A winter storm brought heavy snow to portions of the North-Central Mountains. Storm totals included: 20 inches at Joe Wright, 14 inches at Cameron Pass and Lake Irene, 12 inches at Willow Creek SNOTEL, 11 inches at Long Draw River SNOTEL, and 10 inches at Arapahoe Ridge, 10 miles northwest of Kremmling, Phantom Valley and Rabbit Ears Pass.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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 portions of the North-Central Mountains. Storm totals included: 20 inches at Joe Wright, 14 inches at Cameron Pass and Lake Irene, 12 inches at Willow Creek SNOTEL, 11 inches at Long Draw River SNOTEL, and 10 inches at Arapahoe Ridge, 10 miles northwest of Kremmling, Phantom Valley and Rabbit Ears Pass. Storm totals elsewhere ranged from 4 to 9 inches.
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 Mar 17, 3:25 AM MST, 1 hour 35 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 425 AM MDT THU MAR 17 2011 .SHORT TERM...FRONT COMING IN EARLIER THAN EXPECTED WITH STRONG WEST WINDS ALONG THE FOOTHILLS AHEAD OF IT...SHIFTING TO THE NORTH ON THE PLAINS NOW NORTH OF DENVER...BUT WILL BE FIGHTING THE WESTERLIES ALONG THE HILLS FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS. JUST NEAR THE RED FLAG CRITERIA AS THE WIND KICKED IN EARLY THIS MORNING...WITH THE COOLING HUMIDITIES WILL BE HIGHER BEHIND THE FRONT. WITH ALL THE WIND I WILL GO AHEAD AND LEAVE THE CHANGES I MADE EARLIER...WE WILL LIKELY BE ABLE TO DROP SOME OF THE WARNINGS EARLIER THAN SCHEDULED. DROPPED HIGHS TODAY IN LIGHT OF THE COOLING ALREADY COMING IN. STILL SOME SUN AND THE STRONGER COOLING SHOULD BE THIS AFTERNOON AND MORE NORTH OF INTERSTATE 70...SO I WAS NOT TOO AGRESSIVE IN DROPPING THE TEMPERATURES...WE MAY TURN OUT TO BE STILL TOO WARM IN THE NORTH...OR THOSE AREAS MAY HAVE MORNING HIGHS. AS FOR THE SNOW...BAND HAS FORMED ALREADY ON THE LEADING EDGE OF THE CLOUDS AND MODELS JUST HANG THAT BAND THERE THROUGH LATE TONIGHT. NOT TOO MUCH DISAGREEMENT IN WHAT I HAVE SEEN ON POSITION... GENERALLY BOULDER OR LARIMER COUNTIES ON THE SOUTH EDGE RUNNING NORTHEAST INTO THE NEBRASKA PANHANDLE. ONCE THE DOWNSLOPE WINDS DIMINISH THIS AFTERNOON THE PRECIPITATION SHOULD PROGRESS ONTO THE PLAINS. MAIN DIFFERENCE IN MODELS IS QPF...NAM HAS GONE CRAZY WITH THESE BANDS IN UNSTABLE ENVIRONMENTS RECENTLY...LAST COUPLE OF RUNS HAVE SUGGESTED A MAX OF 12-20 INCHES IN THE SNOW BAND. GFS HAS HAD 6-12 INCHES WITH THE MAX NORTH OF THE STATE LINE. WILL GO WITH A MODEL BLEND FOR NOW WHICH IS A BIT BELOW GFS...IF THE MAX WINDS UP FURTHER SOUTH WE MAY NEED TO UP THIS A BIT. FOR THE MOUNTAINS...WITH THE BANDING AND DEEP MOIST LAYER WILL LEAVE THE WARNINGS GOING... COULD SEE LOCALIZED HIGHER AMOUNTS BUT NOT CERTAIN OF THE DETAILS AT THIS TIME. .LONG TERM...MODELS HAVE A SOUTHWESTERLY JET MAXIMUM MOVE ACROSS THE CWA FROM MID DAY FRIDAY INTO FRIDAY EVENING...THE GFS BEING A BIT QUICKER WITH IT COMPARED TO THE NAM. THE SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT CONTINUES FRIDAY NIGHT BUT DECREASES IN SPEED. THE SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT CONTINUES SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT. BENIGN SYNOPTIC SCALE ENERGY IS PROGGED OVER THE FORECAST AREA FRIDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT. THE BOUNDARY LAYER FLOW IS EAST-SOUTHEASTERLY FOR THE PLAINS AND FOOTHILLS ON FRIDAY. THE NORMAL DIURNAL WIND TRENDS ARE EXPECTED FOR FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY...WITH A BIT MORE DOWNSLOPING TO THE NORMAL PATTERNS FOR SATURDAY NIGHT. BOUNDARY LAYER WIND SPEEDS ARE PRETTY WEAK SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT. FOR MOISTURE...NOW THE MODELS SHOW PLENTY OVER THE CWA FRIDAY MORNING ...WITH DECREASING CLOUDINESS THROUGH THE AFTERNOON INTO THE EVENING. THIS IS A FULL PERIOD SLOWER THAN YESTERDAY'S 00Z MODEL RUNS INDICATED. THE NAM LINGERS LOW LEVEL MOISTURE OVER THE PLAINS FRIDAY NIGHT...THE GFS DRIES EVERYTHING OUT. SATURDAY IS DRY ON BOTH MODELS...BUT THE NAM HAS A TAD IN THE MID AND UPPER LEVELS. SATURDAY NIGHT IS VERY DRY. THE GFS QPF FIELDS HAVE A TAD OF MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION OVER THE CWA FRIDAY MORNING...EVEN LESS FRIDAY AFTERNOON. THE NAM SHOWS CONSIDERABLY MORE FRIDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON. FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT LOOK MOSTLY DRY. THE QPF FIELDS STILL SHOW THE PRECIPITATION PATTERN CONNECTED TO THE JET MAXIMUM IN THE SHORT TERM...BUT ON FRIDAY THEY KEEP THE MAJORITY OF THE PRECIPITATION OVER THE NORTHEAST HALF OF THE CWA. SO FOR POPS...WILL LINGER THEM INTO FRIDAY...WITH "CHANCES" IN THE MOUNTAINS...AND 20-30%S OVER THE PLAINS. BY AFTERNOON...THEY WILL BE MINOR. NO POPS THE REST OF THE PERIODS. FOR TEMPERATURES... FRIDAY'S HIGHS ARE 2-5 C COOLER THAN TODAY'S EXPECTED HIGHS. SATURDAY'S READINGS WARM-UP 2-5 C FROM FRIDAY'S. FOR THE LATER DAYS...SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...MODELS KEEP STRONG SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT FOR THE FORECAST AREA SUNDAY INTO EARLY TUESDAY. A SLOWER...MORE BROAD AND WEAKER UPPER LEVEL TROUGH IS NOW PROGGED ACROSS THE CWA TUESDAY ON THE ECMWF AND TUESDAY NIGHT ON THE GFS. ON WEDNESDAY...THERE IS AN UPPER RIDGE MOVING IN WITH VERY STRONG ZONAL FLOW ALOFT FOR THE FORECAST AREA. NOW THE MOISTURE ON THESE LATEST RUNS COMES ON MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. THIS IS QUITE A DEPARTURE FROM LAST NIGHT'S 00Z MODEL RUNS. THIS UPPER TROUGH IS GETTING WEAKER AND LATER IN TIME WITH SUCCESSIVE MODEL RUNS. TEMPERATURES LOOK TO BE ABOVE NORMAL SUNDAY AND MONDAY...THEN NEAR NORMAL TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. && .AVIATION...VFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED TODAY WITH A SHIFT TO EAST WINDS THIS MORNING. SCATTERED SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED TONIGHT WITH MVFR CONDITIONS POSSIBLE IN SNOW MAINLY AFTER MIDNIGHT. LOWER CONDITIONS CAN BE EXPECTED NORTH OF DENVER. THERE IS A CHANCE OF SOME LIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATION IN THE DENVER AREA AFTER MIDNIGHT. