A winter storm brought heavy snow to the North Central Mountains of Colorado. Some storm totals included: 18 inches at the Eisenhower Tunnel, 14 inches, 1 mile west of Breckenridge; 10 inches at Copper Mountain SNOTEL, 8 inches, 1 mile southwest of Eldora.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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 winter storm brought heavy snow to the North Central Mountains of Colorado. Some storm totals included: 18 inches at the Eisenhower Tunnel, 14 inches, 1 mile west of Breckenridge; 10 inches at Copper Mountain SNOTEL, 8 inches, 1 mile southwest of Eldora.
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 Dec 10, 10:36 AM MST, 3 hours 24 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 1036 AM MST FRI DEC 10 2010 .UPDATE...HAVE UPGRADED HIGH MOUNTAIN ZONES TO A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR LATER THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH SAT AM. GIVEN LATEST TRENDS AND OBSERVATIONS UPSTREAM...FEEL HIGHER MOUNTAINS MAY END UP WITH IN EXCESS OF A FOOT OF SNOW. LOCAL SNOW MODEL AND NAM SHOWING THIS. GIVEN 700MB WINDS UPSTREAM OF 50KT AT BOI AND ELKO...THINK THAT ALONG WITH THE JET...THE STRONGER OROGRAPHICS WILL PRODUCE A GOOD DUMP OF SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS. NO CHANGE IN THINKING WITH LOWER ELEVATIONS AND NO CHANGES TO AVIATION DISCUSSION AT THIS TIME. .SHORT TERM...SATELLITE PICTURES SHOW THE HIGH LEVEL MOISTURE AHEAD OF THE NEXT WEATHER DISTURBANCE RACING ACROSS SOUTHERN IDAHO AND NORTHERN UTAH BEING DRIVEN BY A 160 KNOT UPPER JET. NATIONAL RADAR COMPOSITE SHOWS PRECIPITATION ALREADY COVERING SOUTH-CENTRAL IDAHO AND THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF UTAH. LATER TODAY THIS MOISTURE WILL BE MOVING INTO NORTHWESTERN COLORADO AND PRODUCING INCREASING SNOWFALL IN THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS. MODEL SOUNDINGS AT KREMMLING SHOW THE AIRMASS APPROACHING SATURATION BY 21Z WITH MOIST ADIABATIC LAPSE RATES FROM THE SURFACE UP THROUGH 500 MB. WITH MODERATE-STRONG WESTERLY FLOW CONTINUING INTO THIS EVENING...ALL OF THE INGREDIENTS WILL BE IN PLACE FOR A GOOD SHOT OF OROGRAPHIC SNOWFALL. OROGRAPHIC SNOW MODEL SHOWS 6-10 INCH AMOUNTS WILL BE POSSIBLE FOR ZONES 31... 33 AND 34 FROM THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING. BASED ON MODEL SOUNDINGS IT LOOKS LIKE THE BEST TIME PERIOD FOR MODERATE SNOWFALL IS GOING TO BE FROM 21Z THROUGH 06Z. GIVEN ALL OF THIS...WILL ISSUE A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW IN THE HIGH MOUNTAIN ZONES FOR THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING. ON THE PLAINS...DOWNSLOPING WESTERLY FLOW WILL BRING ONE MORE MILD DAY WITH TEMPERATURES AGAIN CLIMBING TO THE UPPER 50S AND POSSIBLY LOWER 60S. IN SPITE OF ALL THE WESTERLY WINDS MOVING ACROSS THE STATE...CROSS SECTIONS ONLY SHOW A MODEST MOUNTAIN WAVE OVER THE LEE OF THE MOUNTAINS. THE PRESENCE OF THE INCREASING MOISTURE WILL ALSO INTERFERE WITH AMPLIFICATION OF THE MOUNTAIN WAVE...HELPING REDUCE THE THREAT OF STRONG WINDS ALONG THE BASE OF THE