Heavy Snow in Colorado, November 8 to 10, 2002

Name: Heavy Snow in Colorado, November 8 to 10, 2002
Start: 2002-11-08T06:00
End: 2002-11-10T06:00
Location: Colorado

November 8 to 10, 2002 · NWS PUB · 8 events in 8 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 8 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 8

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS PUB wrote it up.

A vigorous weather disturbance produced prodigious amounts of snow over mainly the highest mountains. Up to 20 inches of snow fell in the eastern San Juan and La Garita mountains, including 12 inches at Santa Maria Reservoir, and 20 inches near the summit of Wolf Creek Pass. Generally, one foot to nearly 3 feet of snow fell in the eastern Sawatch Range, including 31 inches on Monarch Pass in southwest Chaffee county. In Lake county, Leadville picked up 21 inches of snow, while Climax recorded 23 inches. Nearly a foot of snow fell above 10000 feet in the Sangre de Cristo range.

What forecasters said that day

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 Nov 8, 3:18 AM MST, 2 hours 42 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 8, 3:18 AM MST, 2 hours 42 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST COLORADO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO
318 AM MST FRI NOV 8 2002

WINDS AND SNOW REMAIN PRIMARY CONCERN TODAY AND SATURDAY.

CURRENTLY...KPUX SHOWING WIND SIGNATURES ACROSS ALL SANGRES AND WET
MOUNTAINS...AS WELL AS INTO TELLER COUNTY. SO FAR HIGH WIND
CRITERIA NOT MET AT OBSERVATION STATIONS...BUT RADAR COUPLED WITH
DRYING ON WATER VAPOR CERTAINLY IMPLIES VERY WINDY CONDITIONS ACROSS
HIGHER TERRAIN. PAC JET MOVING ONSHORE AND MAKING SHORT WORK OF
MOVING THROUGH SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.

PRIMARY CONCERN IS WINDS TODAY AND SNOW BEGINNING THIS AFTERNOON.
WINDS CURRENTLY ONGOING...AND WITH JET STILL APPROACHING AND UPPER
WINDS INCREASING...WILL CARRY THE WARNING THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT.
NEXT SHIFT MAY NEED TO EXTEND WIND WARNING INTO SATURDAY WITH JET
OVERHEAD AND SHORTWAVES/SUBSIDENCE...MAY PUSH HIGHER WINDS DOWN THESE
PERIODS. RIDGETOP WINDS STILL SHOW UP ON XSECTIONS AT 40 MPH...WITH
50 MPH JUST ABOVE RIDGETOPS FOR TODAY...THEN 70 MPH JUST ABOVE
RIDGETOPS ON SATURDAY MORNING. AS FAR AS SNOW IS CONCERNED...SYSTEM
STILL LOOKS WARM...WITH 700 MB TEMPS -1 TO -2 C...ALTHOUGH 600 MB
TEMPS BETTER AT -8 TO -9. LAPSE RATES ARE 5C FROM 700 TO 500 MB. THE
PLUSES...EVENT LOOKS PROLONGED...WITH ACCUMULATING SNOWS BEGINNING TO
IMPINGE 18Z TODAY IN THE WESTERN MOUNTAINS...EXTENDING THROUGH 18Z
SATURDAY ACROSS WESTERN AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS. AS ANOTHER S/W MOVES
THROUGH FLOW 18Z-0Z SUN...WITH 7C LAPSE RATES...COULD GET ANOTHER
GOOD SHOT THIS PERIOD. NUMBERS ADD UP TO APPROX 24 HOUR WARNING
CRITERIA. GOOD MOISTURE EXTENDS THROUGH 500MB AS WELL. BLOWING SNOW
WILL BE AN ISSUE WITH BLIZZARD LIKE CONDITIONS POSSIBLE FRIDAY NITE
THROUGH SATURDAY EVENING. WILL HOIST THE WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THE
WESTERN AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS. WITH WET BULB 0 AT ABOUT 10K...WILL
START CRITERIA ACCUMULATIONS AT 9000 FT. WILL BE INTERESTING SCENARIO
WITH SUCH STRONG FLOW ALOFT AND EMBEDDED SHORTWAVES APPEARING IN
MODELS ABOUT EVERY 6 HOURS. WILL LIKELY SEE PERIODS OF HEAVIER
SNOWS. WILL CONTINUE SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS AS WINTER STORM
WATCH...CURRENT PROGS SHOW MOST ACCUMULATING SNOWS IN THE WESTERN
MOUNTAINS...AND NOT CONFIDENT WITH WARM NATURE OF SYSTEM AND WIND
DIRECTION THAT CRITERIA WILL BE MET IN THE EASTERN MOUNTAINS.
ANOTHER NOTE...AS SNOW LEVELS LOOK HIGH...WILL NEED TO KEEP AN EYE
ON THE MILLION BURN SCAR AS RAINFALL IS POSSIBLE IN THIS AREA LATE
FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY.

