A spring storm produced moderate to heavy snowfall over parts of the North-Central Mountains. Storm totals included: 11 inches at Willow Creek SNOTEL, 10 inches at Columbine SNOTEL and Joe Wright, 9 inches at Buffalo Park SNOTEL, Long Draw SNOTEL and Roach SNOTEL, 7 inches at Arapahoe Ridge, with 6 inches at Lake Irene.
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 BOU wrote it up.
A spring storm produced moderate to heavy snowfall over parts of the North-Central Mountains. Storm totals included: 11 inches at Willow Creek SNOTEL, 10 inches at Columbine SNOTEL and Joe Wright, 9 inches at Buffalo Park SNOTEL, Long Draw SNOTEL and Roach SNOTEL, 7 inches at Arapahoe Ridge, with 6 inches at Lake Irene.
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 Apr 1, 2:12 AM MST, 48 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 312 AM MDT THU APRIL 1 2010 .SHORT TERM...AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA FROM THIS AFTN THRU TONIGHT. FOR THE MTNS SW FLOW ALOFT THIS MORNING WILL TRANSITION TO MORE OF A WLY COMPONENT BY 18Z AND THEN MORE WNW LATER THIS AFTN THRU TONIGHT AS MAIN TROUGH AXIS MOVES ACROSS. SOME QG ASCENT IS SHOWN THRU THE AFTN HOURS AND WITH LAPSE RATES IN THE 7-8 C/KM RANGE SHOULD SEE SNOW CHANCES INCREASE IN THE MTNS DURING THE AFTN AND CONTINUE THRU TONIGHT. OVERALL WIND SPEEDS AT MTN TOP ARE NOT REAL STG SO LOOKS LIKE MOST AMOUNTS SHOULD STAY BLO ADVISORY CRITERIA EXCEPT POSSIBLE IN ZN 31. OVER LOWER ELEVATIONS MAIN QUESTION FOR THIS AFTN IS WILL WHERE WILL MAIN SFC LOW DVLP OVER NERN CO. RUC AND 00Z NAM KEPT MAIN LOW CLOSER TO THE CO-WY BORDER WHILE LATEST 06Z NAM HAS LOW FURTHER SOUTH NEAR DENVER. AS A RESULT THIS COULD HAVE SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS ON FCST ESPECIALLY FROM DENVER NORTH TO THE WY BORDER IF THAT WERE TO OCCUR. MEANWHILE LATEST 06Z RUC KEEPS MAIN SFC LOW FURTHER NORTH LIKE PREVIOUS 00Z NAM SHOWED. NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS SHOULD SEE GUSTY SWLY WINDS DVLP OVER THE PLAINS LATER THIS MORNING THRU AFTN WITH SOME POTENTIAL FOR FIRE DANGER FM AKRON SOUTH TO LIMON WHERE DEWPOINTS MAY MIX INTO THE TEENS BY AFTN. WILL ISSUE A RED FLAG WARNING FOR THESE AREAS FROM 18Z-02Z. CLOSER TO THE FOOTHILLS FCST WILL DEPEND ON LOCATION ON MAIN SFC LOW. IF LOW ENDS UP FURTHER SOUTH CLOSER TO DENVER THEN LOW LEVEL WINDS ALONG AND NR THE NRN FOOTHILLS WILL HAVE MORE OF A NELY COMPONENT AND AS MAIN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH MOVES ACROSS THIS AFTN PCPN SO CHANCES WOULD INCREASE QUITE A BIT. HOWEVER IF LOW ENDS END UP FURTHER NORTH THEN BEST CHC OF PCPN WOULD LIKELY STAY MAINLY NR THE CO-WY BORDER. FOR NOW WILL CONTINUE WITH CHC POPS FM FORT COLLINS NORTHWARD WITH LOWER POPS SOUTHWARD TOWARDS DENVER AND THE PALMER DIVIDE. WITH LAPSE RATES IN THE 8-9 C/KM RANGE COULD SEE SOME ISOLD THUNDER AS WELL. FOR TONIGHT LOW LEVEL WINDS WILL QUICKLY TRANSITION TO A MORE WNW COMPONENT WITH DOWNSLOPE FLOW DEVELOPING ACROSS NERN CO. COULD SEE SOME LINGERING PCPN OVER THE NORTHEAST CORNER EARLY IN THE EVENING HOWEVER AS DOWNWARD DESCENT INCREASES ALONG WITH DOWNSLOPE COMPONENT PCPN SHOULD END BY MIDNIGHT. TEMPERATURES THIS