A storm system brought heavy snow to the North Central Mountains; the high valleys of Jackson, Grand and Park Counties; in addition to the Front Range Foothills and Urban Corridor. Storm totals generally range from 7 to 14 inches in the mountains, high valleys and foothills; with 3 to 7 inches over parts of the Urban Corridor.
Every event with a place to put it; 10 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 storm system brought heavy snow to the North Central Mountains; the high valleys of Jackson, Grand and Park Counties; in addition to the Front Range Foothills and Urban Corridor. Storm totals generally range from 7 to 14 inches in the mountains, high valleys and foothills; with 3 to 7 inches over parts of the Urban Corridor.
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 Dec 3, 3:39 AM MST, 5 hours 21 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO 339 AM MST TUE DEC 3 2013 .SHORT TERM...INITIALLY...STILL DEALING WITH SOME STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS OVER THE FOOTHILLS AND ADJACENT PLAINS. SOME ENHANCED SUBSIDENCE HAS MOVED OVER THE AREA DURING THE PAST FEW HOURS AND LED TO THE INCREASED WINDS. STILL SEEING SOME GUSTS IN THE 50-70 MPH RANGE AND AGAIN GETTING VERY CLOSE TO HIGH WIND CRITERIA AGAIN. THE WINDS SHOULD BE SHORT LIVED AND MORE LOCALIZED AS SUBSIDENCE MOVES AWAY WITH LARGE SCALE ASCENT COMING INTO COLORADO THIS MORNING. WIND SIGNATURE ON RADAR HAS ALSO BEGUN TO DISSIPATE AS WELL. THE ARCTIC COLD FRONT STILL ON TRACK BUT THERE HAS BEEN SOME SLIGHT SLOWING IN THE TIMING FROM PREVIOUS FORECAST. CURRENTLY THE FRONT IS JUST MOVED THROUGH CASPER WYOMING AND SHOULD MOVE THROUGH NORTHEAST COLORADO LATE AM THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. HAVE INCREASED TEMPERATURES A BIT DUE TO THE SLOWER TIMING OF FRONT ESPECIALLY OVER SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF CWA. SNOW WILL DEVELOP LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING AND STILL LOOKS TO BECOME WIDESPREAD FROM LATE EVENING THROUGH OVERNIGHT OVER FRONT RANGE AND ADJACENT PLAINS. GIVEN THE SHALLOW UPSLOPE AND STRONG JET OVERHEAD WILL UPGRADE THE WATCH TO A WARNING FOR THE FOOTHILLS AND ADJACENT PLAINS. ONLY CHANGE WAS TO DELAY THE TIMING FROM 22Z TO 01Z WITH THE SLOWER ARRIVAL. OPTED FOR A ADVISORY FOR ZONES 40..43 AS AMOUNTS A BIT LIGHTER AS YOU MOVE AWAY FROM THE ENHANCED UPSLOPE TERRAIN. SNOW ACCUMULATION WILL BE LESS AS YOU MOVE FURTHER AWAY FROM THE MOUNTAINS BUT STILL AN INCH OR TWO POSSIBLE OVER THE FAR NORTHEAST PLAINS. AS FOR THE MOUNTAINS...SNOW A BIT DELAYED AS WELL BUT WILL KEEP WITH CURRENT TIMING. SNOW SHOULD BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD BY LATER THIS MORNING AS MOISTURE AND JET MOVE INTO NORTHERN COLORADO. LITTLE CHANGE IN THE TEMPERATURE FORECAST WITH BIG DROP IN TEMPS INTO THE TEENS AND SINGLE DIGITS TONIGHT OVER THE ENTIRE AREA. .LONG TERM...SNOW WILL CONTINUE WEDNESDAY AS WELL AS AN EXTRA SURGE OF COLD AIR CREATING TEMPERATURES THAT WILL BARELY WARM DURING THE DAY AND WILL APPROACH RECORDS FOR A LOW MAX. SNOW WILL AGAIN