Bands moderate to heavy snowfall coupled with strong winds produced very poor road conditions along Interstate 70 near the Eisenhower Tunnel. Multiple crashes and poor visibility made travel difficult along stretches of Interstate 70 during the afternoon, forcing closures in several places.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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.
Bands moderate to heavy snowfall coupled with strong winds produced very poor road conditions along Interstate 70 near the Eisenhower Tunnel. Multiple crashes and poor visibility made travel difficult along stretches of Interstate 70 during the afternoon, forcing closures in several places. Eastbound I-70 was closed from Silverthorne to the Eisenhower Tunnel due to multiple crashes. Crashes also shut down westbound I-70 from Georgetown to the Eisenhower Tunnel. In addition, US-6 at Loveland Pass was closed due to an avalanche hazard. Storm totals during the day ranged from 3 to 6 inches in Summit County. Peak wind gusts included: 84 mph atop Peak 8 at Breckenridge Ski Area, 64 mph atop Berthoud Pass and 62 mph atop Loveland Pass.
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 5, 10:02 AM MST, 58 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO 1102 AM MDT TUE APR 5 2016 .UPDATE... ISSUED AT 1016 AM MDT TUE APR 5 2016 DOUBLE BARREL FRONTAL SYSTEM LINED UP TO CROSS THE FORECAST AREA TODAY. FIRST FRONT NOW REACHING THE I-25 URBAN CORRIDOR AND AREAS UP ALONG THE WYOMING/NEBRASKA BORDER. LAPS AND RAP TEMP AND PRES CHANGE MAPS SHOW A PUSH OF COLDS AIR AND HIGHER PRESSURE BUDGING SOUTH ON NORTHWEST WINDS OF 20-30KTS. AT THE SAME TIME QG OMEGA FIELDS INDICATE AN ELONGATED BAND OF WEAK TO MODERATE ASCENT STRETCHING FROM THE PARK/SUMMIT COUNTY AREA TO THE STERLING/ JULESBURG AREA ON THE PLAINS. UNDER THIS BAND HAVE SEEM LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOWFALL IN THE HIGH COUNTRY AS WELL AS A FEW LIGHTNING STRIKES. CONVECTIVE CLOUD DEVELOPMENT ALSO UNDERWAY ACRS THE NORTHERN PLAINS. BUT NO PRECIP AT LOWER ELEVATIONS YET AS THE SUBCLOUD ENVIRONMENT STILL RELATIVELY DRY. MTN AREAS ROUGHLY ABOVE 10500 FEET COULD PICK UP ANOTHER 3-4 INCHES OF SNOW AND WITH FALLING TEMPS WITH THE NEXT FRONT...MTN PASSES ARE LIKELY TO COVER OVER WITH SNOW. MAY ALSO SEE SOME BLOWING SNOW UP HIGH. DURING THE NEXT FEW HOURS...MODELS SHOW THIS FIRST FRONT SLOWLY DOWN AS IT MOVES ACRS SERN SECTIONS OF THE CWA. IT IS IN THIS AREA THAT HIGHER DEWPTS AND STEEPER LAPSES WITH E-NELY BNDRY LAYER WINDS COULD GENERATE SFC BASED CAPES IN THE 200-350 J/KG RANGE CAPABLE OF A FEW LOW TOP/LOW INTENSITY T-STORMS LATER THIS AFTERNOON. DRYING EFFECTS OF DOWNSLOPE FLOW OFF THE FRONT RANGE AND CHEYENNE RIDGE SHOULD HINDER THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANY SHOWERS IN THESE AREAS. MEANWHILE...THE NEXT FRONTAL SYSTEM NOW MOVING THROUGH NORTHWEST COLORADO LINES UP WITH CLOUD ARC ON VISIBLE SAT IMAGERY. COLD CUMULUS FORMING IN ITS WAKE GOOD INDICATOR OF COLDER SLIGHTLY MORE UNSTABLE AIR BEHIND THIS 2ND FRONT. HOWEVER...MOISTURE APPEARS LIMITED WITH THIS ONE. AT PRESENT SPEED SHOULD SEE THIS SECONDARY COLD AIR SURGE AND STRONG NWLY FLOW SWEEPING ACRS THE HIGH COUNTRY DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS AND THEN ACRS THE NERN PLAINS DURING THE EARLY TO MID AFTERNOON HOURS. WITH ITS PASSAGE SHOULD SEE STRONGER NWLY WINDS REACHING THEIR MAX SPEEDS MID TO LATE AFTERNOON ON THE PLAINS. COULD SEE GUSTS PEAKING IN THE 40-50MPH RANGE ON THE NORTHEAST PLAINS...30-45 MPH RANGE WITHIN THE I-25 CORRIDOR AND 50-65 MPH RANGE IN THE NRN FOOTHILLS AND UP AROUND TIMBERLINE. && .SHORT TERM...