A very moist, intense and slow moving Pacific storm system made its way across the four corners area and into southeastern Colorado from March 17th to the 19th, allowing for a deep easterly upslope flow to form along the Front Range. 8 inches of snow at the former Stapleton International Airport, good enough for second place in the Denver weather history record book.
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 episode as NWS BOU wrote it up.
A very moist, intense and slow moving Pacific storm system made its way across the four corners area and into southeastern Colorado from March 17th to the 19th, allowing for a deep easterly upslope flow to form along the Front Range. The storm dumped 31.8 inches of snow at the former Stapleton International Airport, good enough for second place in the Denver weather history record book. The storm also managed to vault March 2003 into first place for the snowiest March in Denver history and fifth place for the wettest March on record. In addition, the storm allowed the month of March to break a streak of 19 consecutive months of below normal precipitation in Denver. The mayor of Denver said, "This is the storm of the century, a backbreaker, a record breaker, a roof breaker." The heavy wet snow caused roofs of homes and businesses to collapse across the Urban Corridor. The snow also downed trees, branches and power lines. Up to 135,000 people lost power at some point during the storms and it took several days, in some areas, to restore power. Avalanches in the mountains and foothills closed many roadways, including Interstate 70 in both directions, stranding hundreds of skiers and travelers. Denver International Airport (D.I.A.) was also closed, stranding approximately 4000 travelers. In all, the estimated cost of the damage to property alone (not including large commercial buildings) was $93 million, making it easily the costliest snowstorm ever in Colorado. The second costliest snowstorm was the 1997 blizzard where damage totalled $10.5 million. The areas hardest hit by heavy snow were the northern mountains east of the Continental Divide, the Front Range Foothills and Palmer Divide, where snowfall totals ranged from 3 ft. to over 7 ft. Some of the most impressive storm totals included: 87.5 inches at Fritz Peak and Rollinsville, 83 inches at Cabin Creek, 74 inches, 3 miles southwest of Bergen Park, 73 inches, at A-Basin and 8 miles northwest of Evergreen, 72 inches at Coal Creek Canyon, 70 inches at Georgetown, 67 inches at Allenspark, 66 inches, 10 miles west-northwest of Idaho Springs, 65 inches at Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, 63 inches, 3 miles west of Jamestown, 62 inches at Loveland Ski Area, 60 inches, 3 miles north of Blackhawk 55 inches at Eldora Ski Area, 54 inches, 8 miles west of Sedalia and 53 inches at Copper Mountain. At Eldora Ski Area, 270 skiers were stranded at the resort when an avalanche closed the main access road. After the storm ended, a military helicoptor had to ferry food to the resort until the road could be cleared. Along I-70, an avalanche released by the Department of Transportation, blocked the interstate in both directions for several hours. In addition, several residences between Bakerville and Silver Plume were evacuated because of the high avalanche danger. As a result of the heavy snow, thousands of residents in the foothills of Jefferson County were trapped in their homes for several days. Some schools remained closed well into the next week. Two homes burned to the ground because fire crews could not reach the residences. In the Urban Corridor and adjacent plains snow amounts ranged from 1 to 3 feet. Some of the snowfall totals included: 37 inches, 6 miles east of Parker and Buckley AFB, 35 inches in southwest Denver, 34 inches at Louisville, 32 inches in Arvada and Denver, 31 inches in Broomfield and Westminster, 25 inches near Loveland, 22.5 inches in Boulder, 17 inches south of Wiggins and 16 inches, 4 miles south of Bennett. In Denver alone, at least 258 structures were damaged. Two people were injured when their roofs collapsed. Two people died in Aurora from heart attacks after shoveling snow. In Arvada, a roof collapse at West Gate Stables killed a horse. Several travelers were stranded along I-70 east of Gun Club Road. The National Guard sent 40 soldiers and 20 heavy duty vehicles to rescue those that were stranded. As mentioned earlier, the heavy snow also forced the closure of D.I.A. which stranded 4000 travelers. The weight of the snow also caused a 40 ft. gash in a portion of the tent roof, forcing the evacuation of that section of the terminal. At the state capitol, lawmakers called their first "snow day", closing for the first such time ever.
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 Denver/Boulder, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 17, 3:22 PM MST, 2 hours 38 minutes earlier.
NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
320 PM MST MON MAR 17 2003
SHORT TERM DISCUSSION...INGREDIENTS ARE ALL COMING TOGETHER FOR
SIGNIFICANT SNOW EVENT WHICH WL CONT FOR THE NEXT COUPLE DAYS. MTN
AREAS HAVE PICKED A FEW INCHES OF SNOW TDA FROM THE SHOWER ACTIVITY
IN THE UNSTABLE AMS TO THE N OF THE APPCHG UPR LVL LOW. SCT RAIN
SHOWERS WITH A FEW EMBEDDED T-STORMS HAVE ALSO BEEN MOVG WWD ACRS
THE NE CO PLAINS...UNDERNEATH THE DEFORMATION BAND THAT STRETCHES FM
CENTRAL CO INTO WRN KS/SWRN NEBRASKA. A 987 MB SFC LOW IS NOW
POSITIONED OVR SERN CO WITH NLY WIND SPREADING SWRD ALG THE FRONT
RANGE FTHLS. KCYS HAS BEEN ON THE VERGE OF CHANGING OVR TO SNOW AND
A SPOTTER NR FORT COLLINS REPORTS A LTL BIT OF MIXED RAIN AND
SNOW.
THE MSTR AMNTS WITH THIS WX SYS ARE COPIOUS...TO SAY THE LEAST.
MODELS CONT TO SHOW THE VERTICALL STACKED UPR LOW WL MOVE VRY SLOWLY
EWD THRU WED. DEEP ELY FLOW WL BE WELL ENTRENCHED OVR THE FCST AREA
THRU TONIGHT AND TUES. OROGRAPHIC SNOW MODEL SHOWS LIQUID WATER
EQUIVALENTS OF 1.25-2.50 INCHES IN THE ZNS 35 AND 36 THRU TMRW
AFTN. WITH SNOW RATIOS OF 12 TO 1...ONE TO TWO FEET OF SNOW IS PSBL
BY TMRW EVENING. ZNS 35 AND 36 WL BE HIT THE HARDEST TONIGHT BUT
LOCATIONS ON THE WRN SIDE OF ZNS 38 AND 39 COULD ALSO SEE HEAVY
AMNTS. CURRNT WARNINGS AND WATCHES WL STAY IN PLACE...BUT WL ADD
PARK COUNTY...ZN 37...TO THE MTN WRNG.
ONE BIG QUESTION FOR THE PLAINS FCST IS WHETHER IT GETS COLD ENOUGH
TO CHANGE TO SNOW OVR LOCNS EAST OF THE METRO AREA. RIGHT NOW...LOW
LVL TEMPS SHOW AFTN TEMPS ON THE PLAINS STILL IN UPR 30S OR LOWER
40S. THIS AREA MAY SEE RAIN ALL NIGHT AND MUCH OF TMRW. WL STILL
HOLD ON TO THE WINTER STORM WATCH SINCE IF THE MODELS ARE TOO WARM
THEN HVY SNOW AND GUSTY WINDS COULD STRETCH TO THE ERN BRDR. KDRBY
LONG TERM DISCUSSION...NOT MUCH CHANGE IN THE MODEL DEPICTION OF
EVENTS FOR TUE NIGHT THROUGH THU. WE STILL PREFER THE ETA DETAILS
WHICH SHOW A GOOD SLUG OF ISENTROPIC LIFT...INCREASING DEEP NE
FLOW...AND CONTINUED INSTABILITY TUE NIGHT AND WED MAKING THIS THE
WORST PART OF THE STORM. WE STILL HAVE SOME QUESTION ABOUT THE
MAGNITUDE OF THE EVENT...BUT THE ETA HAS TYPICALLY DONE FORECAST
STORM TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS FROM THE MODELS ARE HOLDING
STEADY...ETA HAS 30 TO 40 INCHES FOR DENVER...GFS IS HOLDING STEADY
WITH 15 TO 20 INCHES. STILL ALSO THINK THAT THE MODELS ARE TOO WARM
OVER MUCH OF EASTERN COLORADO BY TUE NIGHT AS THE SURFACE
TEMPERATURE GRADIENT SHOULD BE VERY TIGHT...PARTICULARLY AS THE
SYSTEM DROPS A BIT SOUTH AND TILTS ALLOWING MORE NLY FLOW ALONG THE
FRONT RANGE. STILL A LOT OF UNCERTAINTY ON RAIN/SNOW QUESTION AND
WHERE THE SHARP LINE BETWEEN BLIZZARD AND MOSTLY RAIN WILL BE. IN
THIS PERIOD THERE SHOULD BE ENOUGH WIND FOR BLIZZARD TYPE WORDING.
ETA GENERATES A BAND OF 80 INCHES OF SNOW IN THE HIGHER FOOTHILLS...
SNOW MODEL GIVES INCH PER HOUR RATES FROM NOW THROUGH WED NIGHT.