FOOTHILLS. MOST GUSTY WINDS SHOULD STAY UP IN THE MOUNTAINS. BY LATER TONIGHT...THE NOSE OF THE UPPER JET WILL BE MOVING ACROSS THE NORTHEAST PLAINS...PROVIDING SOME DYNAMIC LIFT. AT THE SAME TIME A WEAK COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO NORTHEAST COLORADO WITH WINDS SHIFTING TO NORTHERLY LATE TONIGHT. MOISTURE CROSS SECTIONS ON THE PLAINS SHOW THE AIRMASS REMAINING TOO DRY TO SUPPORT WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION. WILL HANG ON TO POPS IN THE 20-30 PERCENT RANGE OVERNIGHT CASE THE MODEL MOISTURE FIELDS DO NOT CONTAIN AS MUCH MOISTURE AS THIS SYSTEM HAS THE CAPABILITY TO PRODUCE. TEMPERATURES CLOSE TO SEASONAL NORMALS ARE GOING TO THE MAIN IMPACT FROM TONIGHT/S COLD FRONT. SEE BELOW. .LONG TERM...STG NW FLOW ALOFT WILL BE OVER THE AREA SAT AND SAT NIGHT. OROGRAPHICS WILL REMAIN FAVORABLE IN THE MTNS WITH CROSS-SECTIONS SHOWING MOISTURE DEPTH AROUND 200 MB. LAPSE RATES ON SAT WILL BE AROUND 5 C/KM AND THEN DROP TO 3-4 C/KM BY SAT NIGHT. THUS OVERALL INSTABILITY WILL NOT BE THAT GREAT SO WILL ADDITIONAL SNOW AMOUNTS SHOULD STAY ON THE LIGHT SIDE. EAST OF THE MTNS SFC HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD IN FM THE NORTH BEHIND A FNT HOWEVER UPSLOPE COMPONENT DOES NOT LAST LONG AND IS VERY SHALLOW. MOISTURE IN THE LOWER LEVELS IS RATHER LIMITED AND CONFINED TO THE MID LEVELS AND THERE IS VERY LITTLE QG ASCENT. FOR NOW WILL KEEP IN A SLIGHT CHC FOR -SHSN HOWEVER MAY NOT SEE ANY PCPN AT ALL OVER NERN CO BASED ON LATEST TRENDS. HIGHS ON SAT WILL BE COOLER AND DROP BACK TO NR SEASONAL LEVELS. ON SUN NW FLOW ALOFT WILL REMAIN OVER THE AREA WITH SOME MOISTURE LINGERING THE MTNS SO MAY CONTINUE TO SEE SOME VERY LIGHT OROGRAPHIC SNOWS. OVER NERN CO SFC HIGH PRESSURE WILL MOVE EASTWARD AS A WEAK LEE TROUGH DVLPS ALONG THE FOOTHILLS. 850-700 MB TEMPS WRM QUITE A BIT CLOSER TO THE FOOTHILLS BUT ONLY RISE A FEW DEGREES FURTHER EAST OVER THE PLAINS. THUS SHOULD SEE A FAIRLY DECENT SPREAD IN HIGHS WITH LOWER TO MID 50S NR THE FOOTHILLS WITH READINGS MAINLY IN THE 40S ACROSS MOST OF THE PLAINS. AS FAR AS PCPN LATEST GFS TRIES TO DVLP SOME LIGHT PCPN OVER THE FAR NERN PLAINS SUN MORNING IN WAA ZONE WHILE NAM SHOWS NOTHING. WILL KEEP POPS OUT OF FCST FOR NOW AND KEEP PREVIOUS FCST INTACT. FINALLY WITH MTN TOP STABILITY INCREASING LATE SAT NIGHT INTO SUN WL SEE GUSTY WINDS IN AND NR THE FOOTHILLS. COMPONENT ALONG WINDS ARE NOT REAL STG AT THIS POINT SO APPEARS HIGH WIND THREAT IS PRETTY LOW AT THIS POINT. FOR SUN NIGHT AND MON A FLAT UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL DEVELOP OVER THE AREA WITH THE FLOW ALOFT BECOMING MORE WLY ALONG WITH A DRIER AIRMASS. THUS WILL HAVE A DRY FCST ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA. MEANWHILE WITH DOWNSLOPE LOW LEVEL FLOW DEVELOPING EAST OF THE MTNS SHOULD SEE WARMER TEMPS BY AFTN WITH READINGS RISING POSSIBLY INTO THE LOWER TO MID 60S NR THE FOOTHILLS WITH 50S OVER THE PLAINS. MAY ALSO CONTINUE TO SEE GUSTY WINDS AT TIMES IN AND NR THE FOOTHILLS DUE TO MTN WAVE REMAINING IN PLACE. BY TUE THE FLOW ALOFT WILL BE ZONAL WITH ONLY