Moderate to heavy rainfall gradually changed to snow from west to east across Kit Carson and Yuma counties on the 29th. Due to the convective nature of the snowfall, which included some thundersnow, prolonged snowfall rates of an inch an hour or more caused snowfall to accumulate despite four inch soil temperatures in the 50s.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 GLD wrote it up.
Moderate to heavy rainfall gradually changed to snow from west to east across Kit Carson and Yuma counties on the 29th. Due to the convective nature of the snowfall, which included some thundersnow, prolonged snowfall rates of an inch an hour or more caused snowfall to accumulate despite four inch soil temperatures in the 50s. Snowfall continued into the 30th, with total accumulations ranging from two to nine inches, with most reports around six inches. The highest snowfall report was in north central Yuma county. The wet heavy snow caused tree limbs to sag. In the town of Yuma brief power outages occurred due to tree limbs falling on power lines.
The rapid change over to heavy snow in Kit Carson county caused roadway conditions to quickly become hazardous, resulting in many vehicle slide-offs and accidents. Multiple first response agencies were involved in the the clean-up.
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 Goodland, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 29, 12:14 PM MST, 16 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS 114 PM MDT FRI APR 29 2016 .SHORT TERM...(THIS EVENING THROUGH SATURDAY) ISSUED AT 102 PM MDT FRI APR 29 2016 UPPER SYSTEM OVER SOUTHERN COLORADO WILL LIFT NORTHEAST AND CUT OFF A CLOSED LOW OVER THE FORECAST AREA TONIGHT AND SATURDAY. WIDESPREAD LIGHT TO OCCASIONALLY MODERATE PRECIPITATION WILL CONTINUE...GRADUALLY LIFTING NORTH DURING THE DAY SATURDAY. MAIN FORECAST PROBLEM WILL BE POSSIBILITY OF LIGHT SNOW IN NORTHEAST COLORADO AND HOW FAR EAST TO BRING THE RAIN/SNOW LINE TONIGHT AND SATURDAY. AT 19Z...RAIN WAS CHANGING TO SNOW ALONG AND WEST OF HIGHWAY 59 IN NORTHEAST COLORADO. IT HAS BEEN VERY SLOWLY CREEPING EASTWARD THROUGH THE DAY AND AS TEMPERATURES COOL TONIGHT EXPECT THAT TREND TO CONTINUE. RAIN/SNOW MIX COULD GET AS FAR EAST AS HIGHWAY 25 BY SATURDAY MORNING BUT MORE LIKELY NO FURTHER EAST THAN HIGHWAY 27. MEASURABLE SNOW WILL BE LIMITED MAINLY TO GRASSY AND ELEVATED SURFACES WITH 1 TO 3 INCHES POSSIBLE BUT CONSIDERABLE MELTING WILL OCCUR. ROADS ARE MOSTLY ABOVE FREEZING AND EXPECT THEM TO BE WET WITH POSSIBLE SLUSHY SPOTS. NORTHEAST WINDS TODAY WILL BECOME NORTH THEN NORTHWEST TONIGHT AND SATURDAY AS THE SURFACE LOW MOVES INTO NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS. THEY WILL CONTINUE TO BE ON THE BREEZY SIDE WITH GUSTS UP TO 25 MPH WITH A DECENT PRESSURE GRADIENT ACROSS THE AREA. TEMPERATURES WILL NOT HAVE MUCH OF A DIURNAL RANGE WITH LOWS TONIGHT RANGING FROM THE LOWER 30S IN COLORADO TO AROUND 40 IN NORTON AND HILL CITY...THEN HIGHS ON SATURDAY FROM THE UPPER 30S IN NORTHEAST COLORADO TO UPPER 40S IN NORTON AND HILL CITY. .LONG TERM...(MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY) ISSUED AT 215 AM MDT FRI APR 29 2016 THE LONG TERM BEGINS WITH A WEAK LOBE OF LOW PRESSURE THAT WILL APPROACH THE CWA ON MONDAY. SLIGHT CHC TO CHC POPS WILL ACCOMPANY THE LOW AS IT MOVES FROM NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY. HIGH PRESSURE BEGINS TO FILL INTO THE CENTRAL PLAINS LATE TUESDAY AS THE AREA OF LOW PRESSURE EXITS OFF TO THE SOUTHEAST. THIS RIDGE WILL BUILD IN AND BECOME QUITE AMPLIFIED AS WE HEAD INTO THE MIDDLE TO END OF NEXT WEEK. DRY WEATHER WILL PREVAIL THROUGH THE END OF THE FORECAST PERIOD. TEMPERATURES WILL BEGIN TO REBOUND AS THE RIDGE BUILDS INTO THE REGION. LOOK FOR HIGHS TO REACH THE 60S BY TUESDAY AND INTO THE 70S BY MID WEEK WITH LOWS IN THE 30S AND 40S. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z SATURDAY AFTERNOON) ISSUED AT 1111 AM MDT FRI APR 29 2016 SHORTWAVE TROUGH OVER SOUTHERN COLORADO WILL MOVE NORTHEAST AND CUT OFF OVER NORTHWEST KANSAS TONIGHT. WIDESPREAD RAIN AND RAIN SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE ENTIRE TAF PERIOD. THERE ARE OCCASIONAL BREAKS ON RADAR IN THE PRECIPITATION...BUT CEILINGS WILL REMAIN PRIMARILY IFR WITH SOME LIFR CIGS POSSIBLE OVERNIGHT AND INTO SATURDAY MORNING. SURFACE WINDS WILL SHIFT FROM NORTHEAST TO NORTHWEST TONIGHT BEHIND A COLD FRONT AND REMAIN BREEZY. && .GLD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KS...NONE. CO...NONE. NE...NONE. && SHORT TERM...024 LONG TERM...TL AVIATION...024
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS 310 AM MDT FRI APR 29 2016 COZ090>092-KSZ001>004-013>016-027>029-041-042-NEZ079>081-300915- YUMA COUNTY-KIT CARSON COUNTY-CHEYENNE COUNTY-CHEYENNE-RAWLINS- DECATUR-NORTON-SHERMAN-THOMAS-SHERIDAN-GRAHAM-WALLACE-LOGAN-GOVE- GREELEY-WICHITA-DUNDY-HITCHCOCK-RED WILLOW- 310 AM MDT FRI APR 29 2016 /410 AM CDT FRI APR 29 2016/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL COLORADO... EXTREME SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA AND NORTHWEST KANSAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... LIGHT SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE TONIGHT IN EASTERN COLORADO AND MAY MIX WITH RAIN INTO NORTHWEST KANSAS AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA. ACCUMULATIONS OF A FEW INCHES ARE POSSIBLE NEAR YUMA AND FLAGLER COLORADO. MOTORISTS TRAVELING INTERSTATE 70 LATER TONIGHT ACROSS EASTERN COLORADO SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR WINTRY DRIVING CONDITIONS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY... A MIX OF RAIN AND SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS EASTERN COLORADO SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Snowfall reports across the county ranged from four to nine inches, with most reports in the six or seven inch range across the county. The snowfall amounts declined to four or five inches at the state line.
Snowfall reports ranged from two to eight inches across the county, with reports for the west half of the county mostly in the six to seven inch range. The highest snowfall report was in the northwest part of the county. Due to the rapid change over of moderate to heavy rain to heavy snow with some sleet mixed in, the roadway conditions quickly became hazardous. The majority of the vehicle slide-offs were from Vona to Seibert. The visibility fell to near zero so quickly some motorists stopped on the roadway instead of the side of the road, blocking traffic. Eastbound I-70 was closed from Burlington to the Kansas border for a few hours due to the poor driving conditions.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, April 2016
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: 622159, 622163.