(TODAY AND TONIGHT) ISSUED AT 437 AM MDT TUE APR 5 2016 UPPER TROUGH HAS SHEARED INTO TWO PIECES...WITH ONE HEADED EAST INTO THE DAKOTAS AND ONE PART PUSHING SOUTHEAST FROM WYOMING AND UTAH ACROSS COLORADO TODAY. THE STRONGEST PRESSURE SURGE IS WELL NORTH OF US...THERE IS A MODERATE AMOUNT OF LIFT IN THE PART HEADED OUR WAY BUT IT IS WORKING ON FAIRLY DRY AIR. THERE ARE SEVERAL BANDS OF MAINLY LIGHT SHOWERS UPSTREAM THAT WILL BE MOVING INTO THE MOUNTAINS OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS. THERE WILL BE SHARP COOLING ALOFT BEHIND THE TROUGH AXIS...BUT ALSO SIGNIFICANT DRYING AS EVIDENCED BY LOWER DEW POINTS IN THE PLACES IN WESTERN WYOMING AND ADJACENT AREAS WHERE THE WIND IS BLOWING. SO THE THREAT OF PRECIPITATION IS IN THIS POCKET WHERE THE LIFT...A BIT OF MOISTURE...AND THE BEGINNINGS OF THE COOLING ALOFT OVERLAP. THIS AREA WILL MOVE ACROSS THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS THIS MORNING...THROUGH THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS DURING THE DAY...AND OVER THE PLAINS THIS AFTERNOON. DESPITE THE LIMITING FACTORS...IT IS WELL TIMED AND THERE WILL BE SOME INSTABILITY...UP TO 500 J/KG OF CAPE. THE CURRENT FORECAST OF SHOWERS INCREASING OVER THE MOUNTAINS THIS MORNING...THEN ISOLATED SHOWERS AND STORMS ON THE PLAINS THIS AFTERNOON LOOKS GOOD. MAIN FEATURE WILL BE THE WIND. AGAIN THE LOW LEVEL GRADIENT MAY NOT BE SO GREAT...BUT THE DEEP MIXING OF THE FLOW WITH 40 KNOTS AT 600 MB SHOULD PRODUCE PEAK GUSTS IN THE 30-50 MPH RANGE THIS AFTERNOON. WITH TEMPERATURES EXPECTED TO PEAK AHEAD OF THE FRONT HUMIDITIES WILL PROBABLY BE ABOVE RED FLAG CRITERIA...BUT FIRE DANGER WILL BE ELEVATED DUE TO THE WIND. SPC HAS A MARGINAL RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN EAST CENTRAL COLORADO THIS AFTERNOON...BUT IT LOOKS LIKE THE THREAT IS MAINLY JUST A SMALL ACCELERATION OF THE EXISTING WIND AS WE MAY STRUGGLE TO EVEN GET THUNDER. DRYING COMES QUICKLY THIS EVENING AND WINDS SHOULD DECREASE A BIT...THEN MUCH MORE BY EARLY MORNING. WITH THE WARMING ALOFT BEHIND THE TROUGH LATE TONIGHT THERE IS A SHORT OPPORTUNITY FOR AN AMPLIFIED MOUNTAIN WAVE OVER THE FRONT RANGE...AT THIS TIME IT DOES NOT LOOK LIKE MUCH OF A HIGH WIND THREAT BUT IT MAY KEEP THE WINDS BLOWING IN THE HIGHER FOOTHILLS AND WAVE HOT SPOTS THROUGH THE NIGHT. .LONG TERM...(WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY) ISSUED AT 437 AM MDT TUE APR 5 2016 MODELS HAVE NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT FOR THE FORECAST AREA WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT. THE FLOW DECREASES IN SPEEDS TO NEAR ZERO BY 12Z FRIDAY MORNING WITH AN UPPER RIDGE AXIS OVER THE WESTERN HALF OF COLORADO. DOWNWARD SYNOPTIC SCALE ENERGY IS PROGGED FOR WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT. THEN THE QG OMEGA FIELDS SHOW BENIGN ENERGY THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT. THE BOUNDARY LAYER WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO BE NORTHWESTERLY ON WEDNESDAY...A GRADUAL TRANSITION TO DRAINAGE FLOW WEDNESDAY NIGHT. ON THURSDAY... A NORTHERLY SURGE MOVES IN...EVEN NORTHEASTERLY UPSLOPE BY 00Z LATE AFTERNOON...THEN DRAINAGE BY 06Z THURSDAY OVERNIGHT. THE SURGE HAS BARELY ANY COLDER AIR WITH IT...BUT THE SURFACE PRESSURE AND WIND FIELDS SHOW IT. FOR MOISTURE...THERE IS VERY LITTLE WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY AFTERNOON. THERE IS A BIT IN THE MID LEVELS FOR THE PLAINS THURSDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH THURSDAY EVENING. THERE IS NO MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION ON THE QPF FIELDS WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT. THERE IS NO CAPE FOR THE CWA THROUGH THE FOUR PERIODS. THERE IS NO MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION ON THE QPF FIELDS EITHER. CROSS SECTIONS DO HAVE A MOUNTAIN WAVE SET FOR WEDNESDAY MORNING. WINDS WILL NOT BE HIGH ENOUGH FOR HIGHLIGHTS. NO POPS. FOR TEMPERATURES...WEDNESDAY'S HIGHS ARE 2-6 C WARMER THAN TODAY'S HIGHS. THURSDAY'S HIGHS ARE 0-1 C COOLER THAN WEDNESDAY'S. FOR THE LATER DAYS...FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY...MODELS NOW HAVE UPPER RIDGING OVER THE CWA WELL INTO SUNDAY...WITH SOME TROUGHINESS AND OR SPLIT FLOW OVER COLORADO SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY. MODELS HAVE BEEN UNCERTAIN ABOUT THE MAIN FEATURES OVER THE WEEKEND FOR A NUMBER OF DAYS NOW. CONFIDENCE REMAINS LOW. TWO OR THREE DAYS AGO MODELS FEATURED A LOT OF MOISTURE AROUND FOR ALL THE WEEKEND. NOW THERE IS JUST A BIT HERE AND THERE UNTIL LATER SUNDAY AFTERNOON..THEN THERE IS DEEP MOISTURE ON BOTH MODELS WELL INTO MONDAY. BOTH MODELS BRING A COLD FRONT IN SOMETIME FROM LATE SUNDAY TO EARLY MONDAY MORNING. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON) ISSUED AT 1016 AM MDT TUE APR 5 2016 FIRST OF TWO COLD FRONTS HAVE REACHED THE DENVER METRO AREA AS INDICATED BY THE TURN TO NORTH-NORTHEAST WINDS AND RISING DEWPOINTS. WIND SPEEDS WITH THIS FIRST COLD AIR SURGE IN THE 8-16 KT RANGE WITH POSSIBLE GUSTS TO 24KTS. WIND AT KBJC COULD REMAIN WEST- NORTHWEST AT 15-30KTS FOR A BIT LONGER. THEN THE SECOND COLD FRONT MOVING THROUGH NORTHWEST COLORADO AT THE MOMENT IS FORECAST TO RACE ACRS THE MOUNTAINS AND DOWN ACROSS THE DENVER METRO AREA BETWEEN NOON AND 2 PM MDT. WITH ITS PASSAGE...ANTICIPATE STRONGER NORTHWEST WINDS OF 30-45KTS IN THE DENVER AREA FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON. STRONGEST WINDS UP AGAINST THE FOOTHILLS SUCH AS AT KBJC. WINDS SHOULD DIMINISH THIS EVENING. AS FOR THE CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION...MAY SEE A FEW SPRINKLES IN THE METRO AREA EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. OTHERWISE VFR CONDITIONS. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && UPDATE...BAKER SHORT TERM...GIMMESTAD LONG TERM...RJK AVIATION...BAKER
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO 1120 AM MDT TUE APR 5 2016 COZ030>051-061730- 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- 1120 AM MDT TUE APR 5 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THE MAIN CONCERN TODAY WILL BE THE STRONG AND GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON ALONG THE FRONT RANGE AND OUT ACROSS THE PLAINS OF NORTHEAST COLORADO FOLLOWING THE PASSAGE OF A FAST MOVING COLD FRONT. PEAK WIND GUSTS THIS AFTERNOON WILL RANGE FROM 30 TO 55 MPH WITH THE STRONGER GUSTS OVER THE NORTHERN FOOTHILLS AND ACROSS THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF THE STATE. WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO DECREASE ON THE PLAINS THIS EVENING...THOUGH REMAIN GUSTY OVER THE FRONT RANGE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS. IN ADDITION...MOUNTAIN SHOWERS MAY DEPOSIT ANOTHER 2 TO 4 INCHES OF SNOW BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON...WITH THE GREATER AMOUNTS ON THE HIGHER WEST AND NORTHWEST FACING SLOPES. MOUNTAIN VALLEYS AND FOOTHILLS COULD SEE SCATTERED RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS WITH LITTLE TO NO SNOW ACCUMULATION BELOW 9000 FEET. ON THE PLAINS...ISOLATED TO SCATTERED RAIN SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP IN AREAS MAINLY EAST OF A FORT MORGAN-TO-LIMON LINE MID TO LATE AFTERNOON. THERE IS ALSO A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THIS SAME AREA. SHOWERS ON THE PLAINS SHOULD END BY EVENING...BUT LINGER THROUGH MIDNIGHT TONIGHT IN THE HIGH COUNTRY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY DRY AND MILD WEATHER IS EXPECTED WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY BEFORE AN SYSTEM FROM THE SOUTHWEST WILL BRING A CHANCE OF MOUNTAIN SHOWERS FRIDAY AND SATURDAY ALONG WITH WARMER TEMPERATURES. A DEEPENING PACIFIC SYSTEM WILL MOVE ONSHORE THIS WEEKEND TO BRING A BETTER CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE ENTIRE FORECAST AREA SUNDAY AND MONDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. BAKER/KRIEDERMAN
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
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: 618186.