Another winter storm brought a period of moderate to heavy snow to the areas in and near the North-Central Mountains, Front Range Foothills and Palmer Divide. 5 inches near Grand Lake; 8 inches at Arapahoe Basin and Copper Mountain; with 7 inches at Stillwater Creek.
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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 BOU wrote it up.
Another winter storm brought a period of moderate to heavy snow to the areas in and near the North-Central Mountains, Front Range Foothills and Palmer Divide. In the mountains and foothills, storm totals included: 14 inches at Conifer, 11.5 inches, 3.6 miles northeast of Grandby; 11 inches at Eldora Ski Area and Tower SNOTEL; 10.5 inches at Breckenridge; 10 inches at Loveland Ski Area and Zirkel SNOTEL; 8.5 inches near Grand Lake; 8 inches at Arapahoe Basin and Copper Mountain; with 7 inches at Stillwater Creek.
Along the Urban Corridor and Palmer Divide, storm totals included: 8 inches, 2 miles southeast of Highlands Ranch, 2.2 miles north-northeast of Castle Pines and 2 miles west-northwest of Beverly Hills; 7 inches, 5.4 miles south-southeast of Franktown; with 6 inches at Limon, 10.2 miles west-southwest of Littleton, 2 miles west-southwest of Parker and Ralston Reservoir.
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 7, 3:19 PM MST, 25 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 319 PM MST MON FEB 7 2011 .SHORT TERM...SNOW CONTINUED TO INCREASE IN THE MOUNTAINS THROUGH THE DAY. CONSIDERING SNOW THAT HAS ALREADY FALLEN...PLUS MORE Q-G LIFT AND GOOD OROGRAPHICS THROUGH 06Z TONIGHT WE SHOULD REACH WARNING CRITERIA SO HAVE UPGRADED THOSE NORTHERN MOUNTAIN ZONES. CONVECTIVE SNOW SHOWERS WERE ALSO DEVELOPING ACROSS NORTHERN UTAH AND SOUTHWEST WYOMING AND THOSE WILL REACH OUR MOUNTAINS THIS EVENING AS WELL. ON THE PLAINS...ARCTIC FRONT IS BEGINNING TO ADVANCE SOUTHWARD ACROSS NORTHERN WYOMING AS EVIDENCED BY NOSE OF SURFACE PRESSURE RISES. THERE WAS STILL NOT A WELL DEFINED WIND SHIFT WITH THE FRONT...BUT THIS IS EXPECTED TO BECOME MORE APPARENT THROUGH THE EVENING AS ARCTIC FRONT DROPS ACROSS COLORADO. WE HAVE SPED UP THE ARRIVAL OF THE FRONT A BIT GIVEN THE LATEST TRENDS...SO THIS WOULD ALLOW MORE SNOW TO FALL DURING THE OVERNIGHT PERIOD AS DEEPENING UPSLOPE AND RATHER STRONG Q-G LIFT JOIN FORCES. FROM MODEL CROSS SECTIONS...THERE APPEARS TO BE AT LEAST A 3 HOUR PERIOD OF FAVORABLE DENDRITIC CRYSTAL GROWTH WHEN SNOWFALL RATES WOULD BE NEAR 1 INCH PER HOUR JUST BEHIND THE FRONT. GIVEN THE SOMEWHAT FASTER ARRIVAL...THE HEAVIEST SNOW SHOULD OCCUR TIL AROUND DAYBREAK TUESDAY FOR THE FRONT RANGE METRO AREAS. THIS WILL RESULT IN A SLOW AND DIFFICULT MORNING COMMUTE. IN ADDITION...NORTH WINDS GUSTING TO NEAR 35 MPH EAST OF I-25 WILL ALSO PRODUCE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. WINDS WILL BE LESS WEST OF I-25...BUT STILL GUSTY WITH THE ARRIVAL AND SHORTLY AFTER THE COLD FRONT. TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 4-8 INCHES FOR THE DENVER/BOULDER METRO AREA...HEAVIEST NEAR THE FOOTHILLS. 