An intense low pressure system developed over southern Colorado on March 13th, producing blizzard conditions at times over El Paso county(focused from later in the morning on March 13th into the afternoon of March 13th). Unfortunately, 1 direct fatality and 2 indirect fatalities in El Paso county occurred with this intense storm system.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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.
An intense low pressure system developed over southern Colorado on March 13th, producing blizzard conditions at times over El Paso county(focused from later in the morning on March 13th into the afternoon of March 13th). Unfortunately, 1 direct fatality and 2 indirect fatalities in El Paso county occurred with this intense storm system.
The direct fatality was due to exposure when a gentleman left his house during the height of the storm to try and start his generator. He became disoriented and couldn't find his home again and spent the night outside where he succumbed to frostbite and hypothermia. Two indirect fatalities were found two weeks after the storm ended. Two adults and three dogs were found inside a primary residence where it was believed they died of carbon monoxide poisoning when their exhaust pipe from the furnace became clogged with wind driven snow.
In addition, approximately 1,500 motorists were stranded over northern El Paso County as sections of Interstate 25 were closed due to snow and blowing snow in El Paso county from the late morning of March 13 into the afternoon of March 14th.
Some of the higher reported snow totals over El Paso county with this event included six to nine inches of wind-driven snow near Falcon and the Air Force Academy, while fourteen to sixteen inches of wind-driven snow impacted the communities of Black Forest, Woodland Park and Monument respectively.
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 Mar 13, 8:59 AM MST, 1 hour 1 minute earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pueblo CO 959 AM MDT Wed Mar 13 2019 .UPDATE... Issued at 954 AM MDT Wed Mar 13 2019 Updated forecast to increase winds over the Plains. Peak gust to ~80 mph will be possible mainly in eastern El paso...NE Pueblo Crowley, N Otero and W kiowa counties. \/Hodanish && .SHORT TERM...(Today and tonight) Issued at 345 AM MDT Wed Mar 13 2019 ...Strong and Damaging Winds Across the Southeast Plains... ...Blizzard Conditions Across Northern and Eastern Portions El Paso County... Current water vapor imagery and upper air analysis is indicating strong upper low lifting out across North Central New Mexico with dry slot moving into the Southeast Plains. MSAS data and observations indicating a 982MB surface low south and east of Pueblo, with 4-6 mb 3 hourly pressure falls being indicated across the Plains at this time. Regional radars indicating echos developing and lifting to the north across the Pikes Peak region early this morning. Temperatures remain mild across the Plains with readings mainly in the 40s to lower 50s though in mid 30s across the Palmer Divide, with mainly 20s and 30s across the mountains and high valleys. Today and tonight...No changes to current weather highlights, as latest models remain in good agreement of upper low lifting across the Southeast Plains through the morning, with the vertically stacked system continuing to lift north and east into Northwestern Kansas this evening. This will allow for deformation band precipitation to spread south across the Eastern Mts and I-25 Corridor this morning, with wrap around precipitation continuing across the Palmer Dvd through the Southeast Plains this afternoon and evening. Strong north to northwest winds develop on the backside of the passing system, with latest models continuing to indicate 60 to 80 mph gusts this afternoon, especially across eastern portions of El Paso and Pueblo Counties, and spreading into northern portions of the Southeast Plains this evening. With that said, still expecting blizzard conditions to develop across El Paso County today, with northern and eastern portions of the County seeing the worst conditions. Latest models indicating potential for more snow across the Rampart Range and across western portions of Colorado Springs this morning, and did increase totals before the strong north to northwest downslope flow ends precipitation across the southern portions of the area into the afternoon. Snow and blowing snow will make for difficult to impossible travel this afternoon and evening, especially north and east of Colorado Springs. Further south across the I-25 Corridor, models remain consistent that precipitation will remain mainly rain, with rain mixing with or changing briefly to all snow, under the stronger precipitation bands. Further west, moderate to heavy snow across the Mountains and high valleys will continue through the morning, with the focus of snow shifting to the Central Mountains this afternoon and evening. As for the winds across the Plains, expecting north to northwest winds of 35 to 45 mph developing from west to east through the late morning into the afternoon, with damaging gusts of 60 to 80 mph possible. Winds will only slowly diminish from west to east through the late evening in into the overnight hours. .LONG TERM...