A strong storm system moved from southwest Colorado and produced heavy snow over the Front Range and adjacent plains. The snow was heaviest over the Front Range foothills where up to 2 1/2 feet of snow was observed.
Every event with a place to put it; 11 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 strong storm system moved from southwest Colorado and produced heavy snow over the Front Range and adjacent plains. The snow was heaviest over the Front Range foothills where up to 2 1/2 feet of snow was observed.
In the mountains and foothills, storm totals included: 30 inches near Pinecliffe; 29 inches, 8 miles northeast of Four Corners; 28 inches near Pingree Park; 27 inches near Allenspark; 21 inches at Red Feather Lakes; 20.5 inches near Idaho Springs; 19.5 inches at Gold Hill; 19 inches near Genesee; 18 inches near Blackhawk; 17 inches at Aspen Springs, 11 miles northwest of Kremmling and near Silver Plume; 16.5 inches, 10.5 miles southwest of Livermore; 15 inches at Cabin Creek, Copper Mountain and near Ward; 14 inches at Bear Lake; 13.5 inches at Bergen Park; 13 inches at Buffalo Park, Wild Basin and Zirkel SNOTELs; 12 inches at Arapahoe Ridge and Columbine SNOTELs; 11 inches at Evergreen and Fremont Pass.
Along Urban Corridor and Palmer Divide, storm totals included: 10.5 inches at Eldorado Springs; 10 inches at Ken Caryl; 9 inches at Superior; 8 inches near Morrison; 7.5 inches in Broomfield and Highlands Ranch; 7 inches in Denver, near Franktown, Golden, Lakewood and Highlands Ranch; 6 inches, 5 miles northeast of Westminster, 7 miles south of Lyons, near Parker and Shaw; 5.5 inches at Aurora and near Fort Collins.
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 May 11, 2:57 AM MST, 3 hours 3 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO 357 AM MDT SUN MAY 11 2014 .SHORT TERM...(TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT ) ISSUED AT 351 AM MDT SUN MAY 11 2014 LATE SPRING STORM STILL ON TRACK. MODELS IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT THROUGH THE NEXT 24 HOURS. THE ECMWF CONTINUES TO BE THE SLOWER MODEL BY 12Z MONDAY. WATER VAPOR SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWING THE LOW CENTERED OVER SOUTHWEST UTAH WITH STRONG DIFFLUENT FLOW OVER UTAH...WYOMING AND NORTHERN COLORADO. MODELS SEEM TO BE DOING A GOOD JOB HANDLING THE PRECIPITATION ASSOCIATED WITH THE BAROCLINIC LEAF OVER COLORADO AND WYOMING. PRECIPITATION HAS BECOME WIDESPREAD OVER THE PAST FEW HOURS. SNOW LEVEL HAS FALLEN QUICKLY OVER LARIMER COUNTY. AT 11 PM IS WAS 40 DEGREES AT VIRGINIA DALE (7000 FEET)...BY 1 AM IT WAS 33 DEGREES AND SNOW WAS ACCUMULATING ON THE GROUND RAPIDLY. EXPECT A SIMILAR DROP IN TEMPERATURES AS PRECIPITATION SETS IN AND COLD AIR DROPS SOUTH. STRONG LIFT FROM THE DIFFLUENT FLOW ALOFT AND THE FRONT EXIT REGION OF THE JET WILL SHIFT EAST THIS MORNING. EXPECT THE HEAVIEST PRECIPITATION TO SHIFT WITH IT. A COLD FRONT WILL PUSH SOUTH ACROSS THE AREA DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS...ALSO ADDING TO THE LIFT AND COOLING TEMPERATURES. PRECIPITATION WILL PERSIST TODAY AND TONIGHT DUE LIFT FROM THE DIFFLUENT FLOW ALOFT...QG LIFT...UPSLOPE