A broad upper level trough moved in from the Pacific Northwest, bringing strong winds to the area along with orographically enhanced snowfall to some areas.
Every event with a place to put it; 16 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 broad upper level trough moved in from the Pacific Northwest, bringing strong winds to the area along with orographically enhanced snowfall to some areas.
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 Mar 2, 10:42 AM MST, 4 hours 18 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pueblo CO 1042 AM MST Sat Mar 2 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - Critical fire weather conditions expected today and tomorrow, as windy and dry conditions overspread the area. - Strong winds are expected to develop tonight and persist through Sunday, with the strongest winds along the southern I-25 corridor. - Snow will increase in coverage and intensity today along the mountains, and persist through Sunday. - Unsettled weather is expected for late in the week, with significant accumulating snow possible in higher terrain. && .UPDATE... Issued at 944 AM MST Sat Mar 2 2024 Given the expected strong winds and swath of snowfall across the higher terrain and especially the central mts, decided to make some adjustments to ongoing winter weather highlights. Converted eastern Lake County above 11000 feet from an advisory to a warning, then issued advisories for Lake County below 11000 feet including Leadville, east Chaffee County above 9000 feet and the La Gairta Mts above 10000 feet. Though snowfall amounts may be lacking in some areas under advisories, the significant impactful winds will make up for it. && .SHORT TERM /THROUGH SUNDAY/... Issued at 345 AM MST Sat Mar 2 2024 Synopsis: A strong jet stream associated with a broad trough will begin to approach southeast and south central Colorado throughout today, and then pass over the area throughout tonight and through Sunday. This feature will bring multiple impactful weather types, ranging from critical fire weather conditions, strong winds, and wintry weather. This jet stream will start exiting the region Sunday night, and the different weather impacts are expected to lessen. Today: As the aforementioned jet stream starts to approach today, winds aloft will start to increase and become more westerly to southwesterly. Orographic forcing will steadily rise throughout the day, but given the major forcing is to the northwest with the main trough, dry conditions are expected for the area today. The exception to this will be along the central mountains, where the uptick orographic forcing may help to blossom isolated snow showers late in the afternoon. Otherwise, windy conditions are anticipated today. Stronger winds aloft will start to mix the surface as diurnal mixing becomes established, and winds will start to increase in response to a lee trough that develops during the day. These two factors will allow for gusty winds throughout the day, with wind gusts to around 30-50 mph throughout the afternoon. Along with the gusty winds, drier air will also become mixed to the surface as diurnal mixing becomes established. This drier air, combined with the winds, will allow for widespread critical fire weather conditions to materialize, particularly across the eastern plains. As for temperatures, a warm day is anticipated. Mostly clear skies and downsloping westerly winds will warm the area to above seasonal values for early March. Tonight: Saturday night, active weather continues for the region. At this point the jet stream is pushing over the region. As this takes place, orographic forcing will rise substantially across the mountains. Given this, along with a pocket of higher moisture advecting in, snow will expand in coverage and intensity along the mountains, but mostly along the Continental Divide. Along with, winds will continue to rise as this feature starts pushing overhead. This will allow for blowing and drifting snow along the mountains throughout this period. In addition to that, the first hints of a mountain wave will start to appear across the Sangre de Cristo and Wet Mountains. A developing mountain top inversion, and a pocket of reverse shear on the lee side of these terrain features, will start to shove stronger winds aloft to surface. Winds will steadily increase throughout the overnight period, especially along the southern I-25 corridor south of Pueblo and down to the New Mexico state line. Wind gust will become increasingly impactful, with gusts of 60-70 mph expected. Driving on any north to south orientated road, such as I-25, will become difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. These winds will continue into Sunday. Looking at temperatures, a cool, but relatively mild night is anticipated. Downsloping westerly winds will keep much of the area mild, with the warmest temperatures across the plains. Tomorrow: Moving into Sunday, active weather continues as the strong jet stream remains in place over the area. Deep and persistent orographic forcing will continue across the mountains, with the strongest forcing still along the Continental Divide. Given this, snow will continue along the higher terrain features, with the most widespread precipitation remaining over the Continental Divide. Along with that, windy conditions will persist, allowing for blowing and drifting snow to continue. And speaking of windy conditions, a proper mountain wave is expected to materialize early Sunday morning and persist into late morning across the Sangre de Cristo and Wet Mountains. The aforementioned mountain top inversion is expected to get stronger during this timeframe, and the reverse shear pocket will remain in place. These features will continue to force strong winds aloft to the surface, and given this is anticipated when the mountain wave will be strongest, winds are expected to gusts to around 70-80 mph. The strongest are still expected along the southern I-25 corridor region, where the blocking features will juxtapose best. In addition to this, while confidence is low (20- 39%), there a chance winds could gust to around 90 mph during mid to late Sunday morning. Then finally during the day, as diurnal mixing become develops, strong and gusty winds are expected for the entire region, though the strongest winds will remain along and immediately adjacent to the higher terrain features. Also, another windy day, coupled with more dry conditions, will bring additional critical fire weather concerns for most of the eastern plains. The area of greatest concern for this though will be along the southern I-25 corridor region, given the higher winds in that area. Temperatures Sunday will bring another warm early Spring day to south central and southeastern Colorado. More downsloping winds and relatively clear skies will help to warm the area to above seasonal values for early March. Tomorrow Night: And finally to end of this busy stretch of weather, is Sunday night. The jet stream bringing widespread impactful weather to the region will finally