Another storm system brought additional snow to portions of the high country. 5 inches, 21 miles northwest of Silverthorne; 8 inches at Zirkel SNOTEL; 7 inches at Breckenridge and Green Mountain Dam; with 6 inches at Willow Creek SNOTEL.
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.
Another storm system brought additional snow to portions of the high country. Storm totals included: 11.5 inches, 21 miles northwest of Silverthorne; 8 inches at Zirkel SNOTEL; 7 inches at Breckenridge and Green Mountain Dam; with 6 inches at Willow Creek SNOTEL.
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 Feb 16, 6:17 PM MST, 3 hours 54 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 617 PM MST WED FEB 16 2011 .UPDATE... && .AVIATION...SURFACE WINDS HAVE DECOUPLED A BIT FASTER AT LOCAL TERMINALS EARLY THIS EVENING AND WILL INDICATE A LITTLE LESS WIND THAN EARLIER FORECAST FOR TONIGHT. STILL AN OCCASIONAL PUFF AROUND 20KT WITH MORE ENHANCED DRAINAGE THAN USUAL. BY MIDDAY THURSDAY THE WINDS WILL SHIFT TO THE WEST...GIVING A PERIOD WHERE THERE COULD BE CROSSWIND ISSUES AT KDEN/KAPA. THERE WILL LIKELY BE A BIT MORE OF A NW DIRECTION ALONG WITH SOME DECREASE IN SPEED BY LATE AFTERNOON. VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED...WITH THE HIGHER MOUNTAINS OBSCURED IN SNOW. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 225 PM MST WED FEB 16 2011/ SHORT TERM...JET PROGRESSING OVER COLORADO THIS AFTERNOON WITH EMBEDDED SHORTWAVE TROUGH MOVING EAST ACROSS THE SIERRAS. AIRMASS IS INITIALLY DRY AND SLIGHTLY STABLE. A FEW WEAK SHOWERS HAVE DEVELOPED OVER THE SOUTHERN COLORADO MOUNTAINS...BUT THIS ACTIVITY WILL MAINLY STAY SOUTH OF OUR AREA. ADDITIONAL WEAK SHOWERS DEVELOPMENT WILL EVENTUALLY FILL IN THE DRY SLOT THIS EVENING...BUT THE ARRIVAL OF THE MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH THE SHORTWAVE AND FRONT STILL LOOKS LIKE IT WILL BE AROUND MIDNIGHT. WITH INCREASING WINDS ALOFT AND SOME COOLING ALOFT AFTER A WARM DAY...LOW LEVELS WILL GENERALLY STAY MIXED WITH ONLY A LITTLE DECREASE IN THE WINDS...WHILE MOUNTAINTOP WIND SHOULD PEAK AHEAD OF THE FRONT THIS EVENING. WITH A DEEP MOIST UNSTABLE LAYER AND STRONG SOUTHWEST WINDS TURNING MORE WESTERLY...STILL ON TRACK FOR DECENT SNOWFALL LATE TONIGHT INTO THURSDAY. DIRECTION IS LESS THAN FAVORABLE FOR THE INTERSTATE 70 CORRIDOR...WHILE THE SETUP IS BETTER FOR AREAS NEAR THE WYOMING BORDER ESPECIALLY UP AROUND STEAMBOAT SPRINGS WHERE THE WESTERLY DIRECTION IS OPTIMAL. QG FORCING WILL BE GOING AWAY ON THURSDAY... BUT OROGRAPHIC COMPONENT SHOULD REMAIN STRONG DURING THE DAY. ONE DIFFERENCE IS THAT THE LATEST MODEL RUNS ARE SHOWING THE WIND DECREASING A BIT MORE DURING THE DAY THAN EARLIER RUNS HAD SHOWED...WHICH COULD RESULT IN LESS SNOW AS WELL. ON THE PLAINS ALSO ADJUSTED THE WINDS DOWN A BIT ON THURSDAY AFTERNOON...ALSO LOWERED TEMPS A BIT IN LINE AS THE LATEST GUIDANCE SHOWS A BIT MORE COOLING. MIXED SIGNALS ON CLOUD COVER FOR THE PLAINS...SHOULD BE SOME HIGH CLOUDINESS DURING THE MORNING BUT IT COULD CLEAR OUT BETTER IN THE AFTERNOON. LONG TERM...FOR THURSDAY NIGHT INTO FRIDAY...A 150 KT JET MAX OVER CO IS PROGGED TO LIFT TO THE NORTH AND EAST. THERE WILL BE SOME WEAK QG VERTICAL VELOCITIES OVER THE MTNS OF COLORADO FRIDAY...BUT INCREASING STABILITY SHUD ALLOW FOR DECREASING SNOWFALL THROUGH THE DAY. AS FOR THE NORTHEASTERN PLAINS...LATEST MDLS 5 TO 8 DEGREES WARMER THAN PRVS GRIDS...SO HAVE ADJUSTED THEM ACCORDINGLY. FOR SATURDAY...THE FLOW ALOFT WILL REMAIN WEST-SOUTHWESTERLY WITH A SHORT WAVE RIDGE OVER COLORADO AND AN UPPER LEVEL TROF ALONG THE WEST COAST. MOISTURE WILL INCREASE IN THE MTNS DURING THE DAY...WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW INCRG AS WELL. STRONG DOWNSLOPE ALONG THE FRONT RANGE WILL NEGATE ANY POTENTIAL SHOWERS. THE TROF ALONG THE WEST COAST IS PROGGED TO EJECT NORTHEASTWARD ACROSS COLORADO SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING. SNOW WILL INCREASE WITH A BRIEF PERIOD OF