A storm system brought moderate to heavy snowfall to the north central mountains of Colorado. 5 inches, 16 miles west-southwest of Walden, 10 inches at Bear Lake, 9 inches at Columbine SNOTEL, with 8 inches at Lake Irene and Long Draw Reservoir.
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 moderate to heavy snowfall to the north central mountains of Colorado. Storm totals included: 14 inches at Zirkel SNOTEL, 10.5 inches, 16 miles west-southwest of Walden, 10 inches at Bear Lake, 9 inches at Columbine SNOTEL, with 8 inches at Lake Irene and Long Draw Reservoir.
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 27, 3:46 PM MST, 3 hours 14 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO 346 PM MST Tue Dec 27 2016 .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Wednesday) Issued at 241 PM MST Tue Dec 27 2016 Issued a winter weather advisory for snow and blowing snow in the mountains...with gusts to 70 in the higher passes...there should be plenty of blowing and drifting snow. No changes to snow amounts...and snow total grids showed 3 to 7 inches...mostly done by late Wednesday afternoon. The lower elevations will stay dry...but some gusty winds to 40 mph will develop near the foothills and wyoming border during the day on Wednesday. Temperatures on the plains will be a bit cooler on Wednesday as the lee trough will be gone and some cool advection will develop. .LONG TERM...(Wednesday night through Tuesday) Issued at 241 PM MST Tue Dec 27 2016 Snowfall in the mountains will be winding down Wednesday evening as the airmass dries out and heights aloft over Colorado begin to rise. Cross sections show a rapid drying process between 6 PM and 3 AM Thursday morning. Moderate to strong northwest flow aloft will continue through Friday morning when the flow returns to more westerly. The airmass will be dry with the zonal flow producing strong downslope warming through Thursday night and Friday. Cross sections show the strongest winds remaining aloft and not coming down the foothills. High temperatures on Friday could be approaching 60 degrees around the Denver area. Areas further to the northeast will be cooler due to snow cover early this week. Over the weekend, the GFS and ECMWF are is general agreement in developing a long wave trough over the western United States with colder air dropping out of Canada and covering the plains. Abundant Pacific moisture will be entrained into the flow, leading to a multi-day snow event for the mountains, beginning late Saturday and continuing through Tuesday. By Monday and Tuesday some snow may also spread onto the northeast Colorado plains. By next Tuesday the high temperatures on the plains may remain below freezing. Snow amounts do not look heavy at this time, but a few days of snow could add up after awhile. && .AVIATION...(For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Wednesday evening) Issued at 241 PM MST Tue Dec 27 2016 Mainly high clouds through Wednesday...with some drainage winds tonight...becoming west northwest with gusts to 25 mph possible on Wednesday. KBJC may have some gusty west winds this evening to 40 mph and again on Wednesday. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory from 11 PM this evening to 6 PM MST Wednesday for COZ031-033-034. && SHORT TERM...RTG LONG TERM...Dankers AVIATION...RTG
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO 1046 AM MST TUE DEC 27 2016 COZ030>051-281800- 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- 1046 AM MST TUE DEC 27 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT STRONG AND GUSTY WEST WINDS WILL INCREASE OVER THE MOUNTAIN PASSES AND HIGHER EAST SLOPES LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. EXPECT GUSTS UP TO 70 MPH...ESPECIALLY THIS EVENING. AN APPROACHING DISTURBANCE WILL BRING INCREASING MOISTURE WITH SNOW DEVELOPING OVER THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS AFTER MIDNIGHT. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS BY EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING WILL BE UP TO 3 INCHES...MAINLY NORTH OF THE INTERSTATE 70 CORRIDOR. ACROSS LOWER ELEVATIONS...TEMPERATURES WILL WARM INTO THE 50S THIS AFTERNOON...EXCEPT 30S AND 40S OVER SNOW COVERED AREAS OF THE NORTHEAST PLAINS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY SNOW AND GUSTY WINDS WILL CONTINUE IN THE HIGH COUNTRY ON WEDNESDAY, CAUSING HAZARDOUS WINTER DRIVING CONDITIONS. ADDITIONAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE LESS THAN 3 INCHES. GUSTY WINDS WILL ALSO PUSH DOWN INTO THE FOOTHILLS AND ACROSS THE PLAINS ALONG THE NORTHERN STATE BORDER. WARMER AND DRIER WEATHER WILL BRIEFLY RETURN THURSDAY AND FRIDAY BEFORE ANOTHER SYSTEM BRINGS SNOW TO THE MOUNTAINS SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. MUCH COLDER TEMPERATURES AND SNOW POSSIBLY SPREADING OVER THE PLAINS IS EXPECTED ON MONDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 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, 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: 667978, 667979, 667980.