Strong post-frontal northwesterly winds developed as a storm system exited into the Central Plains. Peak wind gusts included 64 mph and Limon Municipal Airport and 58 mph, 7 miles south-southwest of Hugo.
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The episode as NWS BOU wrote it up.
Strong post-frontal northwesterly winds developed as a storm system exited into the Central Plains. Peak wind gusts included 64 mph and Limon Municipal Airport and 58 mph, 7 miles south-southwest of Hugo. Elsewhere, peak gusts ranged from 45 to 55 mph.
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 Feb 25, 3:06 AM MST, 3 hours 39 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO 306 AM MST Tue Feb 25 2020 .SHORT TERM...(Today and tonight) Issued at 305 AM MST Tue Feb 25 2020 Models appear to have stabilized with the main question of yesterday which was how far west the precipitation wrapping around the back of the trough across Kansas and Nebraska will come. There's good agreement now on the large scale snow shield coming back to about Akron with an inch or two of snow east of there. There's also pretty good agreement now on the extension of this in upslope areas from Elbert county through Limon with similar amounts. Most short-range models show one or more banded features in the middle of the day, generally just east of Denver into Elbert county. This still bears watching for possible local enhancement of the snowfall, but there's uncertainty about both the intensity and location. There is a fair amount of instability to support localized heavier showers. For now, we've just raised PoPs in this area, and trimmed them back a bit north of Denver, due to the downslope/upslope pattern with the strong winds. Outside of the above mentioned areas, some light snow is likely as the pocket of instability now over southeast Wyoming rotates southward, but the snow will be fighting dry low level air so accumulations for Denver should be pretty light, with an inch or less, provided any heavier snow bands are in fact east of the city. One other thing to watch is that southern Lincoln county could be approaching high wind criteria for a few hours as the strongest gradient goes through in the early afternoon. For the mountains, light snow showers have continued overnight, but some drier air is now arriving from the north. There should still be enough instability for some showers during the day, but even less than what we've had overnight. We're keeping the winter weather advisory up for a couple more hours to cover the current activity, but expect to drop it before sunrise. Skies will clear quickly in most areas this evening, there may be some lingering clouds in the central mountains for a while. The current chilly forecast for Wednesday morning looks good. .LONG TERM...(Wednesday through Monday) Issued at 305 AM MST Tue Feb 25 2020 Wednesday morning will begin mostly clear and cold as slight ridging in the northwest flow aloft moves overhead. This will quickly be replaced with troughing as a couple fast moving systems dive out of British Columbia and the Northern Rockies. Light snow will begin in the mountains in the afternoon, with a speed max moving into the area after midnight Wednesday. Not a lot of moisture expected with these waves, will likely only see around an inch of snowfall over the mountains through Thursday morning. Across the plains, warmer air will have pushed in from the west and some downsloping will help increase highs into the 40s. Winds will be relatively light, with gusty northwest winds affecting the northern plains. Besides some light snow remaining over the mountains Thursday, and a slight chance of light showers over the far eastern plains, mostly clear skies will allow for a few degrees of additional warming in the continued northwest flow. An upper ridge will move over the area Friday, then westerly flow on the backside of the ridge for Saturday, followed by southwesterly flow as a potent system drops south offshore of the western US coast. This will result in a warm and dry weather window, with temperatures about 10 degrees warmer than average for the end of February. Readings will likely be in the 50s to 60s over the plains, and in the 30s to near 40 for the mountains. A weak ripple moving off the Pacific and into the flow Saturday night into Sunday will result in light mountain snow during the time. Models differ in the position of the potent offshore system, in that the EC keeps it inland until early Monday morning, when it drifts over the Pacific off of SoCal for a short 12 hours before swinging it back inland. The GFS bring if far offshore the whole time before it moves onshore Monday morning. The Canadian brings the offshore system inland on Sunday evening. While positions are different, they all have the system opening up while sending a cold front down over the area Sunday night into Monday morning. So a return to winter weather in the mountains is expected during this time frame - the meteorological first day of Spring on Sunday. Just not sure on how much upslope flow we'll experience, at this point for the chance of winter weather for the plains as well. Will have a chance of snow for the plains with likely chance for the mountains, and cooler temperatures for Monday to show this weather pattern change. && .AVIATION...(For the 06Z TAFS through 06Z Tuesday night) Issued at 305 AM MST Tue Feb 25 2020 North winds will increase this morning behind a cold front, with gusts to 40 knots at KDEN/KAPA and 30 knots at KBJC by 16z. Instrument approaches to KDEN will likely be needed at times, and localized IFR conditions in snow showers are expected between 14z and 22z. Winds will diminish after 22z, with skies clearing sometime between 02z and 08z this evening. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory from 5 AM early this morning to 5 PM MST this afternoon for COZ046-048>051. Winter Weather Advisory until 9 AM MST this morning for COZ031- 033-034. && SHORT TERM...Gimmestad LONG TERM...Kriederman AVIATION...Gimmestad
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO 547 AM MST Tue Feb 25 2020 COZ030>051-261300- 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- 547 AM MST Tue Feb 25 2020 ...STRONG WINDS AND LIGHT SNOW ACROSS THE PLAINS TODAY... This hazardous weather outlook is for northeast and north central Colorado. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight North winds will increase across the plains this morning, with gusts of 40 to 55 mph during the early afternoon. The strongest winds will be around Akron and Limon. Light snow will fall across most of the plains, with accumulations of 1 to 3 inches expected from southeast of Denver through Limon and into the northeast corner of Colorado. These areas could see travel difficulty due to drifting snow and icy roads. The Denver area should see some light snow, but with accumulations around an inch or less. In the mountains there will be scattered light snow showers, mainly over the ridges. The strong winds will keep wind chills near zero in the single digits today, and even with lighter winds tonight wind chills will be near or below zero. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Wednesday through Monday Light snow will fall over the high mountains Wednesday night into Thursday, with mostly clear skies and weak warming over the plains. Northwesterly winds will increase over the plains Thursday with speeds of 20 mph gusting to 35 mph. Temperatures will then warm to nearly 10 degrees above normal into the weekend. Dry weather is expected until a potent system off the Pacific pushes snow into the mountains Sunday and then over the plains Monday. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Snowfall reports from spotters will be appreciated. Gimmestad/Kriederman
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, February 2020
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: 873708.