A storm system brought heavy snow and strong winds to the north central mountains of Colorado. 5 inches in Frisco.
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 storm system brought heavy snow and strong winds to the north central mountains of Colorado. Storm totals included: 18 inches at Keystone Ski Area, 17 inches near Rabbit Ears Pass, 16 inches at Eldora Ski Area, 14 inches at Loveland Ski Area, 13 inches at Willow Creek, 12 inches at Hoosier Pass, 11.5 inches near Silverthorne, 10 inches at Zirkel, 9.5 inches at Dillon and 8.5 inches in Frisco. Wind gusts ranged from 55 to around 65 mph above timberline.
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 10, 11:54 AM MST, 2 hours 6 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO 1154 AM MST Sat Dec 10 2016 .UPDATE... Issued at 1154 AM MST Sat Dec 10 2016 Snow developing over the northern mountains at this hour with a more significant band of snow aimed at Summit and Grand counties for later this afternoon. Southern Summit county may be on the south edge of this band, so while it will snow there, we have some uncertainty about the amount of impact to I-70 this afternoon. The area of heavy snow will shift south this evening, so the overall forecast is looking good. We will trim back the low PoPs for the plains this afternoon and evening as that is looking pretty doubtful, but leave a slight chance of showers later tonight into Sunday morning with the trough axis passing. && .SHORT TERM...(Today and tonight) Issued at 450 AM MST Sat Dec 10 2016 Satellite imagery over the western United States shows the deep moisture heading towards the central Rocky Mountains as strong westerly flow aloft drives the storm our direction. The abundant moisture and strong westerly flow are going to produce heavy orographic snows in the mountains, beginning this afternoon and continuing through Sunday. Snowfall will become heavy at times and strong winds over higher elevations will produce poor visibilities due to blowing snow. will be upgrading the Winter Storm Watch to a Winter Storm Warning. Snow amounts of 1 to 2 feet are going to be possible as the storm passes. Will also issue a Winter Weather Advisory for North Park and Middle Park, for snow amounts of 6 to 10 inches in those high mountain valleys. On the plains, conditions will remain dry through this evening due to the strong westerly flow pattern aloft. Some showers may move across the plains later tonight, but precipitation amounts will be limited by the dry conditions at low levels. Precipitation may begin as rain or a mix of rain and snow in the evening, but then change over to snow by midnight due to evaporative cooling effects. Temperatures across the plains will be quite mild today due to the downsloping flow across the region. The primary weather story of the day is going to be the hazardous conditions developing in the mountains tonight because of the heavy snow and winds. .LONG TERM...(Sunday through Friday) Issued at 450 AM MST Sat Dec 10 2016 A disturbance will move across nrn CO in wnw flow aloft Sun morning and then should be east of the area by aftn. Snow will continue in the mtns thru the morning hours but will decrease by midday as drier air begins to spread across. Although snow will decrease gusty winds will produce widespread blowing snow abv 10000 ft. Across the nern CO a cdfnt will move across early in the morning and may provide a brief period of upslope flow. As the disturbance moves across in the morning there could be a good chc of snow across portions of nern CO. Right now it appears best chc would be along and north of a Denver to Akron line so have raised pops into the chc category. By midday day snow threat will end as disturbance moves east of the area. As for highs readings will range fm the mid 30s across the far nern corner with lower 40s around Denver. For Sun night thru Mon wnw flow aloft will remain across the area with limited moisture embedded in the flow. Although orographics will remain favorable in the mtns moisture depth is rather shallow so only some light snow is expected. However winds will remain stg at times abv 10000 feet so expect quite a bit of blowing snow over the higher passes. Across nern CO it will be dry with with aftn highs in the upper 30s to mid 40s. Also will see wnw gusty winds in the foothills and across the the plains nr the WY-NE border by aftn. By Mon Night into Tue moisture will increase once again in wnw flow aloft with more orographic snow expected in the mtns. Position of upper level jet could also enhance snowfall especially along and north of I-70. Across nern CO another fnt will move across the plains with shallow upslope flow developing by aftn. There could be a chc of snow nr the WY border by aftn as this area will be nr the upper level jet. As for highs temps will drop back into the upper 20s to mid 30s over nern CO. For Tue night into Wed orographic snow will continue in the mtns. Position of upper level jet may still lead to enhancement of snowfall rates once again along and north of I-70. Over nern CO another shot of colder air may affect the plains with some increase in upslope flow. Position of upper level jet will determine where best chc will be with banded areas of heavier snow certainly possible. Currently best chc looks to be