Low level upslope combined with an upper level jet stream allowed for bands of heavy snow to develop over portions of the Front Range Foothills and Urban Corridor. The areas hit hardest included the foothills of Jefferson, Douglas and Park Counties, and the Interstate 25 corridor, from the southern suburbs of Denver to around Castle Rock.
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.
Low level upslope combined with an upper level jet stream allowed for bands of heavy snow to develop over portions of the Front Range Foothills and Urban Corridor. The areas hit hardest included the foothills of Jefferson, Douglas and Park Counties, and the Interstate 25 corridor, from the southern suburbs of Denver to around Castle Rock. Elsewhere the heavy snowfall was more localized. In the Front Range Foothills, snowstorm totals included: 10 inches, 1 mile east of Buckhorn Mountain, 9 inches at Intercanyon, 11 miles southwest of Morrison, Roxborough State Park and 5 miles southwest of Sedalia, 8.5 inches at Crow Hill and 7 miles south of Tiny Town. Along the Urban Corridor, snowfall totals included: 8 inches at Ken Caryl and 5 miles northwest of Castle Rock, 7 inches at Lakewood, 6.5 inches at Littleton, with 6 inches reported at Castle Rock and 2 miles west of Larkspur.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, January 2002
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: 5279406, 5279407, 5279408, 5279409, 5279410.