A winter storm generated heavy snow across portions of the region... and southeast plains.
Every event with a place to put it; 14 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 winter storm generated heavy snow across portions of the region... including higher elevations of the Pikes Peak area...the Sangre de Cristo mountains...Wet mountains...southern portions of the Interstate 25 corridor...and southeast plains. Six to 10 inches fell near Monument...Pueblo West...Florissant...Boone...Walsenburg...La Veta...and in southwest portions of Pueblo County. Around a foot of snow was noted near Rye and northwest of Aguilar. Snow up to 14 inches deep occurred at Fowler...while 16 inches of snow fell near Walsenburg and Trinidad. Finally...copious amounts of snow covered the summit of Wolf Creek Pass...where 63 inches of snow was reported.
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 Feb 3, 4:25 AM MST, 5 hours 35 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO 425 AM MST SUN FEB 3 2008 .SHORT TERM... (TODAY AND TONIGHT) ...HEAVY SNOW IN SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS... .CURRENTLY...STRONG DISTURBANCE STARTING TO MOVE INTO THE STATE. SNOW STILL APPEARS TO BE WEST OF THE CWA. LOW CLOUDS AND FOG HAVE DEVELOPED AT KALS AND CLOUDS ARE HOVERING OVER WOLF CREEK (CPW) AND LA VETA PASS (VTP). OTHERWISE...CLEAR TO PARTLY CLOUDY OVER THE CWA. .TODAY AND TONIGHT...STRONG TROUGH STILL ON TRACK TO MOVE INTO THE REGION TODAY. WITH 700MB FROM THE SOUTHWEST AT 30 TO 50 KNOTS...GENERALLY STEEP LAPSE RATES...AND DEEP MOISTURE...CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS WILL GET A SIGNIFICANT SNOW EVENT. IN PARTICULAR...EASTERN SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS WILL GET HAMMERED WITH SEVERAL FEET OF SNOW LIKELY. ONLY MAJOR CHANGES MADE TO THE GRIDS FOR THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS WERE TO DECREASE SNOWFALL AMOUNTS SOMEWHAT...SINCE THEY APPEARED TO BE EXCEPTIONALLY HIGH. GRIDS HAVE AREAL VALUES OF 8 TO 10 INCHES IN 6 HOUR PERIODS OVER THE SAN JUANS TONIGHT...WITH STORM TOTALS OF 2 TO 3 FEET. THIS MATCHES WSW BETTER WHICH HAS 2 TO 4 FEET TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS...ALLOWING FOR SOME LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS IN THE MORE FAVORED AREAS. CURRENT WARNING STARTS AT 13Z...WHICH MAY BE A FEW HOURS BEFORE THE SIGNIFICANT SNOW STARTS. I WILL NOT CHANGE ANYTHING WITH THE WARNING...BUT ADD SOME WORDING TO SUGGEST LIGHTER AMOUNTS IN THE MORNING. OTHER SIGNIFICANT CHANGE WAS TO INCREASE POPS AND SNOWFALL FOR SANGRE DE CRISTOS TONIGHT. LAPSE RATES BECOME STEEP DURING THE EVENING...AND THE AREA IS A FAVORED AREA FOR LIFT WHEN LOOKING AT PV/JET STREAM DYNAMICS. KEPT SNOWFALL TOTALS BELOW ADVISORY CRITERIA SINCE THIS RANGE IS BLOCKED BY UPSTREAM MOUNTAINS. IN ADDITION...NAM12 DOES NOT SHOW HIGH AMOUNTS FOR THE SANGRES. ALSO INCREASED POPS IN WET MOUNTAINS AND WET MOUNTAIN VALLEY WITH ACCUMULATIONS OF A FEW INCHES. ON THE PLAINS...ADDED SOME AREAS OF ISOLATED POPS DURING THE LATER AFTERNOON AND EVENING...WITH STEEP LAPSE RATES AND FORCING. LOWER LEVELS WILL BE DRY WITH THE DEEP SOUTHWEST FLOW DEVELOPING...BUT SOME SHOWERS MAY BE STRONG ENOUGH FOR SNOW TO REACH THE GROUND. IT WILL ALSO BE WINDY OVER THE MOUNTAINS...HIGH VALLEYS AND PLAINS WITH THE STRONG WINDS ALOFT. --PGW-- .LONG TERM... (MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY) THE MAIN CONCERN THIS FCST PERIOD IS MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT. MAJOR