BEYOND SATURDAY...COLDER AIR MOVING INTO AREA SUNDAY BEHIND JET
WHICH DIPS SOUTHWARD INTO TEXAS...LEAVING AREA IN NW FLOW. TEMPS AT
700 COOL TO -6C FOR MONDAY. NW FLOW ALOFT CONTINUES INTO TUESDAY...
AS N/S JET MIGRATES EASTWARD INTO KS. WAA BEGINS AS RIDGE BUILDS
ALOFT ON WED...WITH WARM WESTERLY FLOW CONTINUING INTO THURSDAY.
CURRENT GRIDS REFLECT THIS TREND...CHANGES NOT LIKELY.

THANKS BOU GJT FOR COORD.

.PUB...HIGH WIND WARNING THROUGH TONIGHT FOR WESTERN EL PASO
          COUNTY AND TELLER COUNTY...SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS...
          AND WET MOUNTAINS. (ZONES 081-082-084-085-071-072-073-074-
          075-080)
       WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FOR SAN JUAN...LA GARITA...
            AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS. (ZONES 063>068 AND 058-061)
       WINTER STORM WATCH FOR SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS
            THROUGH SATURDAY EVENING. (ZONES 072>075)

KC

Hazardous weather outlook, Nov 7, 7:15 AM MST, 22 hours 45 minutes before

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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Eastern Lake County / Western Mosquito Range Above 11000 Ft

When: November 8, 6:00 AM MST to November 10, 6:00 AM MST
Where: Eastern Lake County / Western Mosquito Range Above 11000 Ft forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.202, -106.345 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Leadville Vicinity / Lake County Below 11000 Ft

When: November 8, 6:00 AM MST to November 10, 6:00 AM MST
Where: Leadville Vicinity / Lake County Below 11000 Ft forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.202, -106.345 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Eastern Sawatch Mountains Above 11000 Ft

When: November 8, 6:00 AM MST to November 10, 6:00 AM MST
Where: Eastern Sawatch Mountains Above 11000 Ft forecast zone
Reported by: UNKNOWN
Coordinates: 38.677, -106.274 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Eastern San Juan Mountains Above 10000 Ft

When: November 8, 6:00 AM MST to November 10, 6:00 AM MST
Where: Eastern San Juan Mountains Above 10000 Ft forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 37.484, -106.500 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Western Chaffee County Between 9000 & 11000 Ft

When: November 8, 6:00 AM MST to November 10, 6:00 AM MST
Where: Western Chaffee County Between 9000 & 11000 Ft forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 38.747, -106.194 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, La Garita Mountains Above 10000 Ft

When: November 8, 6:00 AM MST to November 10, 6:00 AM MST
Where: La Garita Mountains Above 10000 Ft forecast zone
Reported by: UNKNOWN
Coordinates: 37.778, -106.530 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Northern Sangre de Cristo Mountains Above 11000 Ft

When: November 8, 6:00 AM MST to November 10, 6:00 AM MST
Where: Northern Sangre de Cristo Mountains Above 11000 Ft forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 37.867, -105.544 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains Above 11000 Ft

When: November 8, 6:00 AM MST to November 10, 6:00 AM MST
Where: Southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains Above 11000 Ft forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 37.426, -104.809 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Colorado in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Colorado, November 2002

Sources

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: 5323740, 5323741, 5323742, 5323743, 5323744, 5323745, 5323746, 5323747.