A slow moving snow storm generated widespread snow, heavy at times over many portions of southern Colorado. Some of the higher reported snow totals with this event included six inches of snow near Creede, Monument, Florissant, Palmer Lake and Rye.
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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 slow moving snow storm generated widespread snow, heavy at times over many portions of southern Colorado. Some of the higher reported snow totals with this event included six inches of snow near Creede, Monument, Florissant, Palmer Lake and Rye. Seven inches of snow graced locations near Buena Vista, Cascade, Hillside, Rosita, Westcliffe, Colorado City, Texas Creek and Beulah. Eight inches of snow was observed near South Fork, Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs. Locations near the Spanish Peaks, Black Forest and San Isabel recorded nine to ten inches of snow with this event, while Wolf Creek Pass was inundated with 40 inches of snow with this storm system.
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 Feb 20, 3:19 PM MST, 1 hour 41 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pueblo CO 319 PM MST Wed Feb 20 2019 .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Thursday) Issued at 319 PM MST Wed Feb 20 2019 Currently, recent GOES satellite imagery, WSR-88D radar returns, computer simulations and real-time data indicate that increasing clouds encroaching western portions of the CWA this afternoon in combination with below seasonal temperatures(as seen by 2 PM temperature readings of 38F at Pueblo and Trinidad, 30F at Colorado Springs and 23F at Alamosa). In addition, localized gusty winds exceeding 40 mph at times were recently recorded near locations such as the Air Force Academy, Rampart Reservoir, La Veta Pass, Monarch Pass and Swissvale. For sensible weather, have depicted increasing pops primarily over the eastern San Juan mountains tonight, with precipitation then increasing/developing over many Continental Divide locations as Thursday progresses. Will maintain inherited Winter Storm Warning which begins late this afternoon/early evening over the La Garita and Eastern San Juan mountains above 10000 feet, although project that primary heavier/intense precipitation with this incoming system should be realized from later tonight into later Friday. Have also issued a Winter Weather Advisory for the eastern Sawatch Mountains above 11000 feet, western Chaffee county between 9000 and 11000 feet, the western Mosquito Range, eastern Lake County and the Sangre de Cristo mountains from later Thursday afternoon into Friday night. Elsewhere over the CWA, anticipate that generally dry conditions will prevail from tonight into Thursday afternoon. Another cold February night is anticipated tonight(although not as cold as this morning), while maximum temperatures on Thursday should continue to moderate(although remaining below later February climatological averages). .LONG TERM...(Thursday night through Wednesday) Issued at 319 PM MST Wed Feb 20 2019 ...Active through Saturday... Thursday night through Saturday...An upper low pressure system will be located over southern CA and NV Thu night, slowly track into AZ on Fri, cross NM Fri eve, then finally eject across the TX and OK Panhandles and into KS Sat morning. This system will meander the longest over southern AZ, and the constant south to southwest feed of moisture into western CO will translate to significant new snow for the higher terrain Thu night through Fri. The expected path of this system means the southwest mts will see the highest amounts, but the central mts and the northern Sangre de Cristo mts will receive advisory amounts as well therefore went ahead and issued a Winter Weather Advisory for those areas. Late Fri night as the low moves across NM, snowfall will start to wind down over the mts as the focus shifts to the eastern plains. A cold front will push south across the Palmer Divide Fri night, with snowfall developing across the plains late Fri night into Sat morning. However, models are showing that this system will speed up and move quickly into the Panhandles, which means a small time window for winter weather across the plains. So, at this time, no highlights for the plains are anticipated, but expect gusty north winds and some snow late Fri night into Sat morning as the front passes. Increased cloud cover and winds should keep min temps Thu night in the 10 to 20 degree range for most of the lower elevations as well as the high valleys. Expect highs in the 30s for the high valleys and 40s to lower 50s for the plains on Fri, then around 30F for the high valleys and upper 30s to upper 40s for the plains on Sat. Sunday through Wednesday...Models indicate that westerly zonal flow aloft will settle in to finish the weekend and start off the first half of the next work week. This will produce somewhat mild conditions across the forecast area with predominantly dry weather. The GFS does hint at a slight shift to the northwest aloft on Wed as a shortwave drops south across the northern Rockies, which could mean a return of pcpn for the central mts as well as a cold front for the eastern plains. The GFS is the only model showing this at this time, so kept temps as they were but painted some isolated pops for the central mts. Look for highs in the mid 30s to mid 40s for the plains and right around 30F for the high valleys on Sun, then temps warm into the 40s to lower 50s for the plains and the 30s to around 40F for the high valleys for Mon through Wed. Moore && .AVIATION...