FULL LEGNTH LONGITUDINAL TROUGH WHICH WILL BRING WIDESPREAD SNOW TO THE MTNS OF THE CONTDVD DURING THE SHORT TERM FCST PD WILL BE LOCATED OVER NV/AZ BY 12Z MONDAY WITH A STRONG SHORT WAVE LOCATED OVER S CALIF. SNOW...HEAVY AT TIMES...SHOULD BE ONGOING ACROSS ALL OF THE MTNS ALONG THE CONTDVD ON MONDAY. AS THE TROUGH NEARS THE FRONT RANGE LATER MONDAY...THE SFC FRONT SHOULD MOVE SOUTH ACROSS THE PLAINS...BRINGING INCREASING MSTR AND N WINDS TO THE PLAINS. ATTM...THE GUIDANCE IS NOT REALLY PRINTING OUT THAT MUCH PRECIP DUE TO THE LACK OF UPSLOPE FLOW....BUT I HAVE REASON TO BELIEVE THIS MAY BE A BIT UNDERDONE GIVEN THE STREGHTH OF THIS SYSTEM (I BELIEVE LATER MODEL RUNS WILL SHOW NE WINDS AT 700 MB ALONG THE E FACING MTNS FOR THE MONDAY/MONDAY NIGHT TIME PD). FOR THIS REASON I HAVE BUMPED UP POPS ALONG THE I-25 CORRIDOR MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT TO THE 40-50% CATEGORY. I HAVE ALSO PLACED STRATIFORM PRECIP INTO THE WX GRIDDS. DEPENDING ON WHEN WE SEE THE FROPA...WE MAY ACTUALLY SEE SOME RAIN OVER THE PLAINS ON MONDAY. AFTER THIS SYSTEM EXITS THE REGION ON MONDAY NIGHT...SHORT WAVE RIDGING WILL BUILD IN FOR TUESDAY. BY LATE TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY ANOTHER QUICK MOVING SYSTEM WILL BRING MORE SNOW TO THE C MTNS. AFTER WED SYSTEM...WE MAY FINALLY SEE A BIT OF A JANUARY THAW (IN FEBRUARY) AS A RIDGE BUILDS OVER THE W CONUS...AND REMAINS OVER THE REGION FOR AT LEAST A FEW DAYS. THE NEXT SYSTEM...OF PACIFIC ORIGIN...IS NOT EXPECTED TO AFFECT THE REGION UNTIL AT LEAST EARLY NEXT WEEK. /HODANISH && .AVIATION... IFR CONDITIONS AT KALS SHOULD DISSIPATE BY MID MORNING. OTHERWISE GENERALLY VFR CONDITIONS AT TAF SITES EXCEPT FOR SOME ISOLATED SNOW SHOWERS AT KPUB/KCOS AND SCATTERED SHOWERS AT KALS. WITH FAIRLY STRONG SOUTHWEST WINDS ALOFT...GUSTY WINDS WILL DEVELOP AT TAF SITES WITH LLWS CONCERNS AT KCOS. --PGW-- && .PUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 6 PM MST MONDAY FOR COZ067-068. SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY FROM NOON TODAY TO 6 PM MST MONDAY FOR COZ059-061-064-065. WINTER STORM WARNING FROM NOON TODAY TO 6 PM MST MONDAY FOR COZ058-060-066. && 06/34
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO 653 AM MST SUN FEB 3 2008 COZ058>089-093>099-041400- WESTERN MOSQUITO RANGE/EAST LAKE COUNTY ABOVE 11000 FT- LEADVILLE VICINITY/LAKE COUNTY BELOW 11000 FT- EASTERN SAWATCH MOUNTAINS ABOVE 11000 FT- WESTERN CHAFFEE COUNTY BETWEEN 9000 AND 11000 FT- CENTRAL CHAFFEE COUNTY BELOW 9000 FT- WESTERN MOSQUITO RANGE/EAST CHAFFEE COUNTY ABOVE 9000 FT- SAGUACHE COUNTY WEST OF CONTINENTAL DIVIDE BELOW 10000 FT- SAGUACHE COUNTY EAST OF CONTINENTAL DIVIDE BELOW 10000 FT- LA GARITA MOUNTAINS ABOVE 10000 FT- UPPER RIO GRANDE VALLEY/EASTERN SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS BELOW 10000 FT- EASTERN SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS ABOVE 10000 FT- DEL NORTE VICINITY/NORTHERN SAN LUIS VALLEY BELOW 8500 FT- ALAMOSA VICINITY/CENTRAL SAN LUIS VALLEY BELOW 8500 FT- SOUTHERN SAN LUIS VALLEY- NORTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS BETWEEN 8500 AND 11000 FT- NORTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS ABOVE 11000 FEET- SOUTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS BETWEEN 7500 AND 11000 FT- SOUTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS ABOVE 11000 FT- NORTHWESTERN FREMONT COUNTY ABOVE 8500 FT- WESTERN/CENTRAL FREMONT COUNTY BELOW 8500 FT- WET MOUNTAIN VALLEY BELOW 8500 FEET- WET MOUNTAINS