Icy and slick roadways in Summit County contributed to a 21-car-pile up along the eastbound lane of Interstate 70. Three people were taken to Summit Medical Center with minor injuries.
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.
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.
Icy and slick roadways in Summit County contributed to a 21-car-pile up along the eastbound lane of Interstate 70. Three people were taken to Summit Medical Center with minor injuries.
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 May 2, 2:56 AM MST, 9 hours 4 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 356 AM MDT SUN MAY 02 2010 .SHORT TERM...A 120+ KNOT JET ON THE BACKSIDE OF THE TROUGH OVER THE REGION WILL CAUSE TO THE TROUGH TO DEEPEN TODAY. THE JET ALONG WITH A SHORT WAVE IS ALREADY PRODUCING SNOW OVER WESTERN COLORADO. SNOW WILL SLOWLY SHIFT EASTWARD TODAY AS THE TROUGH DIGS SOUTHEAST. IN ADDITION TO THIS...THE AIRMASS WILL BE UNSTABLE THIS AFTERNOON. CAPES WILL BE 200-300 J/KG. THE MOUNTAINS WILL SEE MOST OF THE ACTIVITY BEING CLOSER TO THE LARGE SCALE LIFT. SNOW AMOUNTS WILL VARY IN THE MOUNTAINS FROM 1 TO 3 INCHES NORTH...ALONG COLORADO/WYOMING BORDER TO 3 TO 6 INCHES SOUTH TO NORTHERN PARK COUNTY. FOR FRONT RANGE URBAN CORRIDOR AND EASTERN PLAINS...EXPECT SCATTERED SHOWERS TO FORM BY EARLY AFTERNOON. MAY ALSO SEE A FEW THUNDERSTORMS...SO HAVE INCLUDED ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS IN THE GRIDS FOR ALL AREAS INCLUDING THE MOUNTAINS. EXPECT ACTIVITY TO QUICKLY DECREASE ONCE THE SUNSETS AND THE AIRMASS STABILIZES. BY MIDNIGHT...THE ONLY SHOWERS REMAINING SHOULD BE CONFINED TO THE MOUNTAINS. TEMPERATURES WILL BE THE SAME A FEW DEGREES COOLER THAN SATURDAY'S READINGS. .LONG TERM...SHOULD MOVE INTO A MUCH DRIER AND WARMER WEATHER REGIME MONDAY AND TUESDAY WITH STRENGTHENING ZONAL FLOW AND SUBSIDENCE ALOFT. DOWNSLOPE FLOW WILL FURTHER ENHANCE DRYING AND WARMING IN THE LOWER LAYERS EAST OF THE MTNS ESPLY MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY. LOOKING FOR AFTERNOON TEMPS ON THE PLAINS TO CLIMB INTO THE 60S ON MONDAY AND 70S ON TUESDAY. IF IT WERE NOT FOR THE INCREASE IN MID AND HIGH LEVEL CLOUDINESS DURING THE TUESDAY MAY INSTEAD BE TALKING ABOUT LOWER 80S FOR HIGHS AT A FEW LOCALES ALONG THE FRONT RANGE WITH THE GUSTY DOWNSLOPE WINDS. MEANWHILE MODELS INDICATE A BAND OF SHOWERY PRECIP FORMING ACROSS SRN WYOMING TUESDAY AFTERNOON WHICH APPEARS TO FORM ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF A 130KT JET BOWING SWRD OVER NORTHERN/CENTRAL WYOMING. AT THIS TIME DO NOT SEE ANY OF THESE SHOWERS MAKING THEIR WAY DOWN ACROSS NERN COLORADO AS DRY AS THE BNDRY LAYER WILL BE. ALTHOUGH COULD SEE ISOLATED/WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS FORMING BY AFTERNOON OVER THE NRN MTN RANGES AND NRN FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS WITH DAYTIME HEATING. BY WEDNESDAY NIGHT MODELS SHOW NELY SFC WINDS DEVELOPING ON THE PLAINS AS A JET SPEED MAX PASSES BY TO OUR NORTH AND PRESSURE FALLS ALONG THE BASE OF THE FOOTHILLS. WITH MOISTURE INCREASING IN THE MID-LEVEL ZONAL FLOW SHOULD SEE A SLIGHT INCREASE IN RAIN/SNOW SHOWER COVERAGE ACROSS THE HIGH COUNTRY OVERNIGHT...THOUGH AMOUNTS SHOULD REMAIN ON THE LIGHT SIDE DUE TO A LACK OF ANY LARGE SCALE FORCING. WHEREAS THE PLAINS SHOULD CONTINUE DRY...AT LEAST UP TO THAT POINT. BY THURSDAY