A weather disturbance brought moisture and generated heavy snow over the highest elevations of the eastern Sawatch Range and eastern San Juan Mountains. 23 inches of snow occurred.
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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 PUB wrote it up.
A weather disturbance brought moisture and generated heavy snow over the highest elevations of the eastern Sawatch Range and eastern San Juan Mountains. For example...21 inches of snow was measured near the summit of Monarch Pass in Chaffee county...and around the summit of Wolf Creek Pass in Mineral County...23 inches of snow occurred.
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 Pueblo, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 23, 3:43 PM MST, 9 hours 17 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO 343 PM MST WED FEB 23 2011 .SHORT TERM... (TONIGHT AND THURSDAY) CURRENTLY... WEAK BOUNDARY HAS BACKED INTO THE REGION AS WINDS HAVE SHIFTED TO AN UPSLOPE COMPONENT ACROSS ALL OF THE EASTERN PLAINS. THIS UPSLOPE FLOW ALSO AIDED BY FALLING PRESSURES OVER THE WESTERN PART OF THE STATE. OVERALL...SKIES STILL CLEAR ACROSS THE REGION...AND TEMPS ARE RATHER MILD...WITH 50S EVERYWHERE ACROSS THE PLAINS. I AM A LITTLE BIT SURPRISED AS THE WARMEST TEMPS ARE OVER THE FAR E PLAINS...WITH CURRENT TEMPS IN THE U50S. SYSTEM WHICH WILL BRING A CHANGE TO THE WEATHER WAS LOCATED OVER S CALIF AND WAS QUICKLY ADVANCING EASTWARD. TONIGHT... THE PRIMARY CONCERN FOR TONIGHT WILL BE CLOUDS ON THE PLAINS (WHERE AND HOW FAR WEST) AND THE POSSIBILITY OF SOME FREEZING PRECIP OVER PARTS OF THE PLAINS. WITH UPSLOPE INCREASING THROUGH THE EVENING...LOWER LEVELS WILL SATURATE. THIS SHOWN ON NEARLY ALL GUIDANCE. I AN VERY CONFIDENT FAR E PLAINS WILL CLOUD OVER ALONG WITH AREAS OVER THE PALMER DIVIDE (N EL PASO CNTY)...BUT OTHER AREAS ARE A BIT MORE PROBLEMATIC. ADDITIONALLY...WE MAY SEE SOME FREEZING DRIZZLE OVER THE FAR E PLAINS TONIGHT. BUFFKIT SOUNDINGS WERE QUITE SATURATED IN THE LOWER LEVELS WITH FREEZING TEMPS THROUGHOUT. FOR THIS REASON ADDED THE POSSIBILITY OF FREEZING DRIZZLE/FOG IN THE GRIDDS FOR PARTS OF THE REGION. SNOWS WILL BEGIN TO RAMP UP OVER THE MTNS. SW MTNS WILL BE INITIALLY FAVORED AND HAVE 1-3" OF SNOW OVER THE SAN JUANS. THE BEST CHANCE OF SNOW WILL BE DURING THE 06-12Z TIME FRAME. THURSDAY... TROUGH AXIS AT MID LVLS WILL BE OVER THE C PART OF THE STATE AT 12Z AND IT WILL BE MOVING QUICKLY EASTWARD. LIKEWISE I EXPECT THE MTNS/VALLEYS TO CLEAR OUT PRETTY QUICKLY AFTER SUNRISE TOMORROW. THE EXCEPTION WILL BE THE C MTNS ALONG THE CONTDVD WHERE SNOWS WILL BE ON THE INCREASE WITH THE WNW 700 MB FLOW. THE PAC FRONT SHOULD BE ALONG THE I-25 CORRIDOR REGION AROUND 15Z...REACHING AREAS EAST OF KLHX BY 18Z BEFORE STALLING. A FAIRLY STOUT SFC WESTERLY FLOW DEVELOPS BEHIND THE FRONT...AND THIS SHOULD ALLOW AREAS ALONG THE I-25 CORRIDOR TO WARM UP TO THE L50S. HOWEVER..AREAS OUT EAST WILL LIKELY REMAIN QUITE COOL WITH HIGHS ONLY REACHING THE U30S TO L40S. AS THE BETTER FORCING MOVES ACROSS THE FAR E PLAINS TOMORROW MORNING AND EARLY AFTERNOON...WE COULD SEE SOME RAIN/SNOW SHOWERS ACROSS THIS REGION. \/HODANISH .LONG TERM... (THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH NEXT WEDNESDAY) ...HAVE ISSUED A WINTER STORM WATCH FOR PUBLIC ZONES 58>61 AND 67>68 FROM 00Z FRIDAY TO 00Z SUNDAY... ACTIVE METEOROLOGICAL PERIOD DURING THE LONGER TERM WITH RECENT LONGER TERM COMPUTER SIMULATIONS DEPICTING A RELATIVELY LONG DURATION MOIST UPSLOPE FLOW EVENT OVER THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS. SNOW...HEAVY AT TIMES...IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS...ESPECIALLY FROM LATER THURSDAY NIGHT INTO LATE SATURDAY. AT THIS TIME...IT APPEARS THAT SIGNIFICANT SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER ZONES 58>61 AND 67>68 DURING THIS TIME-FRAME AND THEREFORE HAVE ISSUED A WINTER STORM WATCH FOR