THE 5 FOOT LIMIT IN THE FOOTHILLS DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE ENOUGH. I
WILL TRY 3 TO 8 FEET BUT THERE COULD BE SOME PRIME SPOTS THAT GET
EVEN MORE. I SUPPOSE THERES NO DIFFERENCE EXCEPT FOR THE RECORD
BOOKS. SERIOUS SNOW STILL LOOKS TO END SOMETIME WED NIGHT IN
DENVER...MAY LINGER INTO THU MORNING ON THE PLAINS. NO CHANGE TO
THE EXTENDED. GIMMESTAD
.DEN...WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT THRU WED FOR MTNS...FTHLS AND
PARK CNTY...ZNS 31..33..34..35..36..37.
WINTER STORM WARNING TONIGHT THRU WED FOR THE FRONT RANGE...
ZNS 38..39..40..41..43.
WINTER STORM WATCH TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY PORTIONS OF THE
NORTHEAST PLAINS...ZNS 42..44..45...46..47..49.COZ030>051-181300- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 1125 AM MST MON MAR 17 2003 ...WINTER STORM WARNINGS AND WATCHES ARE IN EFFECT... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A VERY STRONG UPPER-LEVEL STORM SYSTEM MOVING ALONG THE SOUTHERN COLORADO BORDER WILL BRING WIDESPREAD SNOW TO THE COLORADO MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS TODAY. A VERY MOIST AND SOMEWHAT UNSTABLE AIRMASS IS IN PLACE OVER NORTHEAST COLORADO WITH UPSLOPE EASTERLY WINDS EXPECTED TO STRENGTHEN THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. SNOW FALLING IN THE MOUNTAINS ABOVE 7000 FEET WILL CONTINUE THROUGH TONIGHT. HEAVY SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED IN THE FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT WITH ACCUMULATIONS OF 10 TO 20 INCHES POSSIBLE BY TUESDAY MORNING. HEAVY SNOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE DAY ON TUESDAY. ALONG THE FOOTHILLS AND I-25 CORRIDOR...RAIN IS EXPECTED TO CHANGE TO SNOW BETWEEN 8 PM AND MIDNIGHT WITH 3 TO 6 INCH ACCUMULATIONS POSSIBLE BY SUNRISE. ON THE PLAINS...RAIN SHOWERS AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. TEMPERATURES SHOULD REMAIN TOO WARM ON THE EASTERN PLAINS FOR RAIN TO CHANGE TO SNOW OVERNIGHT. COLDER TEMPERATURES AND A CHANGE TO SNOW ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE PLAINS ON TUESDAY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY A MAJOR WINTER STORM WILL BRING VERY HEAVY SNOW TO THE EASTERN SLOPES OF THE FRONT RANGE...THE FRONT RANGE CITIES...AND THE PALMER DIVIDE. THE SNOW IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FALLING INTO WEDNESDAY... AND POSSIBLY INTO THURSDAY MORNING. A WINTER STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT THROUGH WEDNESDAY FOR THESE AREAS. TOTAL STORM ACCUMULATIONS OF 2 TO 5 FEET ARE EXPECTED IN THE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS...WITH 1 TO 3 FEET IN THE FRONT RANGE CITIES. AT THIS TIME IT LOOKS LIKE THE WORST OF THE SNOW AND WIND WILL BE TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. TRAVEL WILL BE DIFFICULT OR IMPOSSIBLE IN THE WARNING AREAS TUESDAY...WEDNESDAY AND POSSIBLY THURSDAY. RESIDENTS OF AREAS WEST OF FORT MORGAN AND LIMON SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF WINTER STORM CONDITIONS. FURTHER EAST TEMPERATURES ARE WARMER. FORT MORGAN...AKRON AND LIMON WILL HAVE A LATER CHANGEOVER TO SNOW AND SNOWFALL AMOUNTS MAY VARY CONSIDERABLY DEPENDING ON ELEVATION. IN STERLING...HOLYOKE AND JULESBURG THE PRECIPITATION WILL BE RAIN FOR MUCH OF THE STORM. THE LATEST FORECASTS AND WARNINGS ARE AVAILABLE AT OUR WEB SITE AT WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/DEN .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WE DO NOT EXPECT TO ACTIVATE SPOTTER NETWORKS...BUT ALL SPOTTERS ARE ASKED TO REPORT SNOWFALL AND STRONG WINDS. DANKERS/GIMMESTAD
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
7 blizzard, 5 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, March 2003
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: 5346838, 5346839, 5346840, 5346841, 5347550, 5346831, 5346832, 5346833, 5346834, 5346835, 5346836, 5346837.