(Thursday through Tuesday) Issued at 345 AM MDT Wed Mar 13 2019 Low pressure pulls away from the area into the upper Midwest on Thu, though still enough of a surface gradient for breezy to windy conditions across the eastern plains through the day, with some gusts to 50 mph possible, especially near the KS border. Weak secondary upper system then drops south across the state Thu afternoon and early evening, bringing back a chance of snow showers across most mountains zones, but only a few flurries to interior valleys and lower elevations. Any snow accumulations look light and limited to mainly the higher peaks. Max temps Thu will run well below seasonal averages, with 20s/30s mountains and 30s/40s lower elevations. Upper ridge then builds over the western U.S. from Friday into Sunday, bringing dry conditions and slowly warming temps as reading climb back to near seasonal averages by Sunday. Weak energy drifting through the ridge early next week may lead to a return of rain and snow shower chances over at least the mountains, though impact of system looks fairly minor at this point. Temperatures will remain at or slightly above average through the middle of next week. && .AVIATION...(For the 12Z TAFS through 12Z Thursday morning) Issued at 345 AM MDT Wed Mar 13 2019 ALS...generally MVFR to IFR through the mid morning hours due to rain and snow overnight. Winds are forecast to increase through the morning into the afternoon while snow comes to an end. Northwest winds will likely gust in excess of 40 kts. Winds will likely subside during the evening hours with a few gusts to near 25 kts possible. COS...IFR and LIFR rain changing to snow through the morning hours. A strong cold front will arrive during the mid to late morning hours with a rapid change over to snow behind the front. North winds, gusting to near 65 kts are expected with reduced VIS to near 1/4SM and blizzard conditions into the afternoon. Conditions should improve during the late afternoon to evening hours however winds will remain strong. PUB...IFR conditions expected through much day with periods of light to moderate rainfall through the early morning. A strong cold front will arrive by mid to late morning with northerly winds gusting in excess of 65 kts. Rain will likely be mixed with snow at times. Winds will remain elevated into the evening hours, with improving CIGS. && .PUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... High Wind Warning until 6 AM MDT Thursday for COZ086>089-093>099. Winter Storm Warning until 6 AM MDT Thursday for COZ058>061-063- 073-075-080. Winter Weather Advisory until 6 AM MDT Thursday for COZ062-072- 074-076>079. Winter Weather Advisory until noon MDT today for COZ069>071. High Wind Warning from 4 PM this afternoon to 6 AM MDT Thursday for COZ085. Blizzard Warning until 4 PM MDT this afternoon for COZ085. Winter Storm Warning until 6 PM MDT this evening for COZ064>068. Winter Storm Warning until 6 AM MDT Thursday for COZ081-082. Blizzard Warning until 6 AM MDT Thursday for COZ084. && UPDATE...HODANISH SHORT TERM...MW LONG TERM...PETERSEN AVIATION...MW
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Pueblo CO 549 AM MDT Wed Mar 13 2019 COZ058>089-093>099-141200- 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- 549 AM MDT Wed Mar 13 2019 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of central...east central...south central and southeast Colorado. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Rain and snow along with strong winds will spread across the Southeast Plains early this morning as a strong storm system rapidly intensifies across Southeast Colorado. Blizzard conditions will develop across El Paso County and the Palmer Divide by late morning with the greatest impacts likely to be across the northern two thirds of the county. Damaging wind gusts in excess of 70 mph will spread across all of the Plains through the day, with the potential to produce dangerous cross winds on east west oriented roads, as well as damage to trees, structures and the potential to cause power outages. Combined with heavy snow across El Paso county, white out conditions will be likely making travel difficult to impossible, particularly to the