THESE AREAS. ELSEWHERE ACROSS THE CWFA FROM THURSDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY ...ANTICIPATE GENERALLY LOW-GRADE TO NIL POPS IN COMBINATION WITH GENERALLY BELOW SEASONAL AVERAGE TEMPERATURES. LATEST LONGER TERM MODELS ARE NOW HAVING SOME ISSUES ON TRACK OF LATE WEEKEND SYSTEM WITH COMBINATION OF 18Z/23RD GFS40 AND 12Z/23RD ECMWF STILL SUGGESTING THAT A PROGRESSIVE CLOSED UPPER LOW SITUATED OVER SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AT 00Z SUNDAY MOVES ACROSS NORTHERN ARIZONA SATURDAY NIGHT AND THEN ACROSS NORTHERN NEW MEXICO SUNDAY BEFORE SHIFTING INTO NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA BY EARLY EVENING SUNDAY EVENING BEFORE PUSHING WELL EAST OF THE CWFA BY SUNRISE MONDAY. ON THE OTHER HAND...THE 18Z NAM12/DGEX SUGGESTS THAT THE PROJECTED INCOMING UPPER SYSTEM WILL BE QUITE A BIT FURTHER NORTH WITH CLOSED UPPER LOW MOVING FROM NORTHEASTERN UTAH AT 12Z SUNDAY INTO EAST-CENTRAL COLORADO BY 18Z SUNDAY AND THEN WELL EAST OF THE CWFA BY SUNRISE MONDAY. SO FOR SENSIBLE WEATHER FROM SATURDAY NIGHT INTO EARLY MONDAY MORNING HAVE PAINTED/DEPICTED SCATTERED POPS OVER THE SOUTHWESTERN AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS WITH GENERALLY ISOLATED POPS ELSEWHERE. IN ADDITION...GUSTY WINDS SHOULD BE NOTED WITH THIS SYSTEM...ESPECIALLY FROM LATER SUNDAY INTO MONDAY MORNING. A RETURN TO MORE TRANQUIL AND DRIER METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS AS WELL AS WARMER TEMPERATURES SHOULD THEN BE NOTED IN THE WAKE OF THE LATE WEEKEND SYSTEM WITH WARMEST TEMPERATURES OF THE LONGER TERM EXPECTED FROM MONDAY INTO NEXT WEDNESDAY...I.E. A RETURN OF SOME 60+ DEGREE MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE READINGS OVER PORTIONS OF THE SOUTHEASTERN COLORADO PLAINS. && .AVIATION... WE MAY SEE SOME LOW CIGS LATE TONIGHT AND TOMORROW MORNING AT KCOS AND KPUB. UPSLOPE FLOW HAS ALREADY DEVELOPED AND IT WILL MOISTEN AS THE NIGHTTIME PROGRESSES, FOR NOW BELIEVE PRIMARY CONCERNS WILL BE STRATUS AS I DONT THINK IT WILL MOISTEN ENOUGH FOR FZDZ TO OCCUR AT THE 2 TAF SITES. THE BEST CHANCE OF THIS WILL BE FROM ROUGHLY 09Z TO 13Z. AFTER 13Z...A PAC FRONT SHOULD MOVE ACROSS THE TAF SITES AND WE SHOULD QUICKLY DRY 0UT AS 700 MB FLOW BECOMES WESTERLY AND SFC WINDS TRANSITION FROM UPSLOPE TO DOWNSLOPE BEHIND THE FROPA. WE COULD SEE SOME GUSTY WEST WINDS AT TIMES AT THE KCOS AND KPUB TOMORROW AFTER FROPA. KALS SHOULD REMAIN DRY FOR THE MOST PART. WE COULD SEE SOME PASSING SNOW SHOWERS...WITH THE BEST CHANCE FROM ROUGHLY 06Z TO 12Z TOMORROW. && .PUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER STORM WATCH FROM THURSDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SATURDAY AFTERNOON FOR COZ058>061-067-068. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO 546 PM MST WED FEB 23 2011 COZ058>089-093>099-250100- WESTERN MOSQUITO RANGE/EAST LAKE COUNTY ABOVE 11000 FT- LEADVILLE VICINITY/LAKE COUNTY BELOW 11000 FT- EASTERN SAWATCH MOUNTAINS ABOVE 11000 FT- WESTERN CHAFFEE COUNTY BETWEEN 9000 AND 11000 FT- CENTRAL CHAFFEE COUNTY BELOW 9000 FT- WESTERN MOSQUITO RANGE/EAST CHAFFEE COUNTY ABOVE 9000 FT- SAGUACHE COUNTY WEST OF CONTINENTAL DIVIDE BELOW 10000 FT- SAGUACHE COUNTY EAST OF CONTINENTAL DIVIDE BELOW 10000 FT- LA GARITA MOUNTAINS ABOVE 10000 FT- UPPER RIO GRANDE VALLEY/EASTERN SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS BELOW 10000 FT- EASTERN SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS ABOVE 10000 FT- DEL NORTE VICINITY/NORTHERN SAN LUIS VALLEY BELOW 8500 FT- ALAMOSA VICINITY/CENTRAL SAN LUIS VALLEY BELOW 8500 FT- SOUTHERN SAN LUIS VALLEY- NORTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS BETWEEN 8500 AND 11000 FT- NORTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS ABOVE 11000 FEET- SOUTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS BETWEEN 7500 AND 11000 FT- SOUTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS