A strong upper level system moved across the region during this period, bringing periods of damaging winds and heavy snow to much of southern Colorado. The highest wind gusts of 60 to 70 mph were observed over the eastern mountains and into the southern I-25 corridor.
Every event with a place to put it; 12 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 strong upper level system moved across the region during this period, bringing periods of damaging winds and heavy snow to much of southern Colorado. The highest wind gusts of 60 to 70 mph were observed over the eastern mountains and into the southern I-25 corridor. While snowfall was noted over much of the higher terrain, the highest amounts approaching 2 to 3 feet were observed across the Continental Divide.
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 Dec 23, 2:46 PM MST, 14 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pueblo CO 246 PM MST Thu Dec 23 2021 .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Friday) Issued at 244 PM MST Thu Dec 23 2021 Key messages: - Snow has begun across the Continental Divide, and will continue through the period with increases in coverage and intensity overnight into Friday. - Damaging winds developing over the eastern mountains and along the I-25 corridor this evening, and continuing through much of Friday. Currently...breezy, but warm conditions have spread across southern Colorado this afternoon with highs in the low to mid 60s for most locations across the Plains. Westerly flow and embedded energy is moving into the Continental Divide early this afternoon with a few light echoes showing up on radar and observations indicating mountains snowfall. Tonight...the main concern for tonight will be high winds. There are time periods of concern, tonight in the Pikes Peak Regions, down into the southern I-25 corridor, then spreading into the Plains Friday morning and afternoon. High-res models are indicating a mountain wave set up tonight. This will occur ahead of the main upper jet which is currently moving into western Colorado. For the Pikes Peak Region including Teller County and areas west of I-25 in El Paso County...this area, in the lee of the Rampart Range, will see the potential for high winds this evening into the overnight hours. High-res model cross sections and sounding data indicates the set up for a mountain wave by 8 PM this evening, and prevailing through 5 AM tonight. Wind guidance is quite high, with gusts near 70 mph at times, especially for areas near the Air Force Academy, down into Fort Carson. The peak winds look to occur in the 9 PM to 2 AM time frame over this area. For eastern portions of El Paso County, winds will not be as strong, with gusts to 30 mph possible. Those living in the lee of the Rampart Range should prepare for damaging winds and secure holiday decorations. For areas in the lee of the Sangre de Cristo Range, from Pueblo, south to the New Mexico border...the main jet core looks to move across this area tonight into Friday morning. Model cross sections and atmospheric profiles are showing strong a strong mountain wave setting up by 8 PM as the upper jet moves into the region. Strong winds, with gusts near 80 mph, will duct down to the surface, and will likely prevail through the morning. A few areas, especially along I-25 from Colorado City, to near Trinidad will see the strongest gusts. Mountain areas seeing snow, will see blowing snow causing drifting and low visibilities, especially over Wolf Creek, Monarch and La Veta Passes. Down in the lower elevations, prevalent dry conditions will lead to widespread areas of blowing dust. This blowing dust will likely cause dangerous driving conditions on area roadways. If traveling, be prepared for dangerous driving conditions! Friday...the high winds will spread east during the morning hours across the Plains. There is some uncertainty as to how far east the strong winds will spread, with most guidance suggesting through Las Animas and Otero Counties. Widespread gusts of 55 to 65 mph are possible into the afternoon across the Plains. Blowing dust will impact travelers on highways across the Plains. Strong cross winds will make high profile and light weight vehicles prone to tipping over. Overall, on the Plains dry conditions are expected to prevail. The exception may be right along the eastern mountain slopes, where enough westerly flow aloft may allow for a few snowflakes/raindrops to spill over onto the east side. Temperatures will remain warm, with mid to upper 60s across the Plains. Moisture will be slightly elevated during the afternoon, which will help humidity values remain near 20 percent. While no fire weather highlights are anticipated, given the strong winds, outdoor burning activities should be postponed until another day. Over the Mountains, periods of moderate to heavy snow will continue through the day. Orographic upslope flow along the Continental Divide will allow for the heavy snowfall. The main focus appears to be the San Juan Range, up int the Central Mountains. For the San Juan Range, snowfall totals through Friday will be in the 1 to 2 foot range, while areas north see a good foot. Snowfall totals will be higher if you include the longer term period of Friday night into Saturday morning (see the Winter Storm Warning and Winter Weather Advisories for storm total snowfall). Less amounts are expected over the Sangre de Cristo and Wet Mountain ranges. Mozley .LONG TERM...