(For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Thursday evening) Issued at 319 PM MST Wed Feb 20 2019 Dry southwesterly upper flow is expected to allow basically VFR conditions to continue over the KALS, KCOS and KPUB taf sites into Thursday afternoon, although KALS has the potential of experiencing increased precipitation activity by later Thursday. && .PUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory from 2 PM Thursday to 11 PM MST Friday for COZ058-060-061-063-072-073. Winter Storm Warning until 5 PM MST Friday for COZ066-068. && SHORT TERM...77 LONG TERM...MOORE AVIATION...77
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Pueblo CO 558 AM MST Wed Feb 20 2019 COZ058>089-093>099-211300- Western Mosquito Range/East Lake County Above 11000 Feet- Leadville Vicinity/Lake County Below 11000 Feet- Eastern Sawatch Mountains Above 11000 Feet- Western Chaffee County Between 9000 and 11000 Feet- Central Chaffee County Below 9000 Feet- Western Mosquito Range/East Chaffee County Above 9000 Feet- Saguache County West of Continental Divide Below 10000 Feet- Saguache County East of Continental Divide Below 10000 Feet- La Garita Mountains Above 10000 Feet- Upper Rio Grande Valley/Eastern San Juan Mountains Below 10000 Feet-Eastern San Juan Mountains Above 10000 Feet- Del Norte Vicinity/Northern San Luis Valley Below 8500 Feet- Alamosa Vicinity/Central San Luis Valley Below 8500 Feet- Southern San Luis Valley- Northern Sangre de Cristo Mountains Between 8500 And 11000 Feet- Northern Sangre de Cristo Mountains Above 11000 Feet- Southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains Between 7500 and 11000 Feet- Southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains Above 11000 Feet- Northwestern Fremont County Above 8500 Feet- Western/Central Fremont County Below 8500 Feet- Wet Mountain Valley Below 8500 Feet- Wet Mountains between 6300 and 10000 Feet- Wet Mountains Above 10000 Feet- Teller County/Rampart Range Above 7500 Feet/Pikes Peak Between 7500 And 11000 Feet-Pikes Peak Above 11000 Feet- Canon City Vicinity/Eastern Fremont County- Northern El Paso County/Monument Ridge/Rampart Range Below 7500 Feet- Colorado Springs Vicinity/Southern El Paso County/Rampart Range Below 7400 Feet-Pueblo Vicinity/Pueblo County Below 6300 Feet- Walsenburg Vicinity/Upper Huerfano River Basin Below 7500 Feet- Trinidad Vicinity/Western Las Animas County Below 7500 Feet- 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- 558 AM MST Wed Feb 20 2019 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of central...east central...south central and southeast Colorado. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Snow will spread back over the mountains along the Continental Divide overnight, and periods of heavy snow are likely over the San Juan and La Garita Mountains after midnight. Snowfall accumulations of up to 8 inches will be possible by sunrise Thursday over the higher peaks of the San Juan Mountains, with difficult travel conditions likely over Wolf Creek Pass and Cumbres Pass. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday Snow will spread to the rest of the mountains on Thursday and continue across the high terrain through Saturday morning. An additional 1 to 2 feet of snow is expected over the eastern San Juan and La Garita Mountains. The central and eastern mountains can expect 6 to 12 inches of total snow accumulation, while 1 to 4 inches is probable in the high mountain valleys. As the storm system moves east, snow is likely to develop across the plains Friday night, lasting into Saturday morning. While snow chances exist across all of the plains, the best chances for accumulating snowfall will be east of the I-25 corridor. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Weather conditions that meet reporting criteria for spotters will be likely tonight over the mountains along the Continental Divide. 10/12
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
133 PM MST WED FEB 20 2019
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0133 PM SNOW 2 NW COLORADO SPRINGS 38.85N 104.85W
02/20/2019 M4.0 INCH EL PASO CO TRAINED SPOTTER
EVENT TOTAL. 0.18 INCHES LIQUID.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
8 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, February 2019
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: 809730, 809731, 809732, 809733, 809736, 809738, 809740, 809741.