ABOVE 11000 FT- NORTHWESTERN FREMONT COUNTY ABOVE 8500 FT- WESTERN/CENTRAL FREMONT COUNTY BELOW 8500 FT- WET MOUNTAIN VALLEY BELOW 8500 FEET- WET MOUNTAINS BETWEEN 6300 AND 10000 FT- WET MOUNTAINS ABOVE 10000 FT- TELLER COUNTY/RAMPART RANGE ABOVE 7500 FT/PIKES PEAK BETWEEN 7500 AND 11000 FT-PIKES PEAK ABOVE 11000 FT- CANON CITY VICINITY/EASTERN FREMONT COUNTY- NORTHERN EL PASO COUNTY/MONUMENT RIDGE/RAMPART RANGE BELOW 7500 FT- COLORADO SPRINGS VICINITY/SOUTHERN EL PASO COUNTY/RAMPART RANGE BELOW 7400 FT-PUEBLO AND VICINITY/PUEBLO COUNTY BELOW 6300 FT- WALSENBURG VICINITY/UPPER HUERFANO RIVER BASIN BELOW 7500 FT- TRINIDAD VICINITY/WESTERN LAS ANIMAS COUNTY BELOW 7500 FT- CROWLEY COUNTY-LA JUNTA VICINITY/OTERO COUNTY- EASTERN LAS ANIMAS COUNTY-WESTERN KIOWA COUNTY- EASTERN KIOWA COUNTY-LAS ANIMAS VICINITY/BENT COUNTY- LAMAR VICINITY/PROWERS COUNTY-SPRINGFIELD VICINITY/BACA COUNTY- 546 PM MST WED FEB 23 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL...EAST CENTRAL...SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT A WEATHER DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE ACROSS SOUTHERN COLORADO AND NORTHERN NEW MEXICO LATE TONIGHT...SPREADING SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS INTO THE SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS...AND CLOUDS...FOG AND FREEZING DRIZZLE ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE SOUTHEAST PLAINS. LOCAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES OF SNOWFALL WILL BE POSSIBLE TONIGHT ALONG THE WEST AND SOUTHWEST FACING SLOPES OF THE EASTERN SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS...AND THE SAWATCH RANGE. THE REMAINDER OF THE MOUNTAINS WILL SEE SPOTTY ACCUMULATIONS OF UP TO AN INCH OR TWO ACROSS THE HIGHER AREAS. LIGHT FREEZING DRIZZLE AND FOG ALONG WITH A FEW FLURRIES WILL DEVELOP ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE SOUTHEAST PLAINS AFTER MIDNIGHT...MAINLY FROM LA JUNTA EASTWARD...ALTHOUGH ANY ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN SPOTTY AND VERY LIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY MOISTURE WILL CONTINUE TO STREAM INTO THE SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS...AS A COUPLE OF WEATHER SYSTEMS AFFECT COLORADO THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. THIS WILL RESULT IN A PROLONGED PERIOD OF MODERATE SNOWFALL FOR THE EASTERN SAN JUANS...AND THE MOUNTAINS OF CHAFFEE AND LAKE COUNTY. SNOW MAY FALL HEAVY AT TIMES ACROSS THIS AREA ON SATURDAY AS THE STRONGER SYSTEM MOVES INTO ARIZONA AND UTAH. SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS THIS REGION. THE SOUTHEAST MOUNTAINS WILL SEE ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS WITH SOME SPOTTY LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS ACROSS THE HIGHER AREAS. ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST PLAINS...THIS APPROACHING SYSTEM WILL BRING A PERIOD OF FOG...FREEZING DRIZZLE AND LIGHT SNOW FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING...THOUGH ANY ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED TO BE LIGHT. THE SYSTEM WILL MOVE ACROSS NEW MEXICO ON SUNDAY AND MAY BRING A QUICK SHOT OF ISOLATED TO SCATTERED RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS ALONG WITH STRONG GUSTY NORTH WINDS TO THE SOUTHEAST PLAINS. THERE ARE STILL SOME UNCERTAINTIES REGARDING THE TRACK OF THIS STORM SYSTEM AND THE RESULTING SNOWFALL AMOUNTS. PLEASE MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS ON THIS DEVELOPING WINTER STORM. BE PREPARED FOR WINTER DRIVING CONDITIONS...ESPECIALLY ALONG THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER CONDITIONS THAT MEET REPORTING CRITERIA FOR SPOTTERS WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS AND THE FAR SOUTHEAST PLAINS TONIGHT. 31/23
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 winter storm. 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: 282599, 282598.