A burst of convective snow struck the Colorado Springs area, bringing 4 to 9 inches of snow. Snow also fell in the mountains west of Colorado Springs.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 PUB wrote it up.
A burst of convective snow struck the Colorado Springs area, bringing 4 to 9 inches of snow. Snow also fell in the mountains west of Colorado Springs. Lesser amounts of 2 to 5 inches were noted in Fremont, western Pueblo, Custer, and Huerfano counties.
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 24, 2:37 PM MST, 23 minutes earlier.
SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST COLORADO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO COLORADO 237 PM MST SUN MAR 24 2002 WEATHER ISSUES THIS PACKAGE INCLUDE AMOUNTS OF PRECIPITATION TONIGHT INTO MONDAY AND THEN AGAIN LATER FRIDAY INTO EASTER SUNDAY OF NEXT WEEK. CWFA CURRENTLY BEING GRACED BY ISOLATED TO SCATTERED RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS WITH EVEN A FEW LIGHTNING STRIKES ALONG WITH COOL LATE MARCH AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES. WINDS MUCH SUBDUED TODAY COMPARED TO SATURDAY. LATEST RADAR AND SURFACE REPORTS ALSO INDICATED THAT SOME LOCALIZED HEAVY SNOW OCCURRING JUST NORTH OF THE CWFA IN PORTIONS OF ELBERT AND LINCOLN COUNTY. LATEST VERSIONS OF ETA/MESOETA AND AVN ALL INDICATE THAT SOMEWHAT DISORGANIZED AND NOT VERY WELL JUXTAPOSED SCENARIO SHAPING UP TONIGHT INTO MONDAY WITH UPPER SYSTEM MOVING ACROSS REGION TONIGHT ALONG WITH SOME WEAK MOIST UPSLOPE FLOW. LATEST VERSION OF HOTSTART MM5 MORE AGGRESSIVE WITH PRECIPITATION FOR PORTIONS OF THE REGION. FOR SENSIBLE WEATHER TONIGHT...WILL NOT HOIST HIGHLIGHTS BUT WILL HAVE HIGH SCATTERED TO LIKELY POPS ALONG WITH LOW-END SNOW AMOUNTS... GENERALLY UNDER 4 INCHES OVER PORTIONS OF NORTHERN EL PASO COUNTY AND THE EASTERN SLOPES WITH LESSER AMOUNTS ELSEWHERE. WILL ALSO INSERT AREAS OF FOG. MINIMUM TEMPERATURES SHOULD BE A CATEGORY OR TWO LOWER THAN NOTED LAST NIGHT. EVENING SHIFT WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR CONDITIONS AND ADJUST FORECAST ACCORDINGLY IF MM5 HOTSTART MODEL VERIFIES. MOST SHORT-TERM MODELS SUGGEST THAN HIGHEST POTENTIAL OF WIDESPREAD MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION TO OCCUR MONDAY MORNING WITH DECREASING ACTIVITY THEREAFTER. WILL CONTINUE WITH GENERALLY SCATTERED POPS ON MONDAY ALONG WITH COOL TEMPERATURES. FROM TUESDAY INTO FRIDAY...MODELS INDICATE THAT UPPER RIDGING OVER CWFA WITH A WARMING AND DRYING TREND IN THE OFFING FOR THE REGION. FROM LATER FRIDAY INTO SUNDAY...WILL DISCOUNT LATEST VERSION OF THE ECMWF AND WILL INTRODUCE A CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION INTO THE REGION FOR THE UPCOMING EASTER WEEKEND AS LATEST VERSIONS OF THE MRF/AVN/UKMET/CANADIAN AND NOGAPS ALL SUGGEST THAT CLOSED UPPER LOW MOVES INTO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AROUND 12Z FRIDAY WITH THIS UPPER LOW THEN PROJECTED TO MOVE ACROSS THE FOUR-CORNERS/NORTHERN NEW MEXICO REGION FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY. IT ALSO APPEARS THE THE GULF OF MEXICO WILL BE WIDE-OPEN INTO OUR REGION FROM LATER FRIDAY INTO AT LEAST SATURDAY. IN ADDITION TO THE CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION WILL COOL NEXT WEEKENDS TEMPERATURES SOME. .PUB...NONE
COZ058>081-242000- SIGNIFICANT WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO 1205 PM MST SUN MAR 24 2002 A COLD FRONT WHICH MOVED ACROSS THE EASTERN PLAINS LAST NIGHT HAS ALLOWED A MORE MOIST AND COOLER AIRMASS INTO THE REGION TODAY. ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER MOST AREAS BY LATE AFTERNOON AND THEN CONTINUE INTO TONIGHT. RAIN AND OR SNOW MAY BE NOTED OVER PORTIONS OF THE PLAINS THIS AFTERNOON. FOR TONIGHT...SNOW IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE IN COVERAGE AND INTENSITY...ESPECIALLY ALONG THE EAST FACING SLOPES OF THE WET MOUNTAINS...SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS AND THE RAMPART RANGE. THESE AREAS OF POTENTIALLY HEAVIER SNOWFALL COULD MAKE TRAVELING DIFFICULT LATER TONIGHT INTO MONDAY MORNING. IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO TRAVEL OVER SOUTHERN COLORADO FROM LATER THIS AFTERNOON INTO MONDAY YOU SHOULD CHECK THE LATEST FORECAST FOR UPDATES ON THE LOCATION AND AMOUNTS OF SNOW.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 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, March 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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5285892, 5285891.