(Friday night through Thursday) Issued at 244 PM MST Thu Dec 23 2021 ...Lots of snow for the Eastern San Juan Mountains... ...Potentially quite windy Sunday... .Friday Night and Christmas...The disturbance moves east of the region with the precipitation and winds gradually decreasing overnight. Latest guidance suggests that the heavier snow should end by early in the day on Christmas. Drier air moves into the region for Christmas day, but some light snow showers will be possible over the Continental Divide region. Otherwise, Christmas will be a dry and mild day with highs around 60 on the plains. .Saturday night into Sunday...Next strong disturbance moves into the region. The vapor transport into the San Juans is no where near as impressive as the current system. Still, grids have close to a foot of snow for the eastern San Juan Mountains, and suspect later shifts will be issuing winter weather highlights. The second main effect from this system will be windy conditions. The winds at 700mb are around 50 knots Sunday afternoon with cyclogenesis on the eastern plains. Currently looks as if the strongest winds will be along the eastern mountains and Interstate 25 corridor south of US 50. Populated the wind grids with the 90 percentile NBM winds as NBM 4.0 has a low wind speed bias. Wind grids agree more closely with the NBM 4.1 which has less of a low wind speed bias. Will have to watch for some wind highlights on Sunday with the best chances south of US 50. With the gusty winds and low humidities, there will be fire weather concerns and SPC has increased the fire threat forecast for Sunday (day 4). .Monday though Thursday...Long wave pattern has a mean trough near the west coast. Several disturbances will move into the state from the southwest. This pattern favors the eastern San Juans for snowfall during this period with lesser amounts of snow for the mountains of Lake and Chaffee Counties. The heaviest snow will be Monday and on Wednesday, with periods of lighter snow otherwise. The EPS and GEFS are generous with QPF in the eastern San Juans with 4 inches or more of moisture for the 7 day period ending Thursday December 30. The NBM, which downscales to PRISM data, has around 7 inches of QPF over the same period. This pattern will make skiers and water supply people happy. Lesser amounts are expected over the mountains of Lake and Chaffee Counties. Otherwise, there will be minimal to no precipitation. As the jet stream drifts south, some colder air will move into the region from the north. Looks as if the core of the cold air will stay to the north of the region, and the grids trend towards seasonally normal temperatures during this period. --PGW-- && .AVIATION...(For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Friday evening) Issued at 244 PM MST Thu Dec 23 2021 ...WSCONDS will be likely at all 3 TAF sites (KALS, KCOS, and KPUB) later this evening and throughout the early morning hours... VFR conditions are expected for all TAF sites throughout the forecast period. Winds will become very strong and gusty at all terminals later this afternoon and remain this way throughout the evening and into the early morning hours. Be advised that there will be WSCONDS at all locations as well, beginning at around 03Z to 04Z for KALS and KCOS, and around 07Z for KPUB. These conditions should end around 12Z to 13Z for KCOS and KPUB, and by 15Z at KALS. Winds will weaken a bit by early tomorrow morning and then begin to increase after daybreak again. They will continue to be strong and gusty out of the SW going into the late morning tomorrow morning at the end of the forecast period. && .PUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory until 11 AM MST Saturday for COZ059-061- 064-066-067. High Wind Warning from 8 PM this evening to 8 PM MST Friday for COZ072>075-078>080-086>088. High Wind Warning from 6 AM to 8 PM MST Friday for COZ093-094- 097. Winter Storm Warning until 11 AM MST Saturday for COZ058-060-068. Winter Weather Advisory from 11 PM this evening to 11 PM MST Friday for COZ073-075. High Wind Warning from 8 PM this evening to 8 AM MST Friday for COZ081-082-084-085. && SHORT TERM...MOZLEY LONG TERM...PGW AVIATION...STEWARD
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Pueblo CO 539 AM MST Thu Dec 23 2021 COZ058>089-093>099-241245- 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- 539 AM MST Thu Dec 23 2021 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of central...east central...south central and southeast Colorado. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Spotty critical fire weather conditions are possible along the I-25 corridor, especially across El Paso and Pueblo Counties, this afternoon. Snow begins across the Continental Divide later today and then continues through tonight, with increases in coverage and intensity occurring later this evening into the overnight hours. Damaging winds will develop over the eastern mountains and along the I-25 corridor later this evening and then continue through the overnight hours. West southwest winds are expected to gust to 65 to 80 mph. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday High winds and heavy wind driven snow will continue across the mountains and adjacent southeast plains on Friday. Gusts to 65 to 75 mph will be possible across the lower elevations with gusts up to 80 mph possible across the higher mountains. The greatest impacts from winds will be south of highway 50 through the day on Friday. The heaviest snow will continue to fall across the Continental Divide Friday through Friday evening with snow gradually decreasing into Saturday morning. Storm total snowfall amounts of 1 to 2 feet will be possible along the continental Divide with close to 3 feet possible across the eastern San Juan mountains. Areas of blowing and drifting snow will be possible across the passes making travel treacherous. The higher peaks of the Sangre De Cristo mountains could see 5 to 12 inches of snow along with damaging wind gusts. Snow and wind will gradually decrease Friday night into Saturday. Another storm may bring more wind and snow to the mountains on Sunday with a greater potential for high fire danger across the southeast plains. Damaging wind gusts will once again be possible across the southeast mountains and adjacent plains on Sunday. Yet another mountain snow and plains wind event could impact the region early next week. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Weather conditions that meet reporting criteria for spotters will be likely this afternoon and tonight in and near the mountains. RODRIGUEZ/31
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
8 high wind, 4 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Storm total snowfall of 34 inches. 1.8 miles southwest of Tennessee Pass.
Storm total snow of 33 inches. Wolf Creek Pass.
Storm total snow of 19 inches. Climax station.
Storm total snow of 16 inches. Monarch Pass.
Apache city.
Apache city.
Aguilar.
Trinidad airport.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2021Every state in 2021This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, December 2021
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: 997198, 997201, 997204, 997208, 997162, 997156, 997157, 997152, 997161, 997150, 997155, 997163.