A Pacific storm system brought heavy snow to the Continental Divide and other parts of southern Colorado. More than 8 inches fell along the Continental Divide, but an impressive 38 inches of snow impacted Wolf Creek Pass (Mineral County).
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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 PUB wrote it up.
A Pacific storm system brought heavy snow to the Continental Divide and other parts of southern Colorado. More than 8 inches fell along the Continental Divide, but an impressive 38 inches of snow impacted Wolf Creek Pass (Mineral County).
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 Pueblo, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 22, 3:46 PM MST, 2 hours 14 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pueblo CO 346 PM MST Sun Jan 22 2017 .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Tuesday Night) Issued at 326 PM MST Sun Jan 22 2017 TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT... High clouds have been spreading eastward acrs the area today. Web cams not showing any snow yet over Monarch and Wolf Creek passes. Tonight as the next weather system moves onshore and begins heading toward the Great Basin, mid level moisture will increase and snow will begin falling along the Continental Dvd. This will be the beginning of a long period of snowfall for the Continental Dvd. The NAM has very little pcpn spreading into the Sangre De Cristo mtns by Mon morning, even though the GFS does show a little more than the NAM, snow amounts should be light. The San Luis Valley and the Upper Arkansas Valley are not really expected to see much either. On Mon southwest winds increase across all of the area as the upper trof remains over the western U.S. Snow accumulations will continue along the Continental Dvd, but not much is expected over the eastern mtn, at least until later in the afternoon. The lower elevations should be dry on Mon and the sern plains wl see highs in the 50s to near 60. Mon night the upper trof moves acrs the state. Snow will be found over all the mountain areas through the first half of the night, along with fairly good chances for pcpn over the high valleys. Some pcpn may also spread over the I-25 corridor but the rest of the southeast plains probably won't see more than some isold showers, if that. In the late night hours the upper low moves into wrn NE with west to NW flow aloft ovr the forecast area and breezy westerly sfc winds in many locations. The forecast models also show pcpn chances decreasing acrs all of the area, with mainly just some lingering snow by 12Z over portions of the Continental Dvd. Later Tue morning as the upper low continues moving eastward acrs NE, the sfc wind become windy from the N or NW acrs eastern CO, and this continues through the day. Any pcpn during the day Tue will mainly be isold to scattered, and mainly over the mtn areas. Temps will be cooler on Tue, probably in the upper 30s to mid 40s over the sern plains and mostly in the 20s in the high valleys. North to northwest winds continue Tue night with some light lingering snow showers over some of the mtn areas, and possibly along the I-25 corridor. A couple of the previous runs of the NAM showed the possibility of several inches of snow Tue night along and adjacent to the eastern mtns as a result of upslope flow, but the 18Z run has eliminated this. .LONG TERM...(Wednesday through Sunday) Issued at 326 PM MST Sun Jan 22 2017 There is pretty good agreement through the extended period with generally low ensemble spreads and higher forecast confidence. Wednesday through Friday...a slow moving broad upper trough is forecast to drop south across Colorado. This will bring near continuous light snowfall for the mountains, and especially the Continental Divide. Snow accumulations do not look overly impressive with 1 to 3 inches expected each day. Dry conditions are expected to prevail across the Plains. Temperatures will be cool through this period with 30s expected across the Plains. Saturday and Sunday...the upper trough is forecast to continue south into Mexico by Saturday with high pressure building over the Great Basin. Broad northerly flow aloft will bring dry conditions to the area for the weekend. Temperatures will also begin to warm with 40s for highs on Saturday and lower 50s by Sunday for the lower elevations. Mozley && .AVIATION...(For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Monday evening) Issued at 326 PM MST Sun Jan 22 2017 KCOS and KPUB should see VFR conditions through the next 24 hrs. Both KCOS and KPUB will see gusty southwesterly winds develop either late Mon morning or early in the afternoon. KALS could see a few showers in the area tonight and the first part of Mon, but chances look low at this time. KALS should see a better chance for some showers in the area Mon afternoon. && .PUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory from 11 PM this evening to 5 AM MST Tuesday for COZ073-075. Winter Weather Advisory until 5 AM MST Tuesday for COZ059-061- 064-067. Winter Storm Warning until 5 AM MST Tuesday for COZ058-060-066- 068. && SHORT TERM...28 LONG TERM...MOZLEY AVIATION...28