BETWEEN 6300 AND 10000 FT- WET MOUNTAINS ABOVE 10000 FT- TELLER COUNTY/RAMPART RANGE ABOVE 7500 FT/PIKES PEAK BETWEEN 7500 AND 11000 FT-PIKES PEAK ABOVE 11000 FT- CANON CITY VICINITY/EASTERN FREMONT COUNTY- NORTHERN EL PASO COUNTY/MONUMENT RIDGE/RAMPART RANGE BELOW 7500 FT- COLORADO SPRINGS VICINITY/SOUTHERN EL PASO COUNTY/RAMPART RANGE BELOW 7400 FT-PUEBLO AND VICINITY/PUEBLO COUNTY BELOW 6300 FT- WALSENBURG VICINITY/UPPER HUERFANO RIVER BASIN BELOW 7500 FT- TRINIDAD VICINITY/WESTERN LAS ANIMAS COUNTY BELOW 7500 FT- CROWLEY COUNTY-LA JUNTA VICINITY/OTERO COUNTY- EASTERN LAS ANIMAS COUNTY-WESTERN KIOWA COUNTY- EASTERN KIOWA COUNTY-LAS ANIMAS VICINITY/BENT COUNTY- LAMAR VICINITY/PROWERS COUNTY-SPRINGFIELD VICINITY/BACA COUNTY- 653 AM MST SUN FEB 3 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL...EAST CENTRAL...SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SNOW WILL FALL OVER MUCH OF THE MOUNTAINS AND HIGH VALLEYS TODAY AND TONIGHT. BY SUNRISE MONDAY...ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 3 FEET ARE LIKELY OVER THE EASTERN SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS...AND 1 TO 2 FEET ARE LIKELY OVER THE MOUNTAINS OF LAKE AND CHAFFEE COUNTIES. THE LA GARITA MOUNTAINS WILL GET 6 TO 15 INCHES OF SNOW...AND THE LOWER ELEVATIONS OF LAKE AND CHAFFEE COUNTIES WILL RECEIVE AROUND 3 TO 8 INCHES. IN THE SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS...4 TO 8 INCHES OF SNOW ARE POSSIBLE OVERNIGHT...AND 1 TO 4 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE IN THE SAN LUIS VALLEY. SOUTHWEST WINDS OF 20 TO 40 MPH OVER THE MOUNTAINS WILL CAUSE SIGNIFICANT BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW IN THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS CAUSING DIFFICULT TO VERY DIFFICULT TRAVEL CONDITIONS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY SNOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MONDAY IN THE MOUNTAINS ALONG THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE. AN ADDITIONAL 4 TO 8 INCHES OF SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE. SNOW WILL DEVELOP ALONG THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS ON MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT. TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT WILL RANGE BETWEEN 4 AND 10 INCHES. THE HEAVIES SNOWS WILL FALL ACROSS THE SOUTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS AND WET MOUNTAINS. SNOW WILL ALSO FALL LATER MONDAY INTO MONDAY NIGHT ALONG THE I-25 CORRIDOR FROM THE COLORADO AND NEW MEXICO BORDER...NORTH TO THE PALMER DIVIDE. ACCUMULATIONS OF 2 TO 4 INCHES IS EXPECTED. ANOTHER WEATHER SYSTEM WILL AFFECT THE WEATHER ON WEDNESDAY. THIS SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO MAINLY EFFECT THE MOUNTAINS ALONG THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE. SEVERAL INCHES OF SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER CONDITIONS THAT MEET REPORTING CRITERIA FOR SPOTTERS WILL BE LIKELY TODAY AND TONIGHT.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
916 AM MST SUN FEB 03 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0916 AM SNOW N MAYSVILLE 38.54N 106.22W
02/03/2008 M0.9 INCH CHAFFEE CO TRAINED SPOTTER
19 INCH SNOW DEPTH
&&
JCERUThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
14 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, February 2008
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: 82820, 82822, 82823, 82824, 82826, 82828, 82829, 82830, 82831, 82833, 82834, 82832, 82835, 82836.