AFTN OVER NERN CO WILL BE HIGHLY DEPENDANT ON LOCATION OF MAIN SFC LOW. WARMEST READINGS SHOULD BE OVER THE FAR ERN PLAINS WHERE SWLY LOW LVL WINDS WILL BLOW WHILE THE COOLEST TEMPS WILL BE ALONG THE WY-CO BORDER AREA . .LONG TERM...MODELS ARE STILL SHOWING THE UPPER RIDGE AXIS PUSHING ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA FRIDAY. NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT IS PROGGED FOR FRIDAY EVENING. BY SATURDAY...STRONG WEST-NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT IS OVER THE FORECAST AREA...BECOMING WESTERLY BY SATURDAY EVENING. BY SUNDAY MORNING AT 12Z...A WESTERLY JET MAXIMUM IS PROGGED OVER THE FORECAST AREA WITH SPEEDS AROUND 120 KNOTS. THERE IS SOME UPWARD VERTICAL VELOCITY PROGGED FOR THE EASTERN THIRD OF THE FORECAST AREA FRIDAY MORNING. BY FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND ALL FRIDAY NIGHT...DOWNWARD VERTICAL VELOCITY IS PROGGED FOR THE FORECAST AREA. THE SYNOPTIC SCALE ENERGY IS BENIGN SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT. THE LOW LEVEL PRESSURE AND WINDS FIELDS SHOW NORTH- NORTHWESTERLY DOWNSLOPING BOUNDARY LAYER WINDS ON FRIDAY. BY FRIDAY NIGHT...NORMAL DIURNAL PATTERNS SHOULD PREVAIL. ON SATURDAY...THERE IS LOW LEVEL TROUGHING EAST OF THE MOUNTAINS. ON SATURDAY NIGHT IT WILL LIKELY BE BACK TO NORMAL DIURNAL PATTERNS. FOR MOISTURE... MODELS ARE SHOWING IT TO DECREASE ON FRIDAY. THE NAM HAS POOR MOISTURE OVER THE WHOLE FORECAST AREA FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT...WITH JUST A BIT IN THE LOWER LEVELS OF THE MOUNTAINS. THE GFS HAS FAIRLY SHALLOW MOUNTAINS MOISTURE FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT...AND A BIT IN THE MID LEVELS OVER THE EASTERN PLAINS. BOTH MODELS HAVE DEEPER MOISTURE OVER THE MOUNTAINS ON SATURDAY. MOISTURE DECREASES IN THE MOUNTAINS SATURDAY NIGHT...BUT THERE IS PLENTY OF UPPER LEVEL MOISTURE OVER ALL THE FORECAST AREA ON BOTH MODELS. THE GFS QPF FIELDS HAVE A TAD OF MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION IN THE MOUNTAINS FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT...NONE ON THE NAM. BOTH HAVE A TAD IN THE MOUNTAINS SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT. FOR POPS...WILL GO 10%-20%S OVER THE EASTERN PLAINS ON FRIDAY. WILL KEEP THE "RAIN SHOWERS" AS THE PRECIPITATION TYPE WITH COOLER AIR ALOFT AND STEEP LAPSE RATES IN MIND. THERE IS NO CAPE ON THE FORECAST SOUNDINGS. FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT...NO POPS FOR THE PLAINS. OVER THE MOUNTAINS ...THERE IS LIMITED MOISTURE...THERE SHOULD BE SOME OROGRAPHIC ENHANCEMENT WITH THE MOUNTAIN TOP WIND DIRECTION PROGGS IN MIND. WILL GO "CHANCE" FRIDAY AND SATURDAY...WITH "SLIGHT CHANCE" FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY NIGHT. FOR TEMPERATURES...FRIDAY HIGHS ARE 4-8 C COLDER THAN TODAY'S EXPECTED READINGS. SATURDAY'S HIGHS WARM-UP 4-7 C FROM SATURDAY'S. FOR THE LATER DAYS...SUNDAY THROUGH THROUGH WEDNESDAY...THE GFS AND ECMWF HAVE STRONG WEST-SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT SUNDAY...SOUTHWESTERLY ON MONDAY. THE GFS BRINGS THE NEXT UPPER TROUGH ACROSS LATE MONDAY INTO TUESDAY. THE ECMWF DOES NOT BRING THIS