across and near the Continental Divide of central and southern Colorado. and 24 inches 4 miles southwest of South Fork (Rio Grande County).
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 PUB wrote it up.
A strong upper level disturbance moving across Colorado generated snow...heavy at times...across and near the Continental Divide of central and southern Colorado. Some higher reported snow totals were: 8 inches in the vicinity of Monarch Pass (Chaffee County)...9 inches across the higher elevations near Leadville (Lake County)...14 inches in the vicinity of Wolf Creek Pass and 10 miles to the southwest of Creede (Mineral County)...and 24 inches 4 miles southwest of South Fork (Rio Grande County).
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 27, 3:38 PM MST, 6 hours 22 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO 338 PM MST MON FEB 27 2012 .SHORT TERM... (TONIGHT AND TUESDAY) UPPER LOW MOVING ONSHORE OVER CALIFORNIA THIS AFTERNOON...WITH LEE TROUGH OVER EASTERN COLORADO AS SOUTHWEST FLOW INCREASES ACROSS THE STATE. HAVE SEEN STRONG SOUTHERLY WINDS MOST AREAS TODAY...THOUGH WINDS ACROSS THE WETS AND AROUND KPUB HAVE STAYED FAIRLY LIGHT WITH CIRCULATION AROUND WEAK LOW PRESSURE OVER SOUTHERN PUEBLO COUNTY WORKING AGAINST THE MEAN UPPER FLOW. LOW LEVELS GRADUALLY MOISTENING IN RESPONSE TO SOUTHERLY FLOW...THOUGH DEWPOINTS STILL IN THE TEENS AT MANY LOCATIONS. OVERNIGHT...UPPER LOW MOVES THROUGH THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN...REACHING CENTRAL UTAH BY EARLY TUESDAY MORNING. SHOULD THUS SEE STRONG VERTICAL MOTION ALONG THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE...WITH SOUTHWEST MID LEVEL FLOW FAVORING THE SAN JUANS FOR THE HEAVIEST SNOWFALL. WINTER STORM WARNING LOOKS FINE FOR HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS. OVER THE EAST...SOUTHERLY FLOW AND WARM ADVECTION WILL BRING SOME LIGHT PRECIP TO MAINLY AREAS NEAR THE KANSAS BORDER...THOUGH A FEW SPILLOVER SNOW SHOWERS WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE SAN LUIS VALLEY AND REACH THE EASTERN MOUNTAINS BY MORNING. LOW LEVELS DON'T LOOK MOIST ENOUGH FOR MUCH FOG OVER THE PLAINS...SO PULLED MENTION FROM WEATHER GRIDS ALL AREAS. MIN TEMPS SHOULD BE HELD UP BY WINDS/CLOUDS AND WENT WARMER THAN GUIDANCE MOST LOCATIONS. ON TUESDAY...UPPER LOW LIFTS NORTHEAST INTO WYOMING WITH FLOW GRADUALLY BECOMING MORE WESTERLY BY MIDDAY. WILL THUS SEE HEAVY SNOW SHIFT FROM THE SOUTHWEST TO THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS...WITH WARNINGS ENDING OVER THE SAN JUANS MID-AFTERNOON BUT CONTINUING INTO THE EVENING FARTHER NORTH. MAIN STORY OVER THE EASTERN MOUNTAINS AND PLAINS WILL BE WIND...AS DRY SLOT AND DEEP MIXING DEVELOP BY LATE MORNING. KEPT CURRENT HIGH WIND WATCH IN PLACE FOR THE PLAINS DUE TO SOME UNCERTAINTY REGARDING SPEEDS AS 12Z NAM KEPT WIND SPEEDS BELOW WARNING THRESHOLD...THOUGH QUICK PEEK AT 18Z RUNS REVEALS MUCH STRONGER WINDS ONCE AGAIN...WITH W-SW WINDS SUSTAINED OVER 40 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON ALONG AND EAST OF I-25. WILL BE CLOSE TO CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS EAST OF I-25 WHERE TEMPS ARE WARMER...THOUGH EVEN HERE STRUGGLED TO GET RH BELOW THE REQUIRED 15 PERCENT EVEN WITH DEWPOINTS 5-10F LOWER THAN GUIDANCE. --PETERSEN .LONG