A period of moderate to heavy snow occurred over the north-central mountains of Colorado. Storm totals ranged from 10 to 23 inches, heaviest north of the Interstate 70 corridor.
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The episode as NWS BOU wrote it up.
A period of moderate to heavy snow occurred over the north-central mountains of Colorado. Storm totals ranged from 10 to 23 inches, heaviest north of the Interstate 70 corridor.
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 Dec 30, 4:26 AM MST, 34 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO 426 AM MST Fri Dec 30 2022 .SHORT TERM...(Today and tonight) Issued at 425 AM MST Fri Dec 30 2022 There will be a moderate northwest flow over Colorado through tonight. Water vapor showing moisture upstream with an associated jet which will begin to increase moisture back into the northern mountains today, especially by later this afternoon and tonight. Cross sections showing mountain moisture rather shallow this morning and only expect a few snow showers over the highest elevations. Moisture deepens this afternoon along with increasing mountain top flow from the west and southwest. Moisture and flow will favor zone 31 where we already have a winter storm warning starting at 6 pm this evening where could see close to a foot of snow by Saturday morning. Lesser amounts of 1 to 4 inches further south over Summit county with more unfavorable flow and mediocre lapse rates. Cross barrier flow increasing to 30-40kt tonight so expect some stronger wind gusts up to 55 mph along the divide and exposed east slopes. Across lower elevations a dry day is in store with some varying amounts of mid and high level cloudiness from the upstream moisture. There will be some moderation of temperatures with readings back into the upper 30s and 40s. Did nudge temperatures down a bit based on still decent snow cover from last storm. .LONG TERM...(Saturday through Thursday) Issued at 425 AM MST Fri Dec 30 2022 Moisture continues to stream into the northern mountains through Saturday night. Some clouds will eventually spill into northern border plains areas, but there's just a slight chance of weak showers drifting east of the mountains. On Sunday, the flow aloft starts to back ahead of the incoming trough. This will decrease the orographic snow for a bit of a break in the high mountains, though there will still be a little moisture around. There will also start to be a little QG lift developing, though at first it's mainly north of Colorado. There's not bad agreement for this time range in the handling of the Monday system, though as usual, the details could make a big difference. One of the main differences is the handling of the interaction between the two jet streaks, one now over the Gulf of Alaska and the other south of it around 40-50 degrees latitude. How strong the northern one is as it drops behind the southern one will determine how much it slows the trough and produces a bit of negative tilt as the lead wave pulls north a bit in response. The operational EC and a bunch of its ensemble members are more aggressive with this, resulting in a slower/more southern and slightly negatively tilted trough. This might hold off most of the plains snow until Monday, but it would also be stronger and slower as it goes by and could focus well on Front Range upslope and northeastern Colorado and neighboring areas. NAM has the least of this, and it's headed towards plowing the low south of us, but more quickly. Majority of GFS ensembles and a fair number of EC members have an intermediate solution which would produce a swath of moderate/possibly heavy snow. These also tend to be a bit further north though, with Denver on the edge and perhaps a greater threat to Wyoming/Nebraska panhandle. For the most part, we've accepted the NBM as a fair blend of these possibilities for now. We did hold on to the PoPs into Monday night a bit more, as the NBM seems to be lagging a little slowing and/or favoring faster model solutions. The overall QPF for this system for the plains has jumped from around a quarter inch to a half inch. This could move up or down based on the speed of the system, and could also move north a bit with some reduction over the southern part of our area. Another question is the threat of freezing drizzle/rain on the edge of the precipitation early Monday. The NBM shows a pocket of freezing rain probabilities in the Arkansas valley, while GFS- based guidance has a swath on the edge of its snow across Akron and Ogallala. That's probably too far north given the consensus track now, but makes sense with the operational GFS track. Conceptually a brief round of this behind the cold front with shallow cold air getting overrun makes sense, before the deeper moisture arrives. The GFS actually has a big dry slot aloft Monday which could prolong a freezing drizzle threat for a broader area of the plains. There may wind up being not enough moisture for precip in this zone, and then cold enough to just snow, but there's enough of a threat to mention. Besides slowing the departure of the snow a little Monday night, no other adjustments were needed. Snow cover should keep the surface temperatures near freezing despite some warming aloft through the middle of the week. Some light mountains snows may continue, but as a shortwave ridge decreases the flow we could have a dry day or two about Wednesday and Thursday. && .AVIATION...(For the 06Z TAFS through 06Z Friday night) Issued at 1024 PM MST Thu Dec 29 2022 VFR through period with varying amounts of mountain wave cloudiness. Surface winds generally southerly through period except westerly at BJC through 15z. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Storm Warning from 6 PM this evening to 6 AM MST Sunday for COZ031. && SHORT TERM...Entrekin LONG TERM...Gimmestad AVIATION...Entrekin
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO 450 AM MST Fri Dec 30 2022 COZ030>051-311200- 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- 450 AM MST Fri Dec 30 2022 ...MORE SNOW FOR THE MOUNTAINS... This hazardous weather outlook is for northeast and north central Colorado. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Snow will increase across the northern mountains this afternoon and tonight with the heaviest snow expected around Rabbit Ears Pass and lesser amounts along the Interstate 70 corridor through Summit county. Expect slick travel over the higher mountains tonight. Gusty winds up to 55 mph will create some blowing snow over the high mountain passes. Across lower elevations, dry conditions along with slowly moderating temperatures today. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Saturday through Thursday Snow will continue over the mountains this weekend, though it will be lighter with accumulations mainly confined to the ridges. Another storm system will move across the state Sunday night and Monday. Significant snow is possible across the area, and there is also a chance of some freezing rain on the eastern plains Monday morning. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed through tonight. Entrekin/Gimmestad
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 winter storm, 1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Storm totals included 23 inches, 4 miles southeast of Mount Zirkel.
Storm totals included: 19 inches, 9 miles southeast of Cameron Pass; 8 miles north-northwest Glendevey; 16 inches, 9 miles south-southeast of Spicer, with 14 inches Cameron Pass.
Storm totals included: 15 inches, 5 miles east of Green Mountain Reservoir; 11 inches near Loveland Pass, with 10 inches, 10 miles northwest of Silverthorne.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2022Every state in 2022This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, December 2022
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: 1073412, 1073413, 1073414.