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... RED FLAG WARNING UNTIL 6 PM MDT THIS EVENING FOR FOOTHILLS AND PALMER DIVIDE...COZ215-216-241-246-247. RED FLAG WARNING UNTIL NOON MDT TODAY FOR ADJACENT PLAINS...COZ238-239-240-245. RED FLAG WARNING FROM 9 AM TO 8 PM MDT THURSDAY FOR SOUTH PARK...COZ214. WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 6 AM FRIDAY MOUNTAINS OF WESTERN GRAND AND WESTERN JACKSON COUNTIES...ZONE 31. WINTER STORM WARNING 6 PM TONIGHT UNTIL 6 AM FRIDAY MOUNTAINS FROM ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK NORTHWARD...ZONE 33. && GIMMESTAD/RJK
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 1245 PM MDT WED MAR 16 2011 COZ030>051-171200- 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- 1245 PM MDT WED MAR 16 2011 ...RED FLAG WARNING FOR THE FOOTHILLS...FRONT RANGE AND PALMER DIVIDE THIS AFTERNOON INTO THE EARLY EVENING HOURS... ...WINTER STORM WATCH FOR THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS NORTH OF I-70 FOR THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT UNSEASONABLY WARM TEMPERATURES...GUSTY DOWNSLOPE WINDS AND VERY LOW HUMIDITY WILL CREATE HIGH WILDLAND FIRE DANGER IN THE FOOTHILLS OF THE FRONT RANGE...MUCH OF THE I-25 URBAN CORRIDOR...AND ON THE PALMER DIVIDE EASTWARD ACROSS LINCOLN COUNTY THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY THIS EVENING. WEST TO SOUTHWEST WINDS 20 TO 30 MPH AND GUSTS TO AROUND 45 MPH ARE LIKELY TO DEVELOP IN THE FOOTHILLS BY AROUND MIDDAY. AT LOWER ELEVATIONS...SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST WINDS OF 10 TO 20 MPH AND GUSTS TO AROUND 30 MPH ARE LIKELY TO DEVELOP NOT TOO LONG AFTER THAT. THIS EVENING...WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO WEAKEN ON THE PLAINS BUT REMAIN QUITE GUSTY ON EAST FACING SLOPES OF THE FRONT RANGE OVERNIGHT. BECAUSE OF THESE GUSTY WINDS...LOW HUMIDITY AND MILD TEMPERATURES...THE WILDLAND FIRE DANGER MAY REMAIN HIGH THROUGH THE NIGHT FOR FOOTHILL AREAS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY FIRE DANGER WILL CONTINUE TO BE HIGH ON THURSDAY...MAINLY IN AND NEAR THE FOOTHILLS AND OVER THE PALMER DIVIDE. SNOW IS EXPECTED IN THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT...WITH ACCUMULATIONS UP TO 12 INCHES BY FRIDAY MORNING. THE PLAINS AND FOOTHILLS MAY SEE A RAIN AND SNOW MIX LATE THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT. A PERIOD OF MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW MAY OCCUR LATE THURSDAY NIGHT NORTH OF A LINE FROM BOULDER TO GREELEY. DRY CONDITIONS WILL RETURN TO THE FORECAST AREA FRIDAY AND CONTINUE THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT. THE NEXT STORM SYSTEM WILL AFFECT THE AREA MONDAY AND TUESDAY BRINGING A CHANCE FOR RAIN AND SNOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. HOWEVER REPORTS OF STRONG WINDS WOULD BE APPRECIATED. BAKER/MEIER
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 winter storm, 2 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, March 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: 287538, 287539, 287541, 287547.