A spring snowstorm brought heavy snow to the north central mountains of Colorado. 5 inches at Frisco; 9 inches, 7 miles northwest of Silverthorne and Tabernash; with 8 inches in Dillon.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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 spring snowstorm brought heavy snow to the north central mountains of Colorado. Storm totals included: 14 inches at Loveland Ski Area, 12 inches at Breckenridge, Joe Wright, 11 miles northwest of Kremmling, Winter Park Ski Area and Zirkel SNOTEL; 11 inches at Arapahoe Basin and Silverthorne; 10 inches at the Columbine and Copper Mountain SNOTELs, Lake Irene and Willow Park; 9.5 inches at Frisco; 9 inches, 7 miles northwest of Silverthorne and Tabernash; with 8 inches in Dillon.
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 Apr 13, 2:37 PM MST, 2 hours 23 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO 337 PM MDT SAT APR 13 2013 .SHORT TERM...MOISTURE CONTINUES INCREASING OVER THE STATE WITH RADAR ECHOES NOW SHOWING UP OVER THE MOUNTAIN AREAS. THE BACK EDGE OF THE MOISTURE APPEARS TO BE MOVING INTO NORTHERN UTAH AT THE TIME AS THE CORE OF THE UPPER JET BEGINS MOVING INTO NORTHWEST COLORADO. SNOW SHOULD BECOME HEAVY AT TIMES OVERNIGHT...CAUSING SOME TRAVEL PROBLEMS BY MORNING. WITH THE STRENGTHENING FLOW ALOFT...EXPECT IT TO GET QUITE WINDY OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE MOUNTAINS. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY WILL GO INTO EFFECT AT 6 PM WITH MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH MIDDAY SUNDAY. WINDY CONDITIONS MAY EXTEND DOWN THE EASTERN SLOPES AT TIMES OVERNIGHT...BUT WITH ALL THE MOISTURE AND PRECIPITATION OVER THE MOUNTAINS...DO NOT EXPECT VERY MUCH AMPLIFICATION TO THE MOUNTAIN WAVE AND THEREFORE NOT A WIDESPREAD WIND EVENT. ON THE PLAINS...A PACIFIC COLD FRONT WILL ALSO MOVE IN OVERNIGHT AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS OVER WYOMING. CROSS SECTIONS SHOW THE AIRMASS OVER THE PLAINS SATURATING FOR A FEW HOURS BEHIND THE FRONT WHICH WILL PRODUCE SOME SHOWERS DURING THE PRE-DAWN HOURS. THE AIRMASS IS EXPECTED TO DRY OUT AGAIN ON SUNDAY AS THE STRONG ZONAL FLOW ALOFT CONTINUES. TEMPERATURES WILL BE COOLER IN THE WAKE OF THE COLD FRONT...BUT NOT AS COLD AS THEY ARE GOING TO GET LATER IN THE WEEK. SNOW SHOWER ACTIVITY WILL ALSO DIMINISH TOMORROW AFTERNOON AS THE CURRENT SURGE OF MOISTURE MOVES OUT OF THE REGION. .LONG TERM...MODELS HAVE A STRONG 100 PLUS JET MAXIMUM ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA SUNDAY NIGHT WELL INTO THE EXTENDED PERIOD. THROUGH THAT TIME...MODELS SHOW AN UPPER TROUGH DEVELOPING WEST AND NORTHWEST OF THE CWA ON MONDAY...GETTING INTO COLORADO ON WEDNESDAY. SO THAT JET MAXIMUM IS DUE WESTERLY IN DIRECTION SUNDAY NIGHT...WEST-SOUTHWESTERLY ON MONDAY...THEN SOUTHWESTERLY MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT...THEN SOUTH-SOUTHWESTERLY WEDNESDAY MORNING. THE UPPER TROUGH AXIS DOESN'T GET INTO AND ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA UNTIL SOMETIME ON THURSDAY. THE QG VERTICAL VELOCITY FIELDS SHOW UPWARD SYNOPTIC SCALE ENERGY MONDAY INTO THE EXTENDED PERIOD. IT IS PRETTY STRONG FROM MID DAY TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THE LOW LEVEL PRESSURE AND WIND FIELDS BRING A COLD FRONT AND UPSLOPE INTO THE CWA SUNDAY NIGHT. THE BOUNDARY LAYER FLOW STAYS NORTHERLY TO EASTERLY DEPENDING ON THE MODEL FROM THEN THROUGH WEDNESDAY AND BEYOND. FOR MOISTURE...IT IS DEEP OVER THE MOUNTAINS BY SUNDAY EVENING AND THAT CONTINUES INTO THE EXTENDED PERIOD. OVER THE PLAINS...MOISTURE INCREASES SUNDAY EVENING AND GETS PRETTY DEEP OVERNIGHT. ON MONDAY...THE LOWER LEVELS ARE PRETTY DRY. BY MONDAY EVENING...ON INTO THE EXTENDED PERIOD...THE PLAINS HAVE PRETTY DEEP MOISTURE PROGGED. THE QPF