Colorado, 2008

Heavy Snow in Colorado, March 17, 2008

March 17, 2008 · NWS BOU · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A brief period of heavy snow developed over southern portions of the Front Range Foothills. Snowfall amounts generally ranged from 5 to nearly 10 inches.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 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
1

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 BOU wrote it up.

A brief period of heavy snow developed over southern portions of the Front Range Foothills. Snowfall amounts generally ranged from 5 to nearly 10 inches. Some totals included: 9.5 inches, 4 miles west-northwest of Conifer; 8.5 inches, 1 mile west of Evergreen; with 8 inches, 3 miles northeast of Bergen Park and St. Mary's Glacier.

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 Denver/Boulder, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 16, 7:40 PM MST, 4 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 16, 7:40 PM MST, 4 hours 20 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 16, 10:14 AM MST, 13 hours 46 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
1114 AM MDT SUN MAR 16 2008

COZ030>051-171200-
JACKSON COUNTY BELOW 9000 FEET-WEST JACKSON AND WEST GRAND
COUNTIES ABOVE 9000 FEET-GRAND AND SUMMIT COUNTIES BELOW 9000
FEET-SOUTH AND EAST JACKSON/LARIMER/NORTH AND NORTHEAST GRAND/
NORTHWEST BOULDER COUNTIES ABOVE 9000 FEET-SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST
GRAND/WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST BOULDER/GILPIN/CLEAR CREEK/
SUMMIT/NORTH AND WEST PARK COUNTIES ABOVE 9000 FEET-LARIMER AND
BOULDER COUNTIES BETWEEN 6000 AND 9000 FEET-JEFFERSON AND WEST
DOUGLAS COUNTIES ABOVE 6000 FEET/GILPIN/CLEAR CREEK/NORTHEAST PARK
COUNTIES BELOW 9000 FEET-CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PARK COUNTY-LARIMER
COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/NORTHWEST WELD COUNTY-BOULDER AND JEFFERSON
COUNTIES BELOW 6000 FEET/WEST BROOMFIELD COUNTY-NORTH DOUGLAS
COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/DENVER/WEST ADAMS AND ARAPAHOE COUNTIES/
EAST BROOMFIELD COUNTY-ELBERT/CENTRAL AND EAST DOUGLAS COUNTIES
ABOVE 6000 FEET-NORTHEAST WELD COUNTY-CENTRAL AND SOUTH WELD
COUNTY-MORGAN COUNTY-CENTRAL AND EAST ADAMS AND ARAPAHOE COUNTIES-
NORTH AND NORTHEAST ELBERT COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/NORTH LINCOLN
COUNTY-SOUTHEAST ELBERT COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/SOUTH LINCOLN
COUNTY-LOGAN COUNTY-WASHINGTON COUNTY-SEDGWICK COUNTY-PHILLIPS
COUNTY-
1114 AM MDT SUN MAR 16 2008

...WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF NORTH CENTRAL
AND NORTHEAST COLORADO...

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL
COLORADO.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

A STORM SYSTEM STRUGGLING TO ORGANIZE OVER THE DESERT SOUTHWEST
HAS YET TO HAVE MUCH IMPACT ON THE OUTLOOK AREA AS OF LATE SUNDAY
MORNING. HOWEVER AS THIS STORM SYSTEM GRADUALLY MOVES EAST THIS
AFTERNOON...EXPECT LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOW TO SPREAD NORTHWARD OVER
THE HIGHER MOUNTAIN ELEVATIONS AND SOUTH PARK. ON THE PLAINS BECAUSE
OF THE SLOW PROGRESS OF THIS WEATHER SYSTEM...SCATTERED RAIN SHOWERS
ARE NOT EXPECTED TO DEVELOP UNTIL MUCH LATER THIS AFTERNOON.
FURTHERMORE DUE TO THE EXTENSIVE LOW CLOUD COVER OVER MUCH OF
NORTHEAST COLORADO...THE CHANCE FOR ANY THUNDERSTORMS APPEARS
MINIMAL AT BEST. BY TONIGHT...SNOW SHOULD BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD IN
THE HIGH COUNTRY WITH SEVERAL INCHES OF ACCUMULATION BY MORNING. ON
THE PLAINS...SCATTERED RAIN SHOWERS THIS EVENING SHOULD QUICKLY
CHANGE OVER TO SNOW BY AROUND MIDNIGHT WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF GUSTY
NORTHEAST WINDS. IN AREAS UP ALONG THE FRONT RANGE SEVERAL INCHES OF
WET SNOW MAY ACCUMULATE BY MORNING. WHEREAS IN AREAS OUT NEAR THE
EASTERN BORDER...PRECIPITATION OVERNIGHT MAY REMAIN AS RAIN.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY

WIDESPREAD SNOW IS EXPECTED ON MONDAY ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA.
STORM TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 5 TO 10 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE ON THE
PLAINS WITH 8 TO 16 INCHES ON THE EAST SLOPES OF THE FRONT RANGE. A
CHANCE OF SNOW WILL CONTINUE IN THE MOUNTAINS FROM MONDAY NIGHT
THROUGH WEDNESDAY...WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE FROM THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH
NEXT WEEKEND.  THE PLAINS WILL BE DRY FROM MONDAY EVENING INTO NEXT
WEEKEND.  TEMPERATURES WILL BE AT OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE SEASONAL NORMALS
FROM WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT.

BAKER/RPK

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 16, 7:53 PM MST, 4 hours 7 minutes before
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Local storm report, Mar 16, 9:09 PM MST, 2 hours 51 minutes before
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Local storm report, Mar 16, 10:44 PM MST, 1 hour 16 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

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Jefferson & W Douglas Counties Above 6000 Feet / Gilpin / Clear Creek / Ne Park Counties Below 9000 Feet

When
March 17, 12:00 AM MST to 9:00 AM MST
Where
Jefferson & W Douglas Counties Above 6000 Feet / Gilpin / Clear Creek / Ne Park Counties Below 9000 Feet forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
39.516, -105.413 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Peak storm totals included: 9.5 inches, 4 miles west-northwest of Conifer; 8.5 inches, 1 mile west of Evergreen; with 8 inches, 3 miles northeast of Bergen Park and St. Mary's Glacier.

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

More

Every storm in Colorado in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, March 2008

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 90411.