A storm system brought another period of light to moderate snowfall to the North Central Mountains of Colorado. Storm totals included: 8 inches at Zirkel SNOTEL; 7 inches at Middle Fork Camp; 6 inches at Elliot Ridge SNOTEL; with 5 inches at Never Summer.
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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.
A storm system brought another period of light to moderate snowfall to the North Central Mountains of Colorado. Storm totals included: 8 inches at Zirkel SNOTEL; 7 inches at Middle Fork Camp; 6 inches at Elliot Ridge SNOTEL; with 5 inches at Never Summer.
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 Jan 15, 10:31 AM MST, 4 hours 29 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 1031 AM MST SUN JAN 15 2012 .UPDATE...A WEAK RIDGE WILL PASS ACROSS THE REGION TODAY IN A MOIST WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT. ENOUGH MOISTURE IS PRESENT TO PRODUCE WAVE CLOUDS OVER THE EASTERN HALF OVER COLORADO. SATELLITE SHOWING THESE CLOUDS UPSTREAM THROUGH UTAH AND NEVADA...SO EXPECT THESE HIGH CLOUDS WILL REMAIN THROUGH THE DAY. WILL INCREASE THE CLOUD COVERAGE IN THE GRIDS FOR THIS. TEMPERATURES WILL BE VERY MILD TODAY. MORNING SOUNDING SHOWED WARM AIR JUST OFF THE SURFACE. IF WE WERE TO HAVE CLEAR SKIES AND MIX DOWN THE WARM AIR...TEMPERATURES WOULD CLIMB INTO THE 60S. PREVIOUS FORECAST KNOCKED OFF A FEW DEGREES FOR THE CLOUDS. WILL CONTINUE WITH THIS TEMPERATURE FORECAST OF UPPER 50S ACROSS NORTHEAST COLORADO. IF WE ARE ABLE TO GET A LITTLE MORE SUN THAN EXPECTED SOME LOCATIONS WILL TOP 60 DEGREES. && .AVIATION...HIGHS CLOUDS WILL CONTINUE TO STREAM ACROSS THE DENVER THROUGH TONIGHT. WINDS WILL GENERALLY BE OUT OF THE SOUTHWEST THROUGH MONDAY MORNING. WINDS MAY TURN MORE WESTERLY THIS AFTERNOON AS WINDS ALOFT MIX DOWN. COLD FRONT WILL PUSH THROUGH THE AREA MONDAY MORNING...CAUSING WINDS TO SHIFT TO THE NORTHEAST. LOWER CLOUDS AND SNOW SHOWERS WILL HOLD OFF UNTIL MONDAY AFTERNOON. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 320 AM MST SUN JAN 15 2012/ SHORT TERM...MOISTURE GRADUALLY INCREASES IN WSW FLOW ALOFT THROUGH TONIGHT. PERSISTENT WAVE CLOUD COVERING MUCH OF THE PLAINS WILL LIKELY REMAIN...LITTLE CHANGE IN THE WAVE EXPECTED. IN ADDITION...AFTER WARMING LAST NIGHT THERE IS SOME COLD ADVECTION ALREADY DURING THE DAY TODAY. TODAY MAY BE THE SAME OR A LITTLE WARMER THAN YESTERDAY...BUT THE FORECAST TEMPS LOOK A LITTLE HIGH CONSIDERING THE CLOUD COVER AND THE FACT THAT WINDS SHOULD NOT BE TOO STRONG ON THE PLAINS. WILL SHAVE OFF A COUPLE OF DEGREES ON THE PLAINS PUTTING US CLOSE TO THE GFS MOS GUIDANCE. MOUNTAINTOP LEVEL GETS CLOSE TO SATURATION BY MORNING...SNOW SHOULD BE DEVELOPING AT LEAST AROUND SUMMIT COUNTY AND STEAMBOAT SPRINGS. SLOWED DOWN THE BEGINNING OF THE POPS THIS EVENING...BUT LIKELY POPS BY MORNING IN THOSE AREAS STILL SEEM GOOD. LONG TERM...MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT ON MONDAY TO BECOME WESTERLY BY LATE AFTERNOON AS A BROAD UPPER TROUGH MOVES ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. BY MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY THE FLOW ALOFT INCREASES AND IS A TAD NORTH OF DUE WESTERLY IN DIRECTION. BY TUESDAY NIGHT...THE FLOW BECOMES NORTHWESTERLY AND CONTINUES TO BE STRONG. UPWARD QG ASCENT IS PROGGED ON MONDAY INTO EARLY MONDAY EVENING FOR THE CWA...THEN DOWNWARD MOTION IS PROGGED INTO TUESDAY EVENING. CONCERNING THE BOUNDARY LAYER FLOW...THE GFS ..NAM AND ECMWF HAVE UPSLOPE OVER THE EASTERN HALF OF THE PLAINS MONDAY MORNING. BY AFTERNOON...THE GFS AND ECMWF SHOW SHALLOW UPSLOPE INTO THE WESTERN PLAINS...THE NAM KEEPS IT OVER THE EAST...NEVER REACHING THE URBAN CORRIDOR. THE GFS AND ECMWF KEEP NORTHERLY LOW LEVEL FLOW OVER MUCH OF THE PLAINS MONDAY NIGHT...THE NAM HAS NORTHWESTERLIES. THROUGH THE DAY TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT...A LOW LEVEL TROUGH EAST OF THE MOUNTAINS STRENGTHENS...SO DOWNSLOPING BECOMES MORE LIKELY. MOISTURE IS INCREASING OVER THE MOUNTAINS MONDAY MORNING...WITH THE PLAINS PRETTY DRY. BY MONDAY AFTERNOON INTO EARLY EVENING...MOISTURE IS PRETTY DEEP OVER THE MOUNTAINS. MODELS DIFFER WITH THE MOISTURE OVER THE EAST. THE NAM HAS CONSIDERABLY LESS THAN THE GFS. THE BEST PLAINS MOISTURE LOOKS TO BE FROM 21Z MONDAY AFTERNOON TO ABOUT 06Z MONDAY NIGHT. THERE IS A BIT OF MOUNTAIN MOISTURE