east and north of Colorado Springs. While rain will likely mix with or change to snow briefly across the plains during the afternoon, this system will be quickly pulling off to the northeast which will limit accumulations to mainly grassy surfaces at times. The main concern will be the potential for damaging winds and temporarily reduced visibility under the more intense showers. Moderate to heavy snow will continue across the Mountains through the day, with the focus for snowfall shifting to the Central Mountains this evening and tonight. Additional snowfall amounts across the mountains will range from 8 to 18 inches across the eastern Sawatch mountains and the eastern San Juans, 6 to 16 inches can be expected across the remainder of the higher terrain. Snowfall totals will range from 6 to 12 inches across northern El Paso county to 1 to 6 inches across southern El Paso county, however impacts due to blinding wind driven snow and damaging winds will be the greatest storm impact. The snow and winds will slowly taper off from west to east later tonight. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday Light snow will redevelop over the mountains on Thursday, and a few higher peaks of the Sangre de Cristo range and locations near Pikes Peak may see an inch or two of accumulation by early evening. Over the eastern plains, strong north winds will be possible during the morning and early afternoon on Thursday, and some gusts to 50 mph will be possible at locations near the Kansas border. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Weather conditions that meet reporting criteria for spotters will be likely today and tonight. 23/10
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
807 AM MDT WED MAR 13 2019
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0806 AM SNOW 4 N FLORISSANT 39.00N 105.30W
03/13/2019 M1.7 INCH TELLER CO TRAINED SPOTTER
0751 AM SNOW 1 SE FLORISSANT 38.94N 105.28W
03/13/2019 M3.0 INCH TELLER CO TRAINED SPOTTER
1200 AM SNOW 2 NE LEADVILLE 39.27N 106.27W
03/13/2019 M1.3 INCH LAKE CO TRAINED SPOTTER
&&PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
838 AM MDT WED MAR 13 2019
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0834 AM HEAVY RAIN 2 WSW COLORADO SPRINGS 38.82N 104.86W
03/13/2019 M0.79 INCH EL PASO CO TRAINED SPOTTER
0808 AM SNOW 7 ESE TEXAS CREEK 38.37N 105.46W
03/13/2019 M1.2 INCH FREMONT CO TRAINED SPOTTER
&&PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
944 AM MDT WED MAR 13 2019
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0932 AM HEAVY SNOW WOODLAND PARK 39.00N 105.05W
03/13/2019 M2.0 INCH TELLER CO TRAINED SPOTTER
&&PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
1015 AM MDT WED MAR 13 2019
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1009 AM SNOW 4 N PEYTON 39.09N 104.47W
03/13/2019 M1.0 INCH EL PASO CO TRAINED SPOTTER
STARTED SNOWING AROUND 8 AM.
0926 AM NON-TSTM WND GST 6 ESE WESTON 37.09N 104.92W
03/13/2019 M59 MPH LAS ANIMAS CO MESONET
MESONET STATION CUHC2, 6 ESE WESTON.
&&PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
1036 AM MDT WED MAR 13 2019
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1030 AM SNOW 8 NW CRIPPLE CREEK 38.84N 105.27W
03/13/2019 M6.0 INCH TELLER CO TRAINED SPOTTER
1027 AM SNOW 6 ENE BLACK FOREST 39.04N 104.60W
03/13/2019 M4.0 INCH EL PASO CO TRAINED SPOTTER
&&PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
1054 AM MDT WED MAR 13 2019
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1053 AM NON-TSTM WND GST 5 NE BLENDE 38.29N 104.50W
03/13/2019 M66 MPH PUEBLO CO ASOS
1051 AM SNOW 4 N PEYTON 39.09N 104.47W
03/13/2019 M3.0 INCH EL PASO CO TRAINED SPOTTER
100 FOOT VIS.
1048 AM SNOW 2 NNW WOODLAND PARK 39.02N 105.06W
03/13/2019 M3.5 INCH TELLER CO TRAINED SPOTTER
1047 AM SNOW 4 WSW FALCON 38.91N 104.70W
03/13/2019 M1.0 INCH EL PASO CO TRAINED SPOTTER
100 YARD VISIBILITY.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
A family in Yoder, CO (northern El Paso County) had their house demolished by the the strong gradient winds, during the blizzard. It was a total loss. No injuries were reported.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blizzard, Colorado Springs Vicinity / Southern El Paso County / Rampart Range Below 7500 Ft | 2019-03-13 | 68 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
| Blizzard, Colorado Springs Vicinity / Southern El Paso County / Rampart Range Below 7500 Ft | 2019-03-14 | 50 | Female | Permanent Home | Indirect |
| Blizzard, Colorado Springs Vicinity / Southern El Paso County / Rampart Range Below 7500 Ft | 2019-03-14 | 55 | Male | Permanent Home | Indirect |
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, March 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: 815400, 815401.