Another broad upper level trough moved in from the northwest, along with a potent mid-level jet maximum that brought more snow to the area.
Every event with a place to put it; 23 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.
Another broad upper level trough moved in from the northwest, along with a potent mid-level jet maximum that brought more snow to the area.
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 7, 4:11 AM MST, 2 hours 49 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pueblo CO 411 AM MST Thu Mar 7 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - Impactful rain and snow expected across the forecast area later today and tonight - Snow showers persist across the area Friday into Friday night, heaviest snow will likely be over and near the Continental Divide - Warmer and drier weather will return over the weekend and persist into the early part of next week - Rain and snow chances return midweek && .SHORT TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... Issued at 342 AM MST Thu Mar 7 2024 Currently... Satellite shows a mass of fog moving along the Colorado-Kansas border area, just encroaching into part of our CWA near Kiowa County. The moisture associated with this airmass is pushing north, so it looks like we won't need any kind of fog highlight at this time. Today and Tonight... An upper-level trough will begin making its way into our area today, digging in a bit to our west. Out ahead of it, there will be a brief lull in precipitation this morning along with slowly increasing cloud cover. A cold front will push south across the plains early this afternoon, which will help keep afternoon temperatures cool and kick off precipitation. Today's highs will be in the 50s over our far southeast plains, where the front will take the longest to arrive, and around the mid-40s elsewhere. Places with more consistent cloud cover may be a few degrees cooler. Looking at snow potential, snow showers will first spread across the higher terrain, mainly the Central Mountains and the Pikes Peak Region. After midday, snow will quickly spread to the rest of the higher terrain and the adjacent lower elevations as well. Post- frontal winds will point upslope along the San Juans and portions of the mountains/plains interface along I-25, resulting in some locally heavy snow amounts. Between the orographic forcing and some small amounts of CAPE being brought in by the system (just a few hundred J/kg according to short-term guidance), some of the snow showers could be convective in nature, which could bring down snow levels a bit and increase rates of accumulation. Our highest snow totals will be over the peaks of the Wet Mountains and Sangre de Cristo Mountains, alongside Pikes Peak. Between 1-2 feet of snow will be possible. East of the mountains, precipitation during the day will likely fall as rain given the warm temperatures, but with the present instability from the passing system a few rumbles of thunder will certainly be possible. Moving into the overnight hours tonight, temperatures will quickly drop below freezing and snow will take over as the dominant precip type. Further away from the mountains, accumulations will be on the lighter side, but locally higher amounts closer to the slopes will be possible thanks to post-frontal upslope. Precipitation will continue into tomorrow as the trough moves in. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... Issued at 342 AM MST Thu Mar 7 2024 With bulk of the energy with the upper trough now forecast to stay west and south of the area Friday, forcing for precip will weaken during the day, and many models suggest snow along and north of Highway 50 will likely taper to flurries at best from late morning onward. Southeast mountains and plains south of Highway 50 will see a continuation of snow showers into the afternoon and evening as low/mid level winds keep at least a weak upslope gradient, and heaviest precip during the day will likely be over the Wets and srn Sangres, where winds have the best ely component. Mountains farther west along the Continental Divide may see a burst of heavier snow late Friday afternoon into the overnight hours as last piece of energy drops southward through CO into NM, while precip continues to fade elsewhere. In general. QPF for Fri/Fri night has continued to trend downward, especially on the plains where upper support is lacking and forecast winds show much less of an upslope component than they did 24 hrs ago. Did continue to undercut NBM temps somewhat Friday afternoon, with clouds and on/off precip keeping most locations in the 20s/30s. Upper ridge builds Sat/Sun for a return to warmer and drier weather, and while a few model solutions show potential for a afternoon snow showers over the higher peaks both days, even if these occur, impacts will be minimal. Flow becomes more wly early next