start to lift to the northeast. This will start to decrease orographic forcing over the mountains. However, modest orographic forcing will still be ongoing, and given this, scattered pockets of light snow are still anticipated along the mountains, but mostly the Continental Divide. Otherwise, a dry Sunday night is expected for the region. Also, as the jet stream pulls to the north and northeast, winds will finally start to lessen over the area, and become mostly restricted to the peaks of the mountains. Along with all of that, a minor cold front will drop southward late Sunday into Sunday night. This feature, along with clearing skies, will allow for a chilly Sunday night for much of the area. && .LONG TERM /SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY/... Issued at 345 AM MST Sat Mar 2 2024 The forecast period begins with ECMWF Ensemble/NAEFS agreement that on Monday the area will be in a southwesterly flow associated with a strong closed low well to the northeast of the area across south- central Canada. That feature will push further northeastward of the area with southeastern Colorado remaining in a southwesterly flow into the mid-week. There is model agreement that a mid- level shortwave disturbance will push through the area Tuesday night into Wednesday. This will bring a round of snow showers for higher terrain and rain and snow showers for the eastern Plains into Wednesday night. On Thursday, there is ECMWF/Canadian model agreement that a more pronounced longwave trough axis will swing across southern California into Arizona. However, this is where more model uncertainty enters the forecast. The Canadian/ECMWF models are hinting at a closed low over the Four Corners region and brings potentially significant accumulating snows to southern Colorado, whereas the GFS puts the area in a northwesterly flow in the wake of the trough with more snow showers and upsloping with snow mostly just focused across higher terrain. With this in mind, the forecast is aligned with the National Blend of Models (NBM), however this system deems worth watching as there is at least the potential for significant accumulating snow with the possibility of over 0.50" of QPF for somewhere in the forecast area Thursday into Friday. Right now there is medium confidence (40-59%) in at least Winter Weather Advisory snow accumulations for the San Juans and southern Sangre de Cristos with lower (20-39%) for the Front Range and eastern Plains with this event. Temperatures will progressively warm Monday into Wednesday, around 5- 10 degrees above normal. Late this week, temperatures should be around 5 degrees below seasonal norms as the upper level system moves through and in the wake of the system. && .AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z SUNDAY/... Issued at 1036 AM MST Sat Mar 2 2024 VFR conditions anticipated across the forecast area over the next 24 hours, including the three main TAF sites of KCOS, KPUB and KALS. Increasing W-SW winds across the entire area will be the main concern today through Sunday afternoon as a large Pacific system moves across the Rocky Mt region. Did make mention of blowing dust with minor vsby restrictions for KALS starting at 7 AM Sunday morning. Widespread gusts 30-50 kts forecast, though KPUB will be a bit slower to develop initially this afternoon. && .PUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Storm Warning from 8 PM this evening to 5 AM MST Monday for COZ058-060. Winter Weather Advisory from 8 PM this evening to 5 AM MST Monday for COZ059-063. Winter Weather Advisory from 11 PM this evening to 5 AM MST Monday for COZ066-068. High Wind Warning from 11 PM this evening to 5 PM MST Sunday for COZ069>071. High Wind Warning from 8 PM this evening to 8 PM MST Sunday for COZ072>075-078>080-086>088. Red Flag Warning until 8 PM MST this evening for COZ222- 226>237. Red Flag Warning from 10 AM to 7 PM MST Sunday for COZ228>230- 232-233-235>237. && UPDATE...MOORE SHORT TERM...SIMCOE LONG TERM...WOODRUM AVIATION...MOORE
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Pueblo CO 610 AM MST Sat Mar 2 2024 COZ058>089-093>099-031315- 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- 610 AM MST Sat Mar 2 2024 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of central...east central...south central and southeast Colorado. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Strong winds and dry conditions will produce widespread critical fire weather conditions today across the plains. Damaging wind gusts are expected to develop tonight along the Sangre de Cristo and Wet Mountains, and the immediate leeward sides of these mountains, with gusts of 60 to 70 mph. Snow will expand across the mountains tonight, with the heaviest snow along the Continental Divide, where 5 to 14 inches of snow is expected, with locally higher amounts possible on west facing slopes. Strong winds around 60 to 70 mph will cause blowing and drifting snow. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Sunday through Friday Strong winds and dry conditions will produce critical fire danger again on Sunday, and Red Flag Warnings are in effect from late morning until mid-evening for locations along and east of the Front Range. Damaging wind gusts are expected to continue during the day on Sunday, especially for the Sangre de Cristo and Wet Mountains, and the immediate leeward sides of these mountains, with gusts expected up to 70 to 80 mph. Accumulating snow will continue over the Continental Divide on Sunday and continue until the pre-dawn hours on Monday. Snow- covered roads and slick conditions will be possible. Unsettled weather is expected for late in the week, with significant accumulating snow possible in higher terrain Thursday into Friday. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Weather conditions that meet reporting criteria for spotters will be likely over portions of the region. SIMCOE/WOODRUM
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
10 high wind, 6 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
There was a measured wind gust of 66 mph.
There was a measured wind gust of 64 mph at the La Junta Airport.
There was a wind gust measured of 62 mph at Highlands Ranch.
There was a measured wind gust of 67 mph.
There was a measured wind gust of 67 mph from ASOS.
There was a measured wind gust of 69 mph.
There was a measured gust of 62 mph at the Alamosa ASOS.
There was a measured wind gust of 61 mph.
There was a measured wind gust of 70 mph.
There was a measured wind gust of 76 mph at the Trinidad Airport.
There was 4.0 inches of snow measured.
There was 1.3 inches of snow measured.
There was 5.0 inches of snow measured.
There was 4.5 inches of snow measured.
There was 5.8 inches of snow measured.
There was 4.9 inches of snow measured.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, March 2024
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: 1168088, 1168091, 1168078, 1168080, 1168081, 1168082, 1168083, 1168085, 1168086, 1168087, 1168092, 1168093, 1168095, 1168096, 1168097, 1168094.