BE FALLING ACROSS MOST OF THE AREA WITH HEAVIER AMOUNTS OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND OVER THE URBAN CORRIDOR INTO THE FOOTHILLS WITH UPSLOPE FLOW. BANDING MAY STILL OCCUR DURING THE DAY AS THE JET PASSES SLOWLY OVERHEAD TO THE SOUTH. DURING THE EVENING...THE 700MB FLOW BECOMES WESTERLY AS THE LOW OPENS UP AND MOVES EAST. THIS WILL BE DIMINISHING THE SNOW DURING THIS TIME...SO THE END TIME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS LOOK GOOD WITH ONLY UP TO ANOTHER INCH EXPECTED OVERNIGHT. A WEAK DISTURBANCE IN THE LONGWAVE TROUGH WILL MOVE OVERHEAD THURSDAY PUSHING IN MORE COLD AIR AND LIGHT SNOW. MOUNTAIN AREAS WILL ONLY SEE A FEW INCHES OR LESS WITH THE PLAINS SEEING LESS THAN AN INCH. HIGHS WILL LIKELY STAY IN THE SINGLE DIGITS OVER THE PLAINS WITH A FEW NEGATIVE VALUES IN THE HIGH MOUNTAINS. AGAIN...RECORDS FOR LOW MAX TEMPS WILL BE APPROACHED. BRIEF RIDGING WILL OCCUR FRIDAY TO BRING A RESPITE FROM SNOW TO THE PLAINS WITH A FEW DEGREES OF WARMING AS WELL. HOWEVER...THE MOUNTAINS WILL LIKELY CONTINUE TO SEE LIGHT SNOW THROUGHOUT THE DAY. YET ANOTHER DISTURBANCE IN THE NEARLY STATIONARY LONGWAVE TROUGH WILL DIG FROM THE GREAT BASIN AND INTO THE STATE SATURDAY. NOT AS MUCH MOISTURE IS EXPECTED WITH THIS SYSTEM...BUT EXPECT SNOW FOR THE FORECAST AREA FOR SATURDAY AND POSSIBLY INTO SUNDAY IF THE ECMWF IS CORRECT IN KEEPING THE TROUGH AROUND RATHER THAN MOVING INTO OUT QUICKLY LIKE THE GFS. HAVE KEPT IN A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR THE FORECAST AREA FOR SUNDAY FOR THIS. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN BELOW FREEZING FOR THE WEEKEND AND INTO MONDAY WITH READINGS LIKELY TO STAY BELOW 20 DEGREES. && .AVIATION...SURFACE WINDS VERY SQUIRRELY THIS AM WITH MOUNTAIN WAVE ON-GOING. GENERALLY LIGHT SOUTHEAST WINDS BUT WILL INDICATE LLWS WITH STRONGER WEST WINDS JUST OFF THE DECK. COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO LOCAL TERMINALS EARLY THIS AFTERNOON AS WINDS SHIFT NORTH AND NORTHEAST AND INCREASE. CEILINGS WILL LOWER LATER THIS AFTERNOON WITH SNOW DEVELOPING AND IFR CONDITIONS BY EVENING WITH SNOW. SNOWFALL AT LOCAL TERMINALS BY 12Z WEDNESDAY LOOKS TO BE 2 TO 5 INCHES AT DEN WHILE 4 TO 8 INCHES POSSIBLE AT APA/BJC. BANDS OF HEAVY SNOW POSSIBLE WITH SNOWFALL RATES UP TO AN INCH/HR. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO 6 PM MST WEDNESDAY FOR COZ035>039-041. WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 6 PM MST WEDNESDAY FOR COZ030-032>034. WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 6 PM MST WEDNESDAY FOR COZ031. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO 6 PM MST WEDNESDAY FOR COZ040-043. && SHORT TERM...ENTREKIN LONG TERM....KRIEDERMAN AVIATION...ENTREKIN