week, with initial weak wave late Mon into Tue bringing snow snow showers to the higher terrain, while lower elevations stay mainly dry and mild. Stronger trough then looks likely to impact the area Wed/Thu, though eventual track and evolution of the upper level low are still in flux. In any event, system looks to be rather warm, with wet snow in the mountains and rain or a rain/snow mix at lower elevations. && .AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z FRIDAY/... Issued at 342 AM MST Thu Mar 7 2024 KALS: VFR expected through 24 hours. Breezy southwest winds will turn northeasterly this evening, with mid-level clouds persisting. KCOS: A cold front will move in from the north today. Gust northeast winds around 25 knots will kick in starting around 20Z. Meanwhile, showers will move into the area, spreading from the Pikes Peak Region along the cold front as it pushes through the area. Showers will start as a rain/snow mix, shifting fully to snow later this evening. Lower cigs and briefly impacted vis will also be possible. KPUB: Winds will turn from north to northeast this afternoon as a cold front moves through, gusting to around 25 knots. Snow showers are expected to move into the vicinity of the terminal late this afternoon into evening, lowering cigs into MVFR. If precipitation directly impacts the terminal this period, conditions could briefly dip into IFR. && .PUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory from 11 AM this morning to 11 PM MST Friday for COZ064-066>068-076>078-081-083-084-087-088. Winter Storm Warning from 11 AM this morning to 11 PM MST Friday for COZ072>075-079-080-082. && SHORT TERM...GARBEROGLIO LONG TERM...PETERSEN AVIATION...GARBEROGLIO
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Pueblo CO 424 AM MST Thu Mar 7 2024 COZ058>089-093>099-081130- 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- 424 AM MST Thu Mar 7 2024 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of central...east central...south central and southeast Colorado. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Widespread rain and snow will develop across the region this afternoon, with snow showers over the mountains and rain showers over the plains. Some weak thunderstorms may also be possible over portions of the southern I-25 corridor and the southeast plains. Main impacts would be heavy rain, gusty winds to 35 mph, and some lightning. Precipitation should then change over to snow this evening and continue overnight. Heavy snow will be likely over the mountain peaks, with the heaviest accumulations over Pikes Peak, the Wet Mountains, and the Sangre de Cristos. Locally heavy snow amounts will be possible over portions of the mountains/plains interface as well. Travel may be impacted by periods of moderate to heavy snowfall, mainly over the Palmer Divide, areas around Huerfano County, and some portions of the southern I-25 corridor around Raton Pass. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday Over the plains and along the I-25 corridor, snow showers Friday morning will taper off from north to south by afternoon, while steadier snow continues over most of the mountains through the day. By late afternoon, the heaviest snow will shift westward toward the Continental Divide, then snow tapers off to flurries at all locations by early Saturday morning. The greatest snow accumulations during the day Friday into Friday night will be along the Continental Divide, where 6 to 12 inches will be possible, especially over the eastern San Juans near Wolf Creek Pass. Snow showers will return to the mountains Monday night into Tuesday, though any accumulations will be light. A stronger weather system will then move through the southern Rockies Wednesday into Thursday, bringing increasing chances for snow to the mountains and rain or a rain and snow mix to most valleys, the I-25 corridor and the southeast plains. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Weather conditions that meet reporting criteria for spotters will be likely over portions of the region. GARBEROGLIO/10
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
23 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
There was 15.0 inches of snow measured.
There was 3.1 inches of snow measured.
There was 5.8 inches of snow measured.
There was 6.6 inches of snow measured.
There was 10.6 inches of snow measured.
There was 2.8 inches of snow measured.
There was 2.5 inches of snow measured.
There was 1.2 inches of snow measured.
There was 1.6 inches of snow measured.
There was 3.0 inches of snow measured.
There was 1.8 inches of snow measured.
There was 3.0 inches of snow measured.
There was 3.5 inches of snow measured.
There was 2.5 inches of snow measured.
There was 2.5 inches of snow measured.
There was 3.9 inches of snow measured.
There was 8.0 inches of snow measured.
There was 4.0 inches of snow