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO 308 PM MST SUN JAN 22 2017 COZ058>089-093>099-232215- WESTERN MOSQUITO RANGE/EAST LAKE COUNTY ABOVE 11000 FT- LEADVILLE VICINITY/LAKE COUNTY BELOW 11000 FT- EASTERN SAWATCH MOUNTAINS ABOVE 11000 FT- WESTERN CHAFFEE COUNTY BETWEEN 9000 AND 11000 FT- CENTRAL CHAFFEE COUNTY BELOW 9000 FT- WESTERN MOSQUITO RANGE/EAST CHAFFEE COUNTY ABOVE 9000FT- SAGUACHE COUNTY WEST OF CONTINENTAL DIVIDE BELOW 10000 FT- SAGUACHE COUNTY EAST OF CONTINENTAL DIVIDE BELOW 10000 FT- LA GARITA MOUNTAINS ABOVE 10000 FT- UPPER RIO GRANDE VALLEY/EASTERN SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS BELOW 10000 FT- EASTERN SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS ABOVE 10000 FT- DEL NORTE VICINITY/NORTHERN SAN LUIS VALLEY BELOW 8500 FT- ALAMOSA VICINITY/CENTRAL SAN LUIS VALLEY BELOW 8500 FT- SOUTHERN SAN LUIS VALLEY- NORTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS BETWEEN 8500 AND 11000 FT- NORTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS ABOVE 11000 FT- SOUTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS BETWEEN 7500 AND 11000 FT- SOUTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS ABOVE 11000 FT- NORTHWESTERN FREMONT COUNTY ABOVE 8500FT- WESTERN/CENTRAL FREMONT COUNTY BELOW 8500 FT- WET MOUNTAIN VALLEY BELOW 8500 FT- WET MOUNTAINS BETWEEN 6300 AND 10000FT- WET MOUNTAINS ABOVE 10000 FT- TELLER COUNTY/RAMPART RANGE ABOVE 7500FT/PIKE'S PEAK BETWEEN 7500 AND 11000 FT-PIKES PEAK ABOVE 11000 FT- CANON CITY VICINITY/EASTERN FREMONT COUNTY- NORTHERN EL PASO COUNTY/MONUMENT RIDGE/RAMPART RANGE BELOW 7500 FT- COLORADO SPRINGS VICINITY/SOUTHERN EL PASO COUNTY/RAMPART RANGE BELOW 7400 FT-PUEBLO VICINITY/PUEBLO COUNTY BELOW 6300 FEET- WALSENBURG VICINITY/UPPER HUERFANO RIVER BASIN BELOW 7500 FT- TRINIDAD VICINITY/WESTERN LAS ANIMAS COUNTY BELOW 7500 FT- CROWLEY COUNTY-LA JUNTA VICINITY/OTERO COUNTY- EASTERN LAS ANIMAS COUNTY-WESTERN KIOWA COUNTY- EASTERN KIOWA COUNTY-LAS ANIMAS VICINITY/BENT COUNTY- LAMAR VICINITY/PROWERS COUNTY-SPRINGFIELD VICINITY/BACA COUNTY- 308 PM MST SUN JAN 22 2017 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL...EAST CENTRAL...SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST COLORADO. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT A STORM SYSTEM WILL SPREAD MODERATE TO HEAVY WIND DRIVEN SNOW INTO THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE THIS EVENING. SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS WILL PROBABLY SPREAD INTO THE CREST OF THE SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS AFTER MIDNIGHT. SNOW WILL BE HEAVY AT TIMES ALONG THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE WHERE 4 TO 6 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE BY MONDAY MORNING. MOUNTAIN PASSES WILL BECOME SLICK AND SNOWPACKED WITH POOR VISIBILITIES IN BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. THE CREST OF THE SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS WILL SEE UP TO 3 INCHES OF SNOWFALL BY EARLY MONDAY MORNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY A STORM SYSTEM WILL TRACK ACROSS COLORADO THROUGH WEDNESDAY. ROUNDS OF HEAVY...BLOWING SNOW WILL MOVE THROUGH THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE WITH PERIODS OF SNOW SHOWERS OVER THE EASTERN MOUNTAINS. ACROSS THE LOWER ELEVATIONS...THERE WILL BE CHANCES FOR SNOW SHOWERS AT TIMES...MAINLY IN THE SAN LUIS VALLEY AND ALONG AND NEAR THE I-25 CORRIDOR. THE BEST CHANCES FOR SNOW AT THE LOWER ELEVATIONS WILL OCCUR MONDAY NIGHT AND EARLY TUESDAY. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS THROUGH THE EXTENDED PERIOD WILL BE SIGNIFICANT ALONG THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE. THE EASTERN MOUNTAINS COULD SEE SEVERAL INCHES OF SNOW. ACROSS THE LOWER ELEVATIONS... ONLY LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER CONDITIONS THAT MEET REPORTING CRITERIA FOR SPOTTERS WILL BE LIKELY TONIGHT ALONG THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE AND SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS. 28/28
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, January 2017
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: 671500, 671501, 671502, 671503.