Moderate to heavy snowfall occurred across the mountains, foothills, Palmer Divide and adjacent plains. Storm total accumulations over one to two days were generally 6 to 18 inches in the mountains, 3 to 12 inches in the foothills, and 3 to 6 inches on the Palmer Divide and adjacent plains east into Lincoln County and north through the Denver metro area into Boulder County.
Every event with a place to put it; 9 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.
Moderate to heavy snowfall occurred across the mountains, foothills, Palmer Divide and adjacent plains. Storm total accumulations over one to two days were generally 6 to 18 inches in the mountains, 3 to 12 inches in the foothills, and 3 to 6 inches on the Palmer Divide and adjacent plains east into Lincoln County and north through the Denver metro area into Boulder County. Lesser accumulations of trace to about 3 inches were observed on the northern plains. Other than the Park Range, the greatest accumulations were observed in and around the southern Front Range Foothills.
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 Mar 4, 3:48 PM MST, 1 hour 12 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO 348 PM MST Fri Mar 4 2022 .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Saturday) Issued at 252 PM MST Fri Mar 4 2022 An upper level trough approaches from the west bringing mid-level moisture into the region this afternoon. An embedded shortwave trough will eject from the main system tonight increasing precipitation chances. The region will be positioned under the left exit region of the jet max as it rounds the base of the trough putting Colorado in an ideal region for large scale ascent overnight. Showers increase over the mountains early evening expanding eastward off the mountains in the evening. Temperatures will be sufficiently above freezing over the plains, so any precipitation will start out as rain. Lapse rates and CAPE values indicate that there is sufficient instability around to support a localized heavier shower or potentially thunder. A surge of cold air moves across northeast Colorado overnight into the early morning hours Saturday. This will gradually cool profiles allowing snow to mix in as it moves from northeast to southwest, eventually changing over to snow by late morning. Northeast flow behind the surge of cold air will help anchor the better precipitation chances to the foothills/adjacent plains to start. There is good agreement that precipitation shifts northeastward over the plains late evening into early Saturday. Although, there still remains a good amount of uncertainty with respect to how this band develops and locates over the plains Saturday morning. Much of this uncertainty has been a reflection of the spread in solutions for the tracking of the main low pressure. Aspects such as precipitation type and location of best forcing will depend on how north or south the low tracks. All of these then factor into snow amounts. Many solutions have trended southward in the development of a more enhanced area of precipitation over north-northeast plains moving eastward over the northeast corner of Colorado by mid afternoon. Model guidance shows indications of frontogenesis extending from Greeley northeastward on the backside of the closed low which will act to enhance snow rates up to an inch an hour. Another factor that will play a role in snow accumulations will be the timing of the cool air advection as it will factor into the snow transition. Although there is some spread in the timing and location of snow, high-resolution guidance pushes this area of precipitation eastward across the plains late Saturday morning through the afternoon. Snow accumulations will be in the 3-5 inch range of the northern- northeast plains with less than 2 inches southward. Localized higher amounts are possible dependent on if a heavier band sets up. Mountains will see a range from 2-8 inches by end of Saturday. Travel impacts are possible during this period mostly from slippery road conditions. Gusty winds over the higher mountains (up to 40 mph) and northeast plains (up to 35 mph) may result in areas of blowing snow Saturday afternoon. .LONG TERM...(Saturday night through Friday) Issued at 252 PM MST Fri Mar 4 2022 There's a break in the lift Saturday evening, though there will likely still be some light snow over the mountains and in upslope areas east of the Front Range. The lift ahead of the next shortwave rotating around the trough will spread across the area overnight and should renew widespread snow. While it should mostly still be light, there will be some enhancement over the ridges and upslope areas, and also in a deformation zone that will shift from the northern mountains/northern border areas Sunday morning southeast across the plains during the day. The QPF from the NBM looked reasonable here, and that results in another 2-4 inches of snow for most places. We could need Winter Weather Advisories for Sunday. There are some discrepancies about how quickly the QG lift departs Sunday night, with a trend towards it being faster. There are also differences over the west and south parts of our area about the interaction between the departing wave and the next little wave that passes south of us Monday. Some runs keep the clouds and a little snow over the south and west parts of the area, up to about Denver, while others drop the clouds/snow further southwest. For now, we'll keep some clouds and at least a slight chance of snow over the central mountains and the southern fringe of our area on Monday. The northeast part of the plains should be sunny. On Tuesday, we're in between everything. There's yet another little low going