FEATURE ACROSS UNTIL WEDNESDAY. THERE WILL BE SEVERAL MORE MODEL RUNS BETWEEN NOW AND THEN...SO WILL GO SOME MINOR POPS IN THE HIGH COUNTY ONLY...FROM MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. DRY ON THE PLAINS FOR NOW. .AVIATION...AS DISCUSSED ABOVE WHOLE FCST WILL DEPEND ON WHERE SFC LOW SETS UP THRU THIS AFTN. IF LOW ENDS UP FURTHER NORTH LIKE RUC AND 00Z NAM SHOW THEN GUSTY SWLY SFC WINDS WOULD DVLP LATER THIS MORNING THRU EARLY AFTN AND THEN BECOME MORE WNW BY MID TO LATE AFTN. IF LOW SETS UP CLOSER TO THE AIRPORT LIKE 06Z NAM SHOWS WINDS SWLY MAY NOT BE NEARLY AS STG FM LATE MORNING THRU EARLY AFTN WITH WINDS NOT INCREASING UNTIL MID AFTN BEFORE QUICKLY SWITCHING TO A MORE WNW COMPONENT. AS FAR AS PCPN RIGHT NOW IT LOOKS LIKE BEST CHC THIS AFTN INTO THE EARLY EVENING HOURS WOULD STAY TO THE NORTH OF THE AIRPORT. ENOUGH INSTABILITY WL EXIST FOR SOME ISOLD CONVECTION MAINLY TO THE NORTH OF THE AIRPORT. FOR TONIGHT ANY PCPN SHOULD QUICKLY END BY EARLY EVENING. WILL KEEP MENTION OF GUSTY WNW WINDS THRU 03Z AND THEN HAVE THEM GRADUALLY DECREASE. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...RED FLAG WARNING FROM NOON THROUGH 8 PM FOR FIRE WEATHER ZNS 246..247 AND 249. ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 5 AM THROUGH MIDNIGHT FOR ZN 31. RPK/RJK
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 1104 AM MDT WED MAR 31 2010 COZ030>051-011200- 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- 1104 AM MDT WED MAR 31 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT MOISTURE IN SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL ALLOW FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SNOW SHOWERS IN THE NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO MOUNTAINS TONIGHT WITH ACCUMULATIONS OF 2 TO 4 INCHES POSSIBLE. WINDS WILL GUST UP TO 50 MPH OVER THE RIDGES AND HIGH PASSES TODAY AND TONIGHT. THIS SYSTEM WILL ALSO BRING A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS TO THE NORTHERN FOOTHILLS AND ALONG THE COLORADO...WYOMING BORDER TONIGHT. TEMPERATURES WILL NOT BE AS WARM TODAY OVER NORTHEAST COLORADO AS A WEAK COLD FRONT AFFECTS THE AREA. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY SNOW WILL FALL OVER THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO ON THURSDAY THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING WITH TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS RANGING FROM 3 TO 7 INCHES. THE HIGHER AMOUNTS WILL LIKELY OCCUR IN MOUNTAIN AREAS WEST OF THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE. WHEREAS THE PLAINS OF NORTHEAST COLORADO CAN EXPECT ONLY A SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN SHOWERS ON THURSDAY AND FRIDAY MORNING...AND A SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW THURSDAY NIGHT. DRIER AND WARMER CONDITIONS RETURN TO THE HIGH PLAINS BY THE WEEKEND...WHILE THE HIGH COUNTRY WILL CONTINUE TO HAVE AT LEAST A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SNOW THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. MEIER/BAKER
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, April 2010
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: 222489, 222490.