FLOW AND THE JET. SOME LOCALIZED DOWNSLOPE WILL OCCUR OVER EASTERN GRAND AND JACKSON COUNTIES...ALONG THE CHEYENNE RIDGE OVER EASTERN LARIMER...WELD AND MORGAN COUNTIES...AND ALSO OVER SOUTHERN LINCOLN COUNTY. THIS COULD CAUSE SNOWFALL AMOUNTS TO FALL SHORT OF EXPECTED VALUES. DID LOWER AMOUNTS A LITTLE IN THESE AREAS ALREADY. STILL EXPECTED VERY HEAVY SNOW FOR THE MOUNTAINS EAST OF THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE AND FOOTHILLS WHERE 1 TO 2 FEET IS EXPECTED AND POSSIBLE UP TO 3 LOCALLY. THIS HEAVY SNOW IS EXPECTED OVER THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS WITH SLIGHTLY LOWER AMOUNTS SOUTH. EXPECT A CHANGE OVER TO SNOW...SOMETIME MID TO LATE MORNING FOR THE DENVER METRO AREA...SOONER NORTH LATER SOUTH AND EAST. STILL EXPECT 4 TO 9 INCHES OF SNOW FOR THE DENVER AREA AND I-25 CORRIDOR. UP TO A FOOT OF SNOW SEEMS REASONABLE ALONG THE PALMER DIVIDE...AND NEXT TO THE FOOTHILLS. WILL KEEP THE WINTER STORM WARNINGS AS IS. FOR THE WINTER STORM WATCH...PLAN ON ISSUING AN ADVISORY FOR THIS WASHINGTON COUNTIES NORTH TO THE WYOMING/NEBRASKA BORDER WHERE 3 TO 6 INCHES OF SNOW IS EXPECTED. DECIDED ON THIS BECAUSE OF THE LOWER ELEVATION AND BECAUSE OF DOWNSLOPE OFF THE CHEYENNE RIDGE WILL REDUCE SNOWFALL AND ALSO PRODUCE SLIGHT WARMING OVER WELD AND MORGAN COUNTIES. WILL UPGRADE EASTERN ADAMS...EASTERN ARAPAHOE AND NORTHER LINCOLN COUNTIES TO THE WARNING. IMPACTS...THE VERY HEAVY SNOW IN THE FOOTHILLS...AND ALONG THE EAST SLOPES OF THE MOUNTAINS WILL LIKELY CAUSE BRANCHES TO BREAK AND CAUSE POWER OUTAGES. ROADS WILL BECOME SNOW COVERED AND IN SOME CASES SECONDARY ROADS WILL BECOME IMPASSABLE. FOR THE DENVER METRO AREA...MAIN CONCERNS WILL BE TREE BRANCHES BREAKING AND POSSIBLE POWER OUTAGES. ROADS MAY BECOME SLUSHY AND SNOW COVERED TONIGHT LEADING TO A SLOW COMMUTE FOR MONDAY MORNING. AVOID IF POSSIBLE...BUT AT LEAST USE CAUTION WALKING UNDER LARGE TREES WITH WEIGHTED DOWN BRANCHES AND PARKING UNDER TREES. .LONG TERM...(MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY) ISSUED AT 351 AM MDT SUN MAY 11 2014 THE UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM WILL GRADUALLY MOVE ENE AWAY FM THE AREA ON MON. THE NAM HAS A MORE DEFINE CLOSED LOW MOVING ACROSS ENTRL CO IN THE MORNING AND THEN INTO SWRN NE BY LATE AFTN WHILE WHILE THE GFS AND ECMWF HAVE AN OPEN WAVE TROUGH EXITING ERN COLORADO BY 18Z. THERE IS STILL DECENT MID LVL QG ASCENT ACROSS THE AREA THRU MON MORNING WHICH WILL GRADUALLY WEAKEN BY MIDDAY. THE LOW LVL FLOW WILL BECOME MORE NLY MON MORNING WHICH WILL GRADUALLY SHIFT HEAVIEST AWAY FROM THE HIGHER TERRAIN. HOWEVER THE SRN FOOTHILLS AND PALMER DIVIDE COULD STILL SEE SOME HEAVY SNOWFALL THRU MON MORNING. ELSEWHERE ALONG THE FRONT RANGE EXPECT ONLY SOME LINGERING LIGHT SNOW FM NORTH OF DENVER TO THE WY BORDER. ACROSS THE PLAINS THERE COULD BE SOME HEAVY SNOWFALL THRU THE MORNING HOURS AND COMBINED WITH GUSTY NORTH WINDS TRAVEL CONDITIONS COULD BE POOR THRU MIDDAY BEFORE PCPN GRADUALLY ENDS. BY MON NIGHT SHOULD SEE IMPROVING WEATHER CONDITIONS ALTHOUGH WITH ONLY SOME LINGERING LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS IN THE MTNS. WILL LIKELY SEE