Strong winds and periods of moderate to heavy snowfall continued in the higher mountains. Peak wind gusts included 78 mph near Berthoud Pass and 71 mph at Copper Mountain.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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 BOU wrote it up.
Strong winds and periods of moderate to heavy snowfall continued in the higher mountains. Peak wind gusts included 78 mph near Berthoud Pass and 71 mph at Copper Mountain. Snowfall totals included: 12 inches, 4 miles southeast of Mount Zirkel, 11 inches near Mount Audobon; 7.5 inches, 9 miles southeast of Glendevy; 6 inches near Longs Peak and 9 miles south-southeast of Spicer; with 3 to 5 inches in and around Summit County.
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 6, 3:19 PM MST, 41 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO 319 PM MST Sat Feb 6 2021 .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Sunday) Issued at 319 PM MST Sat Feb 6 2021 Cold air is hanging tough across the northeast plains. The east winds can't decide if they're really going to push across Denver. The northwest winds pushed out to DIA, but now the easterlies are trying to sneak south along the foothills from Boulder. We expect the easterlies to win out for a while this evening with cooler air pushing westward, then the northwesterlies will kick in behind the trough axis and push the boundary back eastward late tonight. The real cold air with stratus and flurries is further east, the Front Range cities will have the in between air which is only 10-15 degrees colder this evening. There's lots of flow with marginal conditions for mountain wave amplification overnight. The best chance of high winds will be behind the trough axis in the early morning hours when there should be a shot of subsidence and other parameters are also optimized. Models are showing 70-90 mph gusts over the higher east slopes. There's some question about how much the wave will sharpen to push the strongest winds downhill, so the threat is probably the greatest in the higher foothills and the usual mountain wave hot spots. There will be some increase in moisture as the shortwave passes this evening. The snow won't be too heavy but with all the recent snowfall, there should be lots of blowing snow so we've hit that hard in our products. We added a Winter Weather Advisory for South Park for blowing snow, mainly along US 285 but there will be some drifting across the rest of the area as well. With the cold air intrusion a bit stronger than earlier expected, we lowered temperatures this evening and added a better chance of accumulating but light snow for the northeast corner. By later tonight, the cold air will be starting to shift eastward. Warmer highs for Sunday look good. .LONG TERM...(Sunday night through Saturday) Issued at 319 PM MST Sat Feb 6 2021 Sunday night should be mostly dry except for possibly a few more light snow showers in the northern mountains or on the northeast plains. Winds will be decreasing in the mountains as the wave continues to weaken, though it will still be fairly breezy in the high country overnight and blowing snow will continue to impact travel. A cooling trend will begin Monday with a weak cold front on the plains. Some gusty winds and light snow are possible behind the front, but moisture should be limited. Tuesday, more light orographic snowfall in the mountains is possible with continued WNW flow aloft and wind should continue to decrease in the mountains as well. The GFS and ECMWF begin to diverge Tuesday due to disagreement about how quickly and how far south the arctic airmass will intrude in the coming week. The ECMWF predicts a slower change and keeps more seasonally normal temperatures until Friday, while the GFS is already predicting single digit highs on the plains Thursday. The GFS solution is probably unrealistically cold and the ECMWF is probably not reacting quickly enough, and both ensembles are showing large variance. The model disagreement extends to the synoptic situation as well. The GFS predicts increasing northerly flow aloft by Friday, which cuts off the flow of moisture to the area and keeps most snow to our south through the rest of the forecast period. The ECMWF has CO under the arctic airmass by Friday but with continued WNW flow aloft and orographic ascent with Pacific moisture, and therefore ongoing snowfall in the mountains. We have a blended solution now which should allow for adjustment to the situation as it develops. Expect falling temperatures on the plains Wednesday and Thursday as the airmass approaches, and by Friday a strong temperature gradient from the coldest conditions on the northeast plains to warmer conditions in the southern foothills. Temperatures should begin to fall in the mountains late Thursday or early Friday, and mountain snowfall should gradually increase. && .AVIATION...(For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Sunday evening) Issued at 319 PM MST Sat Feb 6 2021 VFR conditions are expected in Denver through Sunday. A boundary between southeast winds on the plains and northwest winds over the mountains will move back and forth across the city through this evening. KDEN will probably go back to southeast winds in the evening. Northwest winds will become widespread behind a cold front around 09z-12z Sunday, with gusts up to 30 knots possible for a few hours. The winds may switch back to southeast again in the afternoon at lighter speeds. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory until noon MST Sunday for COZ037. High Wind Warning from 11 PM this evening to 8 AM MST Sunday for COZ033>036. Winter Weather Advisory until 5 AM MST Sunday for COZ031-033. && SHORT TERM...Gimmestad LONG TERM...Direnzo AVIATION...Gimmestad
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO 1138 AM MST Sat Feb 6 2021 COZ030>051-071845- 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- 1138 AM MST Sat Feb 6 2021 ...HIGH WIND WARNING FRONT RANGE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS LATE TONIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING... ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TONIGHT FOR THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS... This hazardous weather outlook is for northeast and north central Colorado. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Areas of light snow and blowing snow will continue in the mountains today with a few inches of additional snowfall. Tonight snow and winds will increase with wind gusts up to 80 mph in the Front Range. This will create near blizzard conditions in blowing snow in areas at or above timberline overnight into Sunday morning. In the Front Range foothills, winds will increase this evening with gusts up to 80 mph possible late tonight into early Sunday. Over northeast Colorado, there will be a chance of snow tonight mainly near the Nebraska border with up to an inch of accumulation possible. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Sunday through Friday Sunday, strong winds will decrease on the plains near the base of the foothills but will persist over the higher terrain. Areas of blowing snow will continue to create problems for travel in the mountains due to slick roads and reduced visibility. On Monday, a cold front will begin a downward trend in temperatures, mainly on the plains through mid week, then very cold temperatures are expected area wide Thursday and Friday. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed today or tonight but snowfall reports will be appreciated. Gimmestad/Direnzo
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Storm totals ranged from 7 to 12 inches.
Storm totals ranged from 6 to 11 inches.
Storm totals ranged from 3 to 5 inches.
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, February 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: 942064, 942066, 942067.