LINGERING INTO DAWN TUESDAY. TUESDAY AND TUESDAY EVENING LOOK VERY DRY OVER ALL AREAS. SOME HIGH CLOUDINESS IS PROGGED INTO THE WESTERN CWA LATE TUESDAY NIGHT/EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING. THE QPF FIELDS HAVE A TAD OF MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION FROM THE DIVIDE WEST ON MONDAY MORNING. BY AFTERNOON...THERE IS A BIT MORE OVER THE MOUNTAINS WITH A TAD OVER THE WESTERN PLAINS ON THE GFS ONLY. FOR MONDAY NIGHT...THERE IS A TAD AGAIN OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND OVER THE EASTERN HALF OF THE PLAINS. TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT HAVE NOTHING. FOR MOUNTAIN POPS ON MONDAY...THERE IS MOISTURE... COLD AIR ADVECTION...SOME SYNOPTIC SCALE ENERGY...AND THE OROGRAPHIC HELP GETS BETTER BY AFTERNOON. WILL GO WITH 70-90%S... BEST DURING THE AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING. WILL MENTION BLOWING SNOW TOO IN THE HIGH MOUNTAINS. ACCUMULATIONS WILL NOT GET TO HIGHLIGHT CATEGORY. WILL DECREASE MOUNTAIN POPS THROUGH THE REST OF THE NIGHT DOWN TO NOTHING BY DAWN TUESDAY. FOR THE PLAINS AND FOOTHILLS WILL GO WITH 20-40%S MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING...BEST OVER THE EAST. NOT SURE IF THE GFS OR THE NAM'S LOW LEVEL FEATURES ARE THE RIGHT SOLUTION...BUT EITHER WAY...THERE SHOULD BE SOME POPS AS THE TROUGH AXIS MOVES ACROSS. BOTH MODELS POINT TO BETTER POPS FURTHER EAST. WILL GO WITH 20-40%S. FOR TEMPERATURES...MONDAY'S HIGHS ARE 7-13 C COLDER THAN SUNDAY'S. TUESDAY'S HIGHS LOOK CLOSE TO MONDAY'S. FOR THE LATER DAYS...WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW STRONG NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT. THERE IS MOISTURE WITH IT... ESPECIALLY FOR THE MOUNTAINS. THERE ARE SOME WEAK WAVES IN IT AS WELL. THE CHANCE OF SNOW IN MOUNTAINS LOOKS GOOD ALL FOUR DAYS. THE PLAINS WILL BE DRY AND POTENTIALLY WINDY. TEMPERATURES ARE NEAR SEASONAL NORMALS ON WEDNESDAY...THEN WARM ABOVE NORMALS FOR THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...ESPECIALLY OVER THE PLAINS. AVIATION...VFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED THROUGH TONIGHT. PERIODS OF WEST WINDS GUSTING TO 30 KNOTS ARE POSSIBLE AT KBJC...MOST LIKELY EARLY THIS MORNING AND IN THE LATE AFTERNOON. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && SHORT TERM...GIMMESTAD LONG TERM....RJK UPDATE/AVIATION...MEIER
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 1044 AM MST SUN JAN 15 2012 COZ030>051-161745- 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- 1044 AM MST SUN JAN 15 2012 THIS IS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT WINDS WILL CONTINUE OVER THE HIGHER MOUNTAINS AND EAST SLOPES TODAY. PEAK GUSTS IN THESE AREAS WILL GENERALLY BE IN THE 30 TO 40 MPH RANGE...THOUGH GUSTS UP TO 55 MPH ARE POSSIBLE ABOVE TIMBERLINE. IT WILL BE ANOTHER WARM AND DRY DAY AS A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE MOVES EAST OF COLORADO. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOWFALL AND AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW CAUSED BY 40 TO 50 MPH WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS WILL CONTINUE IN THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO THROUGHOUT THE DAY MONDAY. MOUNTAIN AREAS ALONG AND WEST OF THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE COULD SEE AS MUCH AS 3 TO 6 INCHES OF SNOW ACCUMULATION BY MONDAY EVENING...WITH LESSER AMOUNTS ON EAST FACING SLOPES. THE FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS AND HIGH PLAINS OF NORTHEAST COLORADO COULD ALSO SEE SOME LIGHT SNOWFALL MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FOLLOWING THE PASSAGE OF A FAST MOVING COLD FRONT. HOWEVER ACCUMULATING SNOWFALL IS NOT ANTICIPATED EAST OF THE MOUNTAINS. LATER IN THE WEEK....A SERIES OF FAST MOVING PACIFIC STORM SYSTEMS WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE PERIODS OF ACCUMULATING SNOWFALL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS IN THE HIGH COUNTRY. WHILE DRY AND UNSEASONABLY MILD CONDITIONS WILL LIKELY PREVAIL IN AREAS EAST OF THE FRONT RANGE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. MEIER/BAKER
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 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, January 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: 358575, 358576, 358578.