SOME HIGH LEVEL MOISTURE MOVING ACROSS SO WILL CONTINUE WITH A DRY FCST. HIGHS ON TUE WILL ONCE AGAIN BE WELL ABOVE NORMAL OVER NERN CO AS READINGS WILL BE FM 15-20 DEGREES ABV NORMAL. BY MID WEEK BOTH THE GFS AND ECMWF SHOW A WK UPPER LEVEL TROUGH MOVING ACROSS THE AREA LATE WED OR ON THU. THIS FEATURE SHOULD PRODUCE A CHC OF SNOW IN THE MTNS. OVER NERN CO A CDFNT IS FCST TO MOVE ACROSS THE AREA EITHER WED AFTN OR EVENING AND AS WEAK UPPER LEVEL TROUGH MOVES ACROSS COULD SEE AT LEAST SLIGHT CHC OF PCPN SO WILL MENTION LOW POPS FOR THIS SCENARIO. && .AVIATION...DRAINAGE WINDS AT KDEN THIS MORNING SHOULD CONTINUE THROUGH THE MORNING RUSH THEN TRANSITION TO SOUTHWEST AND WEST AROUND MIDDAY. CIGS AND VSBYS SHOULD REMAIN VFR WITH CLOUD HEIGHTS REMAINING ABOVE 10KFT AGL. MOUNTAINS WILL BECOME OBSCURED IN CLOUDS AND PRECIPITATION BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON...BUT DOWNSLOPE FLOW ACROSS THE PLAINS WILL KEEP THE PLAINS IN THE CLEAR. LATER TONIGHT...A WEAK COLD FRONT WILL SWITCH WINDS TO THE NORTH...BUT IT APPEARS THAT THE MID LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE ARE GOING TO STAY TOO DRY TO PRODUCE ANY PRECIPITATION. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. ENTREKIN/KDRBY/RPK
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 1104 AM MST FRI DEC 10 2010 COZ030>051-111300- 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 MST FRI DEC 10 2010 ...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS LATER THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING.... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SNOW WILL INCREASE AND BECOME HEAVY AT TIMES OVER THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS THIS AFTERNOON AND CONTINUING TONIGHT. SNOWFALL RATES MAY EXCEED ONE INCH PER HOUR ALONG WITH GUSTY WINDS UP TO 60 MPH OVER THE MOUNTAIN PASSES. TOTAL SNOWFALL WILL RANGE FROM 7 TO 15 INCHES...HIGHEST AMOUNTS ON THE HIGHER WEST FACING SLOPES. THE HEAVIER SNOWFALL WILL DIMINISH LATER TONIGHT. ACROSS LOWER ELEVATIONS...A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA THIS EVENING WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS INTO SATURDAY MORNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY SNOW WILL PERSIST OVER THE MOUNTAINS THROUGH SUNDAY AND COME TO AN END SUNDAY NIGHT. SNOW WILL BECOME LIGHTER SATURDAY AFTERNOON AS THE STORM SYSTEM EXITS THE REGION. HOWEVER...LIGHT SNOW IS EXPECTED TO LINGER INTO SUNDAY NIGHT. THE NEXT STORM SYSTEM WILL ENTER THE STATE WEDNESDAY BRINGING SNOW BACK TO THE MOUNTAINS WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. FOR THE LOWER ELEVATIONS...THERE IS JUST A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SNOW FROM THIS SYSTEM. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT...HOWEVER HEAVY SNOWFALL REPORTS WILL BE APPRECIATED. SWE/MEIER
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 winter storm. 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, December 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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 268373, 268374, 268375.