Locally heavy snow and gusty winds occurred over the Central Mountains as represented by Leadville recording 17 inches of snow with this storm system.
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The episode as NWS PUB wrote it up.
Locally heavy snow and gusty winds occurred over the Central Mountains as represented by Leadville recording 17 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 Mar 6, 3:29 PM MST, 2 hours 31 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pueblo CO 329 PM MST Wed Mar 6 2019 .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Thursday) Issued at 243 PM MST Wed Mar 6 2019 ...Wind driven snow will continue along the Continental Divide tonight and early Thursday... ...Strong winds over the Sangres and adjacent lower elevations tonight... Slight lull in snowfall along the Divide this afternoon, though latest regional radar loop and mesoscale models suggest an upturn in snowfall rates and coverage as we head into the evening and overnight hours. Current set of winter highlights look good for the night, with bursts of heavy snow accompanied by howling west winds, especially at and above pass level. Farther south and east, winds have slowly increased over the Wets/Sangres and San Luis Valley, though gust speeds have been running much lower than rather extreme HRRR forecasts. Given poor performance of the HRRR so far, will keep current high wind warning confined mainly to higher elevations, and let next shift monitor for possible expansion to adjacent plains. Peaks will certainly remain windy as upper jet moves overhead through the night into Thu morning. String of upper level energy and moist orographic flow will keep snow going through midday Thu along the Divide, before activity wanes from south to north during the afternoon. Windy conditions will persist over the mountains, I-25 corridor and eastern plains along the NM border Thu, though some decrease in speeds will begin during the afternoon as heights build and upper level jet sags south of the state. Temps overnight will remain rather mild at many locations, coldest readings again over the far ern plains where easterly winds will keep cooler air in place. On Thu, mild air will again cover most of the region, with mountains and far ern plains coldest for another day. .LONG TERM...(Thursday night through Wednesday) Issued at 243 PM MST Wed Mar 6 2019 Models and ensembles are in better agreement today through the extended period, with slight differences in storm track leading to the only uncertainty at this time. Overall forecast confidence is higher than average. Thursday night through Saturday...an upper level disturbance will be exiting the region Thursday night with snow winding down along the Continental Divide. Periods of light snow will likely continue into Friday morning, but accumulations will be minor, and generally north of Monarch Pass. Winds will also be decreasing through the overnight period. On Friday, the next upper level disturbance will shift east across Colorado. This storm system looks to be much stronger. Snow will be on the increase along the Continental Divide Friday morning and continue through the afternoon hours. Snow could be heavy. Winds will also be on the increase Friday afternoon and evening as the trough base moves across Colorado. Winds could gust from the west in the 40 to 60 mph range for the Mountains and adjacent foothills. This will need to be monitored. Across the Plains, models in good agreement with a band of rain Friday afternoon, changing and mixing with snow during the evening hours before exiting east into Kansas. Not anticipating any accumulations over the Plains at this time. Expect to see snow dissipate along the Continental Divide by Saturday with just light snow possible throughout the day. Dry conditions are expected on the Plains. Temperatures will generally be warm across the Plains on Friday, with upper 50s to lower 60s. Temperatures on Saturday will be a few degrees cooler with lower to mid 50s for highs. Sunday...generally dry conditions are expected on Sunday as transient high pressure moves across the state. Flow will begin to turn more southwesterly by Sunday evening as the next upper system approaches the area. Periods of light snow will remain along the Continental Divide with minor accumulations possible. Highs across the region will generally make it into the mid to upper 40s. Monday through Wednesday...models in good agreement with a strong upper level storm system moving out of the Desert Southwest early next week. Abundant moisture is forecast to move northward as the system strengthens over the region. Expect moderate to heavy snow to move into the San Juan and Sangre de Cristo ranges by Monday morning and spread north across the rest of the mountains. Across the Plains, temperatures will be warm enough for potentially heavy rainfall, especially near the Kansas border by Tuesday. Thunderstorms may need to be introduced out east. The main questions becomes if and when a change over to snow will occur in the wrap around trowal as the system exits. Currently there could be the potential for snow on the Plains Tuesday night into Wednesday across the Plains as the upper system exits the area. It is still too early for numbers such as snowfall due to differences in storm track and strength, but this storm has the potential to be a decent precipitation producer across southern Colorado. Mozley && .AVIATION...(For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Thursday evening) Issued at 243 PM MST Wed Mar 6 2019 VFR at all taf sites tonight and Thursday. Very low risk of some stratus and fog pushing westward on the plains at least getting close to KPUB and KCOS overnight, though most models keep any cloud shield east of both terminals, so won't include in either taf at this point. Winds diminish this evening, with a period of wind shear possible at KCOS after 02z as strong winds aloft spill east of the mountains. On Thu, W-SW winds will re-strengthen with gusts over 30 kts possible at all sites after 18z. && .PUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... High Wind Warning until noon MST Thursday for COZ073>075-080-082. Winter Weather Advisory until 5 PM MST Thursday for COZ058-059- 061-066-068. Winter Storm Warning until 5 PM MST Thursday for COZ060. && SHORT TERM...PETERSEN LONG TERM...MOZLEY AVIATION...PETERSEN
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Pueblo CO 741 AM MST Wed Mar 6 2019 COZ058>089-093>099-071445- 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- 741 AM MST Wed Mar 6 2019 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of central...east central...south central and southeast Colorado. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Moderate to heavy wind driven snow is expected to spread into the Continental Divide today, with the heaviest snowfall expected this afternoon into tonight. Snowfall amounts of 7 to 16 inches will be possible across the eastern Sawatch range by early Thursday morning with 5 to 10 inches across the eastern San Juans and western Mosquito ranges. Central Lake county and the La Garita mountains above 10000 feet could see 3 to 8 inches by early Thursday morning. Winds gusting to 60 to 70 mph across the higher elevations and east facing slopes will cause areas of blowing and drifting snow. Some light snow with accumulations of 2 to 4 inches will also be possible tonight across the crest of the Sangre De Cristos and Pikes Peak. Strong winds will spread into the southeast mountains this afternoon through tonight. The higher elevations above 11000 feet, as well as all of the southern Sangre De Cristo mountains, will see gusts to around 75 mph or higher as a strong jet stream moves in. There is the potential for brief wind gusts to around 50 to 60 mph to spread into the adjacent eastern slopes and southern I-25 corridor tonight. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday An additional one to four inches of snow and gusty winds are expected Thursday over Lake county, western Chaffee county between 9 thousand and 11 thousand feet, the La Garita and eastern San Juan mountains above 10 thousand feet and the eastern Sawatch mountains above 11 thousand feet and will continue Winter Weather highlights over these locations Thursday. In addition, strong winds capable of nearing and or exceeding 75 mph at times are expected Thursday morning over the Sangre de Cristo mountains, the Wet Mountains above 10 thousand feet and Pikes Peak above 11 thousand feet into Thursday morning and a High Wind Warning is in effect for these locations through Thursday morning. Then, the next in a series of storm systems is projected to impact primarily Continental Divide locations with additional accumulating snow from Friday into Friday night. Finally, a developing storm system is expected to provide southern Colorado with increasingly unsettled meteorological conditions in the form of enhanced precipitation chances and increasing winds from Monday into Tuesday as a closed upper low initially located near far southern California Monday, nears southeastern Colorado by later Tuesday. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Weather conditions that meet reporting criteria for spotters will be likely today and tonight in and near the mountains. 31/77
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 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, 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: 813371, 813372, 813373.