FIELDS SHOW PLENTY OF MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION IN THE MOUNTAINS SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. THERE IS LESS ON THE PLAINS. THE SURFACE MODEL RUN SNOW ACCUM FIELDS SHOW SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL NUMBERS OVER THE MOUNTAINS. CURRENT FORECAST FOR POPS LOOKS PRETTY GOOD. THE MODELS HAVE SHOWN THIS INCOMING PATTERN FOR A FEW DAYS NOW. THE JET OVER THE CWA WILL DEFINITELY INCREASE SNOWFALL AMOUNTS ON TOP OF WHAT THE COLD AIR ADVECTION...UPSLOPE...MOISTURE...AND SIGNIFICANT SYNOPTIC SCALE ENERGY WILL ALREADY PRODUCE. NO HIGHLIGHTS YET. FOR TEMPERATURES...MONDAY'S HIGHS LOOK CLOSE TO SUNDAY'S...MAYBE A TAD WARMER. TUESDAY'S HIGHS COOL OFF 5-8 C FOR MUCH OF THE CWA. FOR THE LATER DAYS...MODELS SHOW THE UPPER TROUGH AXIS TO FINALLY GET EAST OF THE COLORADO EASTERN BORDER THURSDAY MORNING BEFORE 18Z. THEN...PRETTY STRONG NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT IS PROGGED FOR THE CWA THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT. BY FRIDAY AND SATURDAY...MOISTURE INCREASES AGAIN AFTER DRYING OUT SOMEWHAT LATER WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. TEMPERATURES STAY BELOW SEASONAL NORMALS THROUGH THE PERIOD. && .AVIATION...NORTHWEST WINDS WILL CONTINUE THIS EVENING. COLD FRONT WITH STRONGER NORTH WINDS IS EXPECTED TO MOVE THROUGH AROUND 06Z WITH A ROUND OF SHOWERS DEVELOPING AFTER THAT. CEILINGS SHOULD REMAIN MVFR...DROPPING TO 2000-3000 FEET AGL FOR A LITTLE WHILE. PRECIPITATION WILL BE A MIX OF RAIN AND SNOW...BUT NO ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED. VFR CONDITIONS WILL RETURN AFTER SUNRISE SUNDAY WITH CEILINGS BACK TO MORE THAN 6000 FEET AGL. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO NOON MDT SUNDAY FOR COZ031-033-034. && SHORT TERM...DANKERS LONG TERM....RJK AVIATION...DANKERS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO 1059 AM MDT SAT APR 13 2013 COZ030>051-141700- 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- 1059 AM MDT SAT APR 13 2013 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW IN THE NORTH CENTRAL MOUNTAINS TONIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SNOW AND GUSTY WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE OVER THE MOUNTAINS THIS EVENING AND CONTINUE THROUGH THE NIGHT. WIND GUSTS UP TO 60 MPH WILL CREATE BLOWING SNOW OVER THE MOUNTAIN PASSES. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS TONIGHT WILL RANGE FROM 4 TO 10 INCHES...WITH THE HIGHEST AMOUNTS ON HIGHER WEST FACING SLOPES. ACROSS THE PLAINS...A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA LATER TONIGHT WITH GUSTY NORTH WINDS AND A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY SNOW WILL DECREASE IN THE MOUNTAINS BY MIDDAY ON SUNDAY HOWEVER GUSTY WINDS WILL PRODUCE AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW. A STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE GREAT BASIN BY TUESDAY AND THEN MOVE ACROSS THE AREA ON WEDNESDAY. UPSLOPE FLOW WILL DEVELOP BEHIND A COLD FRONT ON MONDAY AND CONTINUE THROUGH TUESDAY. THUS THERE WILL BE AN INCREASING CHANCE OF SNOW FROM MONDAY INTO TUESDAY WHICH MAY LINGER INTO WEDNESDAY BEFORE THE SYSTEM MOVES EAST OF THE REGION BY THURSDAY. THIS SYSTEM HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BRING SEVERAL INCHES OF SNOW TO THE MOUNTAINS...FOOTHILLS AND ADJACENT PLAINS FROM MONDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THE CHANCE OF SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS WILL CONTINUE INTO THURSDAY NIGHT WITH NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
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 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, April 2013
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: 447296, 447297, 447298.