south of us. It could be close enough to produce some clouds and a puff of north winds that could keep us cooler than forecast, but it probably isn't enough for much of a snow threat. Handling of the late week trough isn't too bad for this time range, though of course details matter. There's a trend towards resolving more than one short wave rotating around the trough, in addition to a prefrontal wind shift ahead of the lead wave. This could bring more clouds and a little cooling during the day Wednesday. The handling of the cold air mass looks a bit more predictable for us than usual as it's in one piece and shouldn't matter much whether it's getting pulled southwest into a slower trough or just south--it gets to us either way. There also doesn't appear to be a huge temperature gradient behind it. The source region has temperatures all in the single digits and teens, with the really cold air far away in Canada's arctic archipelago. So the details might not matter as much this time. The cold air comes about Wednesday night and then is overrun by at least the lead shortwave in the Wednesday night/Thursday time frame and possibly a second one after that. So it will be colder, probably highs in the teens or lower 20s, and a period of probably light snow. The back end of this system and the timing of the end of the cold air/clouds/snow threat that currently looks like sometime Friday will depend on the details that aren't agreed on yet. && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Saturday afternoon) Issued at 1000 AM MST Fri Mar 4 2022 VFR conditions are likely through Friday evening. Chances for rain increase after 00z and any associated showers may bring conditions into the MVFR category. ILS conditions are possible overnight, especially after 05z. With some instability present, there is a chance for a thunderstorm in the evening. Snow will begin to mix in after midnight changing to light stratiform snow tomorrow morning. Southwest winds turn northerly this evening becoming northeast after midnight. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory from 3 AM to 2 PM MST Saturday for COZ044-048-050-051. Winter Weather Advisory from 11 PM this evening to 11 AM MST Sunday for COZ035-038-042-043. Winter Weather Advisory until 5 AM MST Monday for COZ031-033-034. Red Flag Warning until 8 PM MST this evening for COZ241-246-247. && SHORT TERM...Mensch LONG TERM...Gimmestad AVIATION...Mensch
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO 1112 AM MST Fri Mar 4 2022 COZ030>051-051815- 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- 1112 AM MST Fri Mar 4 2022 ...RED FLAG WARNING FOR PALMER DIVIDE UNTIL 8 PM... ...SNOW SPREADING FROM THE MOUNTAINS ONTO THE PLAINS SATURDAY MORNING... This hazardous weather outlook is for northeast and north central Colorado. .DAY ONE...This Afternoon and Tonight This afternoon, there will be critical fire weather conditions around the Palmer Divide and plains to the east and south due to low humidity and breezy winds. We have maintained our Red Flag Warning for this area from 11 AM through 8 PM. Conditions will improve this evening. Light snowfall will begin in the high country this afternoon and increase in coverage and intensity this evening. Travel impacts are expected, and we have issued a long Winter Weather Advisory for the Front Range and Park and Gore Ranges from 5 PM this afternoon through 5 AM Monday. For the lower elevations, precipitation will start as rain and turn to a mix in the late evening and overnight. Isolated thunder is also possible for all areas, primarily late this afternoon or early this evening. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Saturday through Thursday The mountains will have periods of snow through Monday, with snowfall totals of 10 to 20 inches over the higher mountains. The most likely periods of more significant snow will be Saturday morning and during the day Sunday. The foothills will have 4 to 12 inches, with the heavier amounts mainly in Boulder and Larimer counties. The mountain valleys can expect 2 to 6 inches of snow over the weekend. The plains will have two main periods of snow. One will be from the I-25 corridor north of Denver Saturday morning across the northeast plains during the day. Another period of more widespread snow is expected Sunday. While most of this snow will be light, there may be a period of heavier snow in areas north and northeast of Denver Saturday morning. An arctic airmass may arrive for next Thursday and Friday with temperatures near or below zero. Snow is also likely, especially on Thursday. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Snowfall reports from spotters will be appreciated. Mensch/Gimmestad
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
9 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Moderate to heavy snowfall accumulating 6 to 18 inches over about two days.
Light to moderate snowfall accumulating 3 to 12 inches over about two days.
Light to moderate snowfall accumulating 3 to 12 inches over about two days.
Light to moderate snowfall accumulating 3 to 9 inches over about a day and a half.
Moderate to heavy snowfall accumulating 3 to 12 inches over about a day and a half.
Moderate snowfall accumulating 3 to 9 inches over about a day and a half.
Light to moderate snowfall accumulating 2 to 6 inches over about a day.
Light to moderate snowfall accumulating 2 to 6 inches over about a day.
Light to moderate snowfall accumulating 2 to 6 inches over about a day.
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, March 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: 1007416, 1007417, 1007418, 1009883, 1013928, 1013929, 1009906, 1009909, 1009910.