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO 505 AM MST TUE DEC 3 2013 COZ030>051-041215- 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- 505 AM MST TUE DEC 3 2013 ...WINTER STORM TAKING AIM ON COLORADO... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SNOW WILL SPREAD OVER THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS THIS MORNING AND BECOMING MORE WIDESPREAD THIS AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE TONIGHT WITH HEAVY SNOW AT TIMES. A STRONG ARCTIC COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO NORTHEAST COLORADO THIS AFTERNOON WITH MUCH COLDER TEMPERATURES AND SNOW DEVELOPING LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. SNOW WILL BE BECOME WIDESPREAD OVER THE LOWER ELEVATIONS OVERNIGHT. TEMPERATURES WILL DROP INTO THE TEENS AND SINGLE DIGITS BY LATER TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY SNOW WILL CONTINUE WEDNESDAY WITH HEAVY AMOUNTS POSSIBLE EARLY IN THE MORNING. THE SNOW WILL BE DIMINISHING THROUGHOUT THE DAY WITH THE BULK OF IT FALLING BEFORE THE EVENING. TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE AROUND 1 TO 3 FEET FOR THE MOUNTAINS...6 TO 12 INCHES FOR THE WESTERN URBAN CORRIDOR...AND 2 TO 6 INCHES FOR THE REST OF THE PLAINS. TEMPERATURES WILL BE IN THE SINGLE DIGITS FOR HIGHS TO OVERNIGHT LOWS BELOW ZERO WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY...THEN A VERY SLIGHT WARM UP WILL START. HOWEVER...TEMPERATURES WILL STAY BELOW FREEZING THROUGH THE WEEKEND. THE NEXT WEEK MAY BE THE COLDEST WEEK IN THE LAST 15 YEARS. LIGHT SNOW WILL CONTINUE IN THE MOUNTAINS THROUGH THE REST OF THE PERIOD...WITH A COUPLE DISTURBANCES BRINGING A SLIGHT CHANCE OF LIGHT SNOW TO THE PLAINS THURSDAY AND FOR THE WEEKEND. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT...HOWEVER REPORTS OF HEAVY SNOWFALL WILL BE APPRECIATED. ENTREKIN/KRIEDERMAN
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
7 heavy snow, 3 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Storm totals included 12.5 inches, 16 miles west-southwest of Walden, 7 inches at Columbine and Buffalo Park SNOTELs.
Storm totals included: 14 inches at Wild Basin, 11 inches at Arapahoe Ridge and Bear Lake, with 10 inches at Deadman Hill, Joe Wright and Willow Creek SNOTEL.
Storm totals included: 13 inches at Cabin Creek, 12 inches at Elliot Ridge SNOTEL and near Dillon, 11 inches at Copper Mountain SNOTEL, 10.5 inches, 2 miles west-southwest of Silverthorne, 10 inches at Fremont Pass and Loveland SNOTEL.
Storm totals included 10.5 inches, 16 miles west-southwest of Walden; and 10 inches in Walden.
Storm totals included 10 inches at Williams Fork Dam with 9 inches, 10 miles northwest of Kremmling.
Storm totals included: 11.5 inches near Estes Park; 10 inches, 8 miles northeast of Four Corners; 9.5 inches, 3 miles west of Jamestown and 5 miles northeast of Ward; 9 inches at Copeland Lake and 6 miles northeast of Red Feather Lakes. Elsewhere, storm totals ranged from 4 to 8 inches.
Storm totals included: 12 inches, 7 miles west-southwest of Evergreen; 10.5 inches, 3 miles north of Bailey; 9 inches in Bailey, 8.5 inches, 3 miles north of Conifer. Storm totals elsewhere ranged from 4 to 8 inches.
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, December 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: 487812, 487813, 487814, 487810, 487811, 487815, 487816, 487817, 487818, 487819.