AND FRIDAY...MEDIUM RANGE MODELS ARE IN REASONABLY GOOD AGREEMENT AS THEY SHOW A BROAD UPPER LEVEL TROUGH SLOWLY MIGRATING EASTWARD OVER THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL ROCKY MTN REGION DURING THE TWO DAY PERIOD. LATEST GUIDANCE KEEPS MOST OF THE SYNOPTIC SCALE FORCING AND DEEPEST MOISTURE TO OUR NORTH UP ACROSS WYOMING AND NEBRASKA. HOWEVER...THE GFS SHOWS A PERIOD OF COOL...MOIST UPSLOPE FLOW ACROSS NERN COLORADO RUNNING FROM AROUND MIDDAY THURSDAY TO PERHAPS FRIDAY EVENING. SHOULD THIS SCENARIO COME TRUE...COULD SEE TEMPERATURES EAST OF THE MTNS EVEN COLDER THAN THOSE NOW IN THE FORECAST. ALSO COULD NOT RULE OUT SNOW...POSSIBLY ACCUMULATING SNOWFALL...IN AREAS IN AND ADJACENT TO THE FRONT RANGE. WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR AS PREVIOUS MODEL RUNS HAVE WAVERED ON THIS PORTION OF THE FORECAST. && .AVIATION...A SOUTHERLY DRAINAGE WIND WILL SHIFT TO THE NORTH DURING THE LATE MORNING HOURS. THE AIRMASS WILL BECOME UNSTABLE THIS AFTERNOON WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING. CEILINGS MAY FALL AS LOW AS 4000 FEET UNDER THE STRONGER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...OTHERWISE CEILINGS WILL BE ABOVE 6000 FEET. THE CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY WILL END BY 02Z AND ONLY MID AND HIGH CLOUDS WILL PREVAIL. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. MEIER/BAKER
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 1056 AM MDT SUN MAY 02 2010 COZ030>051-031200- 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- 1056 AM MDT SUN MAY 02 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SNOW WILL SPREAD OVER THE MOUNTAINS TODAY WITH ACCUMULATIONS RANGING FROM 1 TO 3 INCHES ALONG THE COLORADO WYOMING BORDER TO 3 TO 6 INCHES ALONG INTERSTATE 70 AND SOUTH. FOR THE URBAN CORRIDOR AND EASTERN PLAINS...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL FORM THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. BRIEF MODERATE RAIN AND SMALL HAIL WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THE STRONGER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY MUCH WARMER AND DRIER CONDITIONS WILL RETURN TO THE OUTLOOK AREA ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY. PLENTY OF SUNSHINE WILL COMBINE WITH GUSTY DOWNSLOPE BREEZES TO PUSH TEMPERATURES WELL ABOVE AVERAGE BY TUESDAY. THE NEXT CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW CAN BE EXPECTED DURING THE LATTER HALF OF THE WEEK AS ANOTHER PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM MOVES SLOWLY ACROSS THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION. THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR ACCUMULATING SNOWFALL IN THE HIGH COUNTRY WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY...AND PERHAPS ACROSS THE PLAINS THURSDAY NIGHT DEPENDING ON THE TRACK OF THIS NEXT STORM. TEMPERATURES WILL TURN MUCH COOLER AGAIN FOR THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT...HOWEVER ANY REPORTS OF HEAVY SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS OR THE OCCURRENCE OF HAIL IN THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS ON THE PLAINS IS APPRECIATED. KRIEDERMAN/BARJENBRUCH
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 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, May 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: 231573.