WEAK TO MDT QG ASCENT AOA 700 MB FOR THE MTNS. OROGRAPHIC COMPONENT W-SWLY WHICH WILL FAVOR ZONE 31...CUD SEE 3-6 INCHES THERE. ACROSS THE RMNDR OF THE MTNS 2 TO 4 INCHES WL BE A GOOD STARTING POINT. MID LEVEL LAPSE RATES 7-8C/KM ON SUNDAY...SO PCPN OVER THE NERN PLAINS MAY BE MORE CONVECTIVE. BEST CHC OF SHOWERS WILL BE NORTH AND EAST OF DENVER AWAY FM THE FRONT RANGE... DOWNSLOPE MAY LIMIT SHOWER POTENTIAL ALONG THE URBAN CORRIDOR. BEST MID LEVEL COLD AIR ADVECTION WILL OCCUR WITH THE PASSAGE OF THE TROF AXIS LATE SATURDAY NIGHT/SUNDAY. MORE SHORT WAVE RIDGING PROGGED FOR SUNDAY NIGHT/MONDAY...SO SNOW IN THE MTNS WILL BE DECREASING AT THAT TIME. SLOER DEVELOPMENT WITH THE NEXT TROF ALONG THE WEST COAST...MAY ALLOW FOR DRIER MAYBE SLIGHTLY WARMER CONDITIONS FOR THE CWFA FOR MONDAY/TUESDAY. COLD AIR MOVING IN FM THE NORTH IS A BIT QUESTIONABLE AT THIS TIME. NO BIG ADJUSTMENTS FOR NEXT WEEK BUT WILL DCRG THE POPS. MDLS MAY BRING THIS NEXT TROF ACRS COLORADO ON WEDNESDAY. AVIATION...SOUTHWEST WINDS AT 15-20 KT WILL CONTINUE IN THE DENVER AREA THROUGH TONIGHT...WITH GUSTS TO 30 KT AT TIMES. ON THURSDAY MORNING THE WINDS WILL SHIFT TO THE WEST...GIVING A PERIOD WHERE THERE COULD BE CROSSWIND ISSUES AT KDEN/KAPA. THERE WILL LIKELY BE A BIT MORE OF A NW DIRECTION ALONG WITH SOME DECREASE IN SPEED BY LATE AFTERNOON. VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED...WITH THE HIGHER MOUNTAINS OBSCURED IN SNOW. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO MIDNIGHT MST THURSDAY NIGHT FOR COZ030-032>034. WINTER STORM WARNING FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO MIDNIGHT MST THURSDAY NIGHT FOR COZ031. && SHORT TERM...GIMMESTAD LONG TERM....COOPER AVIATION...ENTREKIN
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 1053 AM MST WED FEB 16 2011 COZ030>051-171300- 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- 1053 AM MST WED FEB 16 2011 ...WINTER STORM WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES FOR THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS MIDNIGHT TONIGHT THROUGH MIDNIGHT THURSDAY NIGHT... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS... FOOTHILLS...AND PALMER DIVIDE TODAY AND TONIGHT. SOME OF THE GUSTY WINDS WILL ALSO WORK ACROSS THE DENVER METRO AREA THIS AFTERNOON. PEAK GUSTS WILL REACH 60 MPH OR MORE IN THE FOOTHILLS AND MOUNTAINS...WITH GUSTS CLOSER TO 40 MPH IN THE LOWER ELEVATIONS. THE GUSTY WINDS...NEAR RECORD WARM TEMPERATURES...AND LOW HUMIDITIES WILL LEAD TO INCREASED FIRE DANGER IN THE WINDY AREAS THIS AFTERNOON. SNOW WILL BE DEVELOPING OVER THE MOUNTAINS TONIGHT AND WILL BECOME HEAVY AT TIMES AFTER MIDNIGHT IN THE MOUNTAINS AROUND RABBIT EARS PASS. THE HEAVIER AND MORE PERSISTENT SNOW WILL GRADUALLY SPREAD TOWARD THE FRONT RANGE MOUNTAINS AND SUMMIT COUNTY BEFORE DAYBREAK THURSDAY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY SNOW AND WIND ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE IN THE MOUNTAINS INTO THE WEEKEND AS A MOIST SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW MOVES OVER COLORADO. TRAVEL IN THE HIGH COUNTRY WILL BE DIFFICULT DUE TO SNOWPACKED ROADS AND POOR VISIBILITY FROM BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. ON THE PLAINS... GUSTY WEST TO SOUTHWEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED ALONG WITH TEMPERATURES AROUND SEASONAL NORMALS. OVER THE WEEKEND AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE ACROSS THE NORTHWEST PART OF THE STATE WHICH WILL BRING ADDITIONAL SNOW TO THE MOUNTAINS FROM SATURDAY THROUGH MONDAY. ON THE PLAINS...THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION ON SUNDAY AND MONDAY DUE TO THE COMBINATION OF A COLD FRONT FROM THE NORTH...EASTERLY WINDS BEHIND THE FRONT AND MOISTURE PASSING OVERHEAD FROM THE WEST. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. GIMMESTAD
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, February 2011
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: 285605, 285607, 285608.