TERM... (TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY) TUESDAY NIGHT-WEDNESDAY...STRONG WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT ACROSS THE REGION TUESDAY NIGHT MODERATES THROUGH THE DAY ON WEDNESDAY AS VERTICALLY STACKED SYSTEM ACROSS THE NORTHERN HIGH PLAINS AND TRAILING JET CORE CONTINUE TO TRANSLATE NORTH AND EAST INTO THE UPPER MIDWEST. THIS WILL KEEP WINDY CONDITIONS ACROSS THE HIGHEST TERRAIN THROUGH THE PERIOD...WITH GUSTY WEST WINDS ACROSS THE EASTERN PLAINS SLOWLY DIMINISHING THROUGH THE LATE EVENING AS GRADIENT RELAXES. HOWEVER...THE WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL HELP STRENGTHEN LEE TROUGH ACROSS THE I-25 CORRIDOR TUESDAY NIGHT...LEADING TO BREEZY TO WINDY CONDITIONS CONTINUING ACROSS THE HIGHER TERRAIN ALONG AND WEST OF THE I-25 CORRIDOR. THERE IS SOME CONCERN FOR INCREASING DOWNSLOPE WINDS AS MODELS INDICATING THE POTENTIAL FOR AN AMPLIFIED MTN WAVE WITH GOOD REVERSE SHEAR INTO WEDNESDAY MORNING. HOWEVER...SOUNDINGS DO NOT INDICATE MUCH OF A MTN TOP STABLE LAYER UNTIL AFT 12Z WED WHEN THE STRONGEST WINDS ALOFT HAVE SUBSIDED. WITH THAT SAID...HAVE BUMPED UP WINDS WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 50 MPH ALONG AND WEST OF THE I-25 CORRIDOR TUESDAY NIGHT AND EARLY WEDNESDAY...AND WILL LET LATER SHIFTS ANALYSIS NEWER MODEL DATA. FURTHER WEST...LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOW ONGOING ACROSS THE CONTINENTAL DVD TUESDAY AFTERNOON WILL DIMINISH THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT AS AVAILABLE MOISTURE SHALLOWS OUT BEHIND PASSING SYSTEM. LOW TEMPERATURES TO BE TRICKY TUESDAY NIGHT AS THE DOWNSLOPE FLOW WILL KEEP OVERNIGHT LOWS MILD ACROSS THE EASTERN MTS AND PLAINS...THOUGH WILL SEE LOWS AT OR BELOW SEASONAL AVERAGES ACROSS THE REST OF THE HIGHER TERRAIN AND HIGH MTN VALLEYS. HIGHS ON WEDNESDAY LOOK TO WARM TO AT AND ABOVE SEASONAL AVERAGES WITH THE WESTERLY FLOW CONTINUING TO KEEP THE AREA DRY. WEDNESDAY NIGHT-FRIDAY...MODELS CONTINUE TO HAVE RUN TO RUN DIFFERENCES ON STRENGTH AND LOCATION OF NEXT SYSTEM MOVING INTO GREAT BASIN THURSDAY WHICH THEN CONTINUES TO LIFT OUT ACROSS THE ROCKIES THROUGH THE DAY ON FRIDAY. MOVEMENT OF THE SYSTEM STILL LOOKS TO BRING ANOTHER ROUND OF LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOWFALL ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL MTS...WITH AT LEAST OF CHANCE SHOWERS ACROSS THE EASTERN MTS AND PLAINS ALONG AND BEHIND AN ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT MOVING ACROSS THE EASTERN PLAINS THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY. THURSDAY LOOKS TO BE WARM AND BREEZY ONCE AGAIN ACROSS EASTERN COLORADO...OWNING TO THE POTENTIAL FOR CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS IN THE AFTERNOON. SATURDAY-MONDAY...MODERATE WEST TO NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT PROGGED ACROSS THE REGION WITH MODELS CONTINUING TO HAVE SOME DIFFERENCES THROUGH THE PERIOD. AT ANY RATE...PATTERN SUGGESTS MAINLY DRY WEATHER...SAVE SLIGHT POPS ACROSS THE CENTRAL MTS...WITH AT OR ABOVE SEASONAL TEMPERATURES EXPECTED THROUGH THE PERIOD. -MW && .AVIATION... OVERNIGHT...CLOUDS WILL THICKEN AND LOWER AS DEEP UPPER LEVEL LOW APPROACHES THE STATE. EXPECT MOUNTAINS AND PASSES ALONG THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE TO BE SOLID IFR DUE TO CLOUDS/SNOW TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY...WHILE MOUNTAINS FARTHER EAST WILL BE OCCASIONALLY OBSCURED BY -SHSN THROUGH TUE AFTERNOON. AT KALS...VFR CONDITIONS OVERNIGHT WILL BECOME MVFR FOR A TIME 12Z- 18Z TUE DUE TO -SHSN. FOR KCOS AND KPUB...DRY LOW LEVELS WILL LIKELY KEEP FOG AND PRECIP FROM FORMING...THOUGH A BRIEF PERIOD OF MVFR STRATUS IS LIKELY 09Z-15Z FROM KCOS NORTH TO THE PALMER DIVIDE. STRONG WEST WINDS WILL DEVELOP ALL AREAS AFTER 16Z TUES...WITH GUSTS OVER 40 KNOTS AT ALL TAF SITES CONTINUING THROUGH 00Z. && .PUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH WIND WATCH FROM TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH TUESDAY AFTERNOON FOR COZ086>089-093-094-097>099. WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 8 PM MST TUESDAY FOR COZ058-060. WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 2 PM MST TUESDAY FOR COZ066-068. && 10/23
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO 847 PM MST MON FEB 27 2012 COZ058>089-093>099-290400- 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- 847 PM MST MON FEB 27 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL...EAST CENTRAL...SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT A WINTER STORM MOVING INTO WESTERN COLORADO TONIGHT WILL BRING SNOW...HEAVY AT TIMES...ESPECIALLY OVER PORTIONS OF THE SOUTHWESTERN AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS. FOUR TO EIGHT INCHES OF SNOW IS ANTICIPATED OVER THE CENTRAL SOUTHWESTERN MOUNTAIN PASSES BY TUESDAY MORNING. IN ADDITION...GUSTY SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL CONTRIBUTE TO POOR VISIBILITY WITH BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. EXPECT TREACHEROUS CONDITIONS FOR MONARCH AND WOLF CREEK PASSES...ESPECIALLY AFTER MIDNIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY SNOW...HEAVY AT TIMES...WILL CONTINUE ACCUMULATING OVER THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE ON TUESDAY...BUT WILL DECREASE TUESDAY NIGHT. THE SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS MAY SEE A FEW INCHES OF SNOW ACCUMULATION DURING THE DAY AS WELL. A HIGH WIND WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF THE SOUTHEAST PLAINS...WHERE THE WINDS ON TUESDAY WILL PROBABLY BE 35 TO 45 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS. THE REST OF THE AREA WILL ALSO SEE GENERALLY STRONG WESTERLY WINDS...BUT PROBABLY NOT REACHING HIGH WIND CRITERIA. THE NEXT CHANCE FOR SNOW ALONG THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE WILL COME ON THURSDAY...WITH SNOW THEN CONTINUING THROUGH FRIDAY. SNOW WILL ALSO SPREAD TO THE EASTERN MOUNTAINS AND SOUTHEAST PLAINS FOR THURSDAY NIGHT AND EARLY FRIDAY. AT THIS TIME IT LOOKS LIKE THERE COULD BE SEVERAL INCHES OF SNOW ALONG THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE... WITH A FEW INCHES OVER THE EASTERN MOUNTAINS...AND PROBABLY JUST SOME LIGHT AMOUNTS OVER PORTIONS OF THE SOUTHEAST PLAINS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER CONDITIONS THAT MEET REPORTING CRITERIA FOR SPOTTERS WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS TONIGHT.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, February 2012
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: 366651, 366652, 366650, 366649.