closer to the WY-NE border. Highs will range fm the upper teens nr the WY-NE border with lower to mid 20s elsewhere. By Wed night into Thu the flow aloft will be wly with cross-sections still showing abundant moisture embedded in the flow. Thus will continue to see periods of orographic driven snow in the mtns. Across nern CO there are some differences between the ECMWf and GFS with regards to sfc ptrns. The ECMWF shows sely low lvl flow developing as cold sfc high pres is over the cntrl US while at the same time the GFS has another surge moving into nern CO in the aftn with the flow more ely. In addition the GFS has an upper level jet over the area with far more moisture across nern Co vs the ECMWF. As a result the GFS solution would bring another chc of snow to portions of nern CO while the ECMWF would have a drier solution. This far out hard to say which soluton is the best so will just keep in some low pops over nern Co with highs in the mid 20s to lower 30s. For Thu night into Fri the flow aloft will become more swly as an upper level trough dvlps over the wrn US. Snow would continue in the mtns however amounts would probably be lighter as swly flow is not as favored except in zn 31. Over nern CO there could be a chc of snow as upper level jet will be over the area with moist sw flow aloft. Both the ECMWF and GFS show another possible surge of colder air at some point either in the aftn or evening as well. && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Sunday afternoon) Issued at 1154 AM MST Sat Dec 10 2016 VFR through tonight. Some variability in winds expected as there will be complex wind patterns in the Denver area through this evening. Speeds should be under 12 knots. There is a slight chance of MVFR conditions in snow showers for a few hours Sunday morning. If there is snow, accumulation should be less than an inch. The threat of showers should pass by 14z with clearing skies. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Storm Warning until 11 AM MST Sunday for COZ031-033-034. Winter Weather Advisory until 11 AM MST Sunday for COZ030-032. && UPDATE...Gimmestad SHORT TERM...Dankers LONG TERM...RPK AVIATION...Gimmestad
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO 1139 AM MST SAT DEC 10 2016 COZ030>051-111845- 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- 1139 AM MST SAT DEC 10 2016 ...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A STRONG WINTER STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE NORTHERN COLORADO MOUNTAINS THIS AFTERNOON BRINGING SNOW AND STRONG WINDS TO THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS. THIS STORM IS VERY MOIST...AND THE SNOW WILL BE HEAVY AT TIMES. SNOWFALL RATES UP TO 2 INCHES PER HOUR ARE EXPECTED DURING THE HEAVIEST PART OF THE STORM TONIGHT. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 10 TO 20 INCHES ARE EXPECTED BY MIDDAY SUNDAY... WITH EVEN HEAVIER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE IN AREAS NEAR THE WYOMING BORDER. ALONG WITH THE HEAVY SNOW...GUSTY WINDS WILL PRODUCE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW IN AREAS ABOVE 10 THOUSAND FEET. TRAVEL IN THE COLORADO HIGH COUNTRY WILL BECOME VERY DIFFICULT TONIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING WITH ROAD CLOSURES OR TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS POSSIBLE. NORTH AND MIDDLE PARKS WILL ALSO HAVE SNOW OVERNIGHT BUT ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE LIGHTER...LESS THAN A FOOT. THERE MAY BE SOME DRIFTING SNOW BUT WINDS WILL BE QUITE A BIT LIGHTER IN THE VALLEYS. WEATHER ON THE PLAINS WILL BE DRY AND MILD TODAY...THEN COOLER WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF LIGHT RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS OVERNIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND PERIODS OF ACCUMULATING SNOW WILL CONTINUE IN THE MOUNTAINS SUNDAY AS A WEATHER DISTURBANCE MOVES ACROSS IN THE MORNING. THE SNOW WILL BE LIGHTER IN THE AFTERNOON THROUGH MONDAY BUT GUSTY WINDS WILL CONTINUE WITH AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW. ON THE PLAINS...THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF LIGHT SNOW SUNDAY MORNING. AN ARCTIC COLD FRONT MOVING INTO THE STATE TUESDAY WILL BRING COLDER TEMPERATURES BACK TO THE REGION FOR THE MIDDLE HALF OF THE WEEK. THERE WILL ALSO BE A CHANCE OF SNOW ACROSS THE PLAINS ON LATE TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. MOUNTAIN AREAS WILL GET ANOTHER ROUND OF ACCUMULATING SNOW WITH GUSTY WINDS. PERSONS PLANNING TRAVEL INTO THE COLORADO HIGH COUNTRY SHOULD REMAIN ALERT TO THE LATEST FORECASTS THROUGH THE UPCOMING WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... REPORTS OF SNOWFALL OR STRONG WINDS WILL BE APPRECIATED. GIMMESTAD/COOPER
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Storm totals included 17 inches near Rabbit Ears Pass, 13 inches at Willow Creek and 10 inches at Zirkel.
Storm totals included 16 inches at Eldora Ski Area.
Storm totals included: 18 inches at Keystone Ski Area, 14 inches at Loveland Ski Area, 12 inches at Hoosier Pass, 11.5 inches near Silverthorne, 9.5 inches at Dillon and 8.5 inches in Frisco.
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, December 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: 667547, 667548, 667549.