3-6 INCHES EXPECTED OVER THE EASTERN PLAINS WITH LESS UPSLOPE ENHANCEMENT THERE. IT SHOULD BE NOTED THERE IS POTENTIAL FOR HEAVIER BANDED SNOWFALL GIVEN THE INSTABILITY ALOFT IN THE INITIAL PERIODS OF THIS STORM. AS A RESULT...THERE MAY BE A FEW LOCATIONS THAT HAVE POTENTIAL TO REACH WARNING CRITERIA ALONG THE FRONT RANGE. AT THIS TIME...THE MOST FAVORED LOCATION WOULD BE NEAR THE PALMER DIVIDE. HOWEVER...THE LACK OF FAVORABLE DENDRITIC GROWTH REGIME FOR MORE THAN A FEW HOURS AND RATHER RAPID STABILIZATION IN THE LOWER LEVELS COULD SHUT THE HEAVIER SNOW OFF QUICKLY MONDAY MORNING. FOR NOW...WILL LEAVE THE EXISTING ADVISORIES ALONE...BUT KEEP IN MIND AN UPGRADE TO A WINTER STORM WARNING IS POSSIBLE IF BANDED FEATURES DEVELOP AND BECOME MORE PERSISTENT. .LONG TERM...THE MAIN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL MOVE SE OF THE AREA TUE NIGHT WITH QG ASCENT BEING REPLACED BY QG ASCENT EARLY TUE EVENING. CROSS-SECTIONS STILL SHOW QUITE A BIT OF MOISTURE AND SOME WEAK UPSLOPE TUE EVENING SO MAY SEE SOME LINGERING LIGHT SNOW MAINLY OVER THE SRN FOOTHILLS AND OVER THE PALMER DIVIDE WITH ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATIONS OF AN INCH OR LESS. IN THE MTNS WILL ALSO SEE SOME LINGERING LIGHT SNOW MAINY ALONG AND SOUTH OF I-70. WITH FRESH SNOW COVER...LIGHT WINDS AND DECREASING CLOUD COVER LOW TEMPS WED MORNING SHOULD DROP WELL BLO ZERO IN MOST AREAS. ON WED DRIER AIR IN NWLY FLOW ALOFT WILL BE OVER THE AREA WITH ONLY A SLIGHT CHC OF -SHSN IN THE MTNS. 850-700 MB TEMPS WILL WRM A FEW DEGREES ON WED HOWEVER LINGERING SNOW COVER SHOULD KEEP HIGHS MAINLY IN THE UPPER TEENS TO LOWER 20S ACROSS MOST OF NERN CO. FOR WED NIGHT THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT INCREASE IN MOISTURE OVER THE MTNS SO MAY SEE A SLIGHLY BETTER CHC OF OROGRAPHIC -SHSN. BY THU NOT MUCH CHANGE AS RATHER DRY NWLY FLOW ALOFT WILL REMAIN OVER THE AREA. 850-700 MB TEMPS RISE AROUND 7 DEGREES C AS A WEAK SFC LEE TROUGH DEVELOPS ALOGN THE FOOTHILLS. THUS SHOULD SEE WARMER TEMPS OVER NERN CO WITH HIGHS RISING BACK INTO THE 30S. BY FRI THE FLOW ALOFT WILL BECOME MORE WNW WITH A RATHER DRY AND STABLE AIRMASS IN PLACE. WITH DOWNSLOPE FLOW INCREASING 850-700 MB TEMPS TISE ANOTHER 7 DEGREES C SO HIGHS SHOULD GET BACK TO SEASONAL LEVELS WITH READINGS IN THE 40S ACROSS NERN CO. FOR SAT AND SUN LOOKS LIKE THE FLOW ALOFT SHOULD STAY WNW WITH A DRY AND STABLE AIRMASS CONTINUING. THUS PCPN CHANCES SHOULD STAY LOW WITH A CONTINUED WARMING TREND. 850-700 MB TEMPS RISE ANOTHER 3-4 DEGREES C ON SAT WITH LITTLE CHANGE ON SUN. WITH DOWNSLOPE FLOW IN PLACE HIGHS SHOULD RISE INTO THE 50S BOTH DAYS OVER NERN CO. && .AVIATION...ARCTIC COLD FRONT IS ON TRACK TO MOVE ACROSS THE FRONT RANGE AIRPORTS BETWEEN 05Z AND 06Z. SNOW WILL FORM SHORTLY AFTER THE FRONTAL PASSAGE WITH IFR/LIFR CONDITIONS. THE LIFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO OCCUR WITH THE HEAVIEST SNOW FROM ROUGHLY 09Z-13Z...BUT COULD START AS EARLY AS 07Z IF FRONT IS SLIGHTLY FASTER. HEAVIEST SNOW WILL BE DECREASING FROM 13Z-17Z WITH GENERALLY LIGHT SNOW/FLURRIES LINGERING INTO THE AFTERNOON. STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL EXPECTED TO BE 4-6 INCHES AT KDEN...AND 5-8 INCHES THE MOST LIKELY TOTALS AT KAPA AND KBJC. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 11 PM THIS EVENING TO 5 PM MST TUESDAY FOR THE FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS...I-25 URBAN CORRIDOR...AND EASTERN PLAINS...COZ035-036-038>051. WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 12 PM MST TUESDAY FOR THE FAR NORTHERN MOUNTAINS...COZ031-033. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR PORTIONS OF THE NORTH CENTRAL MOUNTAINS INCLUDING SUMMIT COUNTY UNTIL 5 PM MST TUESDAY...COZ034. && SHORT TERM...BARJENBRUCH LONG TERM....RPK AVIATION...BARJENBRUCH
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 1104 AM MST MON FEB 07 2011 COZ030>051-081300- 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 MON FEB 07 2011 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR MORE SNOW AND VERY COLD TEMPERATURES FOR MOST OF NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT AN ARCTIC COLD FRONT WILL PLUNGE ACROSS NORTHEAST COLORADO BY OR SHORTLY BEFORE MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. THIS WILL USHER IN ACCUMULATING SNOWFALL...BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW...MUCH COLDER TEMPERATURES... AND HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS. THE SNOW WILL BE HEAVY AT TIMES AFTER MIDNIGHT WITH SNOWFALL RATES UP TO 1 INCH PER HOUR. SNOW WILL ALSO BE INCREASING IN INTENSITY ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. AN APPROACHING STORM SYSTEM AND THE ARCTIC COLD FRONT WILL BRING THE HAZARDOUS WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE MID MORNING HOURS AND THEN DECREASE IN INTENSITY BY LATE MORNING THROUGH THE AFTERNOON HOURS ACROSS THE FRONT RANGE. IN ADDITION NORTHEAST WINDS OF 15 TO 25 MPH WILL PRODUCE AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW AND POOR VISIBILITIES DURING THE MORNING HOURS AND CREATE A VERY SLOW AND DIFFICULT COMMUTE TUESDAY MORNING ALONG THE FRONT RANGE URBAN CORRIDOR. LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOWFALL AND AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW WILL OCCUR ACROSS THE PLAINS OF NORTHEAST COLORADO AND IN THE NORTH CENTRAL MOUNTAINS ON TUESDAY AS WELL. SNOW WILL TAPER OFF AND COME TO AN END LATE TUESDAY AFTERNOON INTO TUESDAY EVENING. WIND CHILL VALUES ON THE PLAINS COULD FALL TO AS LOW AS 15 BELOW ZERO DURING THE DAY TUESDAY AND AS LOW AS 25 BELOW ZERO TUESDAY NIGHT. PEOPLE VENTURING OUTDOORS SHOULD PREPARE FOR THESE DANGEROUSLY COLD WIND CHILLS. DRIER AND WARMER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO RETURN TO THE OUTLOOK AREA BY FRIDAY AND CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEKEND. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT BUT SNOWFALL REPORTS WILL BE APPRECIATED THROUGH TUESDAY. BARJENBRUCH/RPK
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 winter weather, 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 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: 285321, 285322, 285323, 285324, 285326, 285327, 285328, 285329.