A HARD FREEZE ACROSS ALL OF NERN CO BY TUE MORNING WITH LOWS IN THE LOWER TO MID 20S. ON TUE THE FLOW ALOFT WILL BE NLY. SOME MOISTURE EMBEDDED IN THE FLOW ALONG WITH STEEP LAPSE RATES COULD LEAD TO A SLIGHT CHC OF SHOWERS IN THE MTNS. OVER THE PLAINS WILL KEEP A DRY FCST IN PLACE ALTHOUGH THERE WILL BE GUSTY NNW WINDS IN THE AFTN. HIGHS ON TUE WILL MODERATE SOME BUT STILL BE SEVERAL DEGREES BLO NORMAL WITH READINGS IN THE UPPER 40S TO LOWER 50S. FOR WED THE FLOW ALOFT WILL BECOME MORE NWLY. ONCE AGAIN THERE WILL BE SOME MID LVL MOISTURE MOVING ACROSS AND COMBINED WITH DECENT LAPSE RATES WILL SEE A SLIGHT CHC OF SHOWERS OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN. OVER NERN CO A WK FNT MAY MOVE IN LATE WED AFTN INTO WED EVENING AND COMBINED WHICH COULD LEAD TO A SLIGHT CHC OF SHOWERS OVERNIGHT. HIGHS ON WED WILL CONTINUE TO RISE WITH READINGS IN THE UPPER 50S TO LOWER 60S OVER NERN CO. BY THU NWLY FLOW ALOFT WILL CONTINUE. BOTH THE ECMWF AND GFS SHOW SOME MOISTURE EMBEDDED IN THE FLOW WHICH MAY PRODUCE A CHC OF SHOWERS IN THE MTNS. OVER NERN CO BOTH MODELS SHOW A WK FNT AFFECTING THE PLAINS THU AFTN INTO THU EVENING WHICH COULD LEAD TO A SLIGHT CHC OF SHOWERS/TSTMS. HIGHS ON THU WILL BE IN THE LOWER TO MID 60S OVER THE PLAINS. FOR FRI THE ECMWF KEEPS WNW FLOW ALOFT OVER THE AREA WHILE THE GFS SHOWS A FLAT UPPER LEVEL RIDGE BUILDING INTO THE AREA. MEANWHILE THE ECMWF HAS CONSIDERABLE MORE MOISTURE OVER NRN CO ON FRI WITH A CHC OF SHOWERS WHILE THE GFS IS DRIER. AS FOR HIGHS THE ECMWF IS ROUGHLY 10 DEGREES COOLER THAN THE GFS. FOR NOW WILL GO CLOSER TO THE ECMWF AND KEEP HIGHS IN THE 60S OVER NERN CO. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE TAFS THROUGH 12Z MONDAY MORNING) ISSUED AT 351 AM MDT SUN MAY 11 2014 CEILINGS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN LESS THAN A 1000 FEET FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS. RAIN SHOULD CHANGE TO SNOW 14-17Z THIS MORNING. VISIBILITY WILL VARY FROM A QUARTER MILE TO 2 MILES UNDER THE SNOW. SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 4 TO 9 INCHES IS EXPECTED ACROSS THE DENVER...POSSIBLY SLIGHTLY LESS AT KDEN. EASTERLY WINDS WILL TURN NORTHERLY AROUND 12Z WITH GUSTS TO 30 KNOTS POSSIBLE. THIS MAY CAUSE SOME BLOWING SNOW...MAINLY TONIGHT THOUGH. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL NOON MDT MONDAY FOR COZ037>041. WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 9 AM MDT MONDAY FOR COZ034-036. WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 9 AM MDT MONDAY FOR COZ030>033-035. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM NOON TODAY TO NOON MDT MONDAY FOR COZ043. WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO NOON MDT MONDAY FOR COZ045-046. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO NOON MDT MONDAY FOR COZ042-044-048-049. && SHORT TERM...MEIER LONG TERM...RPK AVIATION...MEIER
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO 555 AM MDT SUN MAY 11 2014 COZ030>051-121200- 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- 555 AM MDT SUN MAY 11 2014 ...MAJOR SPRING STORM TO IMPACT THE STATE TODAY THROUGH MONDAY MORNING... ...WINTER STORM WARNINGS AND WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES HAVE BEEN ISSUED FOR MOST OF NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST COLORADO... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A STRONG STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE SLOWLY FROM SOUTHEAST UTAH TODAY INTO EASTERN COLORADO BY MONDAY MORNING. HEAVY SNOW WILL OCCUR IN THE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS WITH AMOUNTS FROM 12 TO 24 INCHES. A FEW PLACES IN THE MOUNTAINS EAST OF THE DIVIDE ESPECIALLY IN THE LARIMER COUNTY MOUNTAINS COULD LOCALLY SEE UP TO 36 INCHES. RAIN WILL CHANGE TO ALL SNOW THIS MORNING ALONG THE I-25 URBAN CORRIDOR. OVER THE EASTERN PLAINS...A CHANGE TO SNOW WILL OCCUR LATE THIS AFTERNOON OR THIS EVENING. THE HEAVY WET SNOW WILL WEIGH DOWN AND BREAK SOME ALREADY LEAFED OUT TREES LIMBS...POSSIBLY CAUSING POWER OUTAGES. ROADS WILL BECOME SNOW COVERED...ESPECIALLY IN THE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS. SOME SECONDARY ROADS IN THE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS MAY BECOME IMPASSABLE. IF POSSIBLE...AVOID GOING UNDER OR PARKING UNDERNEATH LARGE SNOW COVERED TREE LIMBS. AT THIS TIME...SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS BY LATE SUNDAY NIGHT ALONG THE FRONT RANGE URBAN CORRIDOR IS EXPECTED TO RANGE FROM 5 TO 10 INCHES...WITH UP TO 12 INCHES OVER THE PALMER DIVIDE. ACROSS THE PLAINS...SNOWFALL AMOUNTS FROM 3 TO 8 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY THE STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE EAST OF THE AREA BY MONDAY AFTERNOON WITH SNOW GRADUALLY ENDING OVER THE AREA. ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATIONS IN THE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS WILL RANGE FROM 2 TO 4 INCHES. OVER NORTHEAST COLORADO ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATIONS WILL RANGE FROM 1 TO 3 INCHES. GUSTY NORTH WINDS TO 45 MPH OVER THE PLAINS OF NORTHEAST COLORADO WILL PRODUCE AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW AND POOR VISIBILITIES THROUGH THE MORNING HOURS. BY AFTERNOON WEATHER CONDITIONS SHOULD BEGIN TO IMPROVE. FOR TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY IT WILL BE MAINLY DRY WITH A SLOW WARMING TREND. BY THURSDAY THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS WITH TEMPERATURES RISING BACK TO NEAR SEASONAL NORMALS. STAY TUNED TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OR YOUR LOCAL NEWS MEDIA FOR THE LATEST UPDATES. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT BUT SNOW REPORTS WILL BE APPRECIATED.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
640 AM MDT SUN MAY 11 2014
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0616 AM SNOW 4 E FORT COLLINS 40.56N 104.99W
05/11/2014 M0.6 INCH LARIMER CO TRAINED SPOTTER
0600 AM HEAVY SNOW 8 NE FOUR CORNERS 40.94N 105.80W
05/11/2014 M11.0 INCH LARIMER CO TRAINED SPOTTER
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
11 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, May 2014
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: 524537, 524538, 524539, 524540, 524541, 524542, 524543, 524545, 524546, 524547, 524548.