WETS. OTHER AREA OF CONCERN GIVEN STRONG NE FLOW WOULD BE NRN EL PASO COUNTY. ALL OF THIS RESULTS IN BUMPING UP POPS ACROSS ALL AREAS FOR SAT AND SAT NIGHT. SHOULD START OUT AS RAIN ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST PLAINS...THEN QUICKLY CHANGE OVER TO SNOW IN THE EARLY EVENING AS COLDER AIR ADVECTS IN. WET BULB ZEROS START OUT AROUND 7000 FEET ACROSS SOUTHEAST MOUNTAINS...THEN DROP TO AROUND 6500 BY LATE AFTERNOON. MAY NEED SOME HIGHLIGHTS FOR THIS EVENT IF ETA/MESO ETA ARE CORRECT. BUT WITH SO MANY MODEL UNCERTAINTIES...AM HESITANT TO COMMIT TO ANYTHING YET. SATURDAY NIGHT...UPPER LOW LIFTS ACROSS AREA WITH ETA THE FASTEST AND WEAKEST...AND AVN SLOWER AND STRONGER. AVNS POSITIONING OF FEATURES FURTHER NORTH (INCLUDING FRONT POSITION) WOULD KEEP PRECIP BULLSEYE FURTHER NORTH AS WELL OVER THE PALMER DIVIDE...IN CONTRAST TO THE ETA WHICH IS MUCH FURTHER SOUTH AND WOULD TEND TO WANE PRECIP BY SUNDAY MORNING. LOTS OF UNCERTAINTY...BUT CARRYING LIKELY POPS SEEMS THE BEST COMPROMISE FOR NOW. EXTENDED... SUNDAY...AVN LIFTS UPPER LOW ACROSS SOUTHEAST PLAINS SLOWLY ON SUNDAY...ALTHOUGH I SUSPECT THAT ETAX MIGHT BE FASTER WITH THIS EXITING WAVE BASED ON 60 HR POSITION. (ETAX NOT POSTED TO INTERNET YET.) LOWER TROP FLOW WOULD SHIFT MORE NORTH TO NW...TAPERING OFF PRECIP ACROSS EAST PLAINS DURING THE DAY. EXTENDED MODELS SHOW ANOTHER PIECE OF ENERGY DIVING DOWN NORTHWEST FLOW AND CUTTING OFF OVER SOUTHWEST US...THEN MOVING INTO SRN AZ/NW OLD MX BY 12Z TUE... AND SHIFTING EASTWARD ALONG THE SRN US BORDER THROUGH WED. NORTHWEST FLOW WOULD KEEP BEST CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS ACROSS CEN MTNS. MONDAY APPEARS TO BE A MORE DRY DAY FOR SOUTHEAST PLAINS THAN CURRENT ZONES HAVE GOING...BUT WILL NOT MAKE ANY CHANGES YET. TUE/THURS...WILL KEEP THE GENERIC CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS FOR THE SW AND CEN MTNS...WITH DRY CONDITIONS ELSEWHERE. .PUB...NONE. KT
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
12 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
A strong weather disturbance moving across northern New Mexico...in combination with upslope flow behind a surface cold front generated widespread snow across southern Colorado from the morning of the 10th into the morning of the 11th. Northern and central El Paso county...including Colorado Springs tallied up to 6 to 7 inches of snow. Up to 8 inches fell in Teller county at Cripple Creek...and in Climax in Lake county. Saguache...in Saguache county and Westcliffe...in Custer county measured 8 to 10 inches. Both Monarch Ski Area and Wolf Creek Pass tallied10 inches. Gulnare...in Las Animas county saw 12 inches of new snow...and 14 inches piled up in Cuchara in Huerfano 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, March 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: 5236344, 5236342, 5236343, 5236353, 5236345, 5236347, 5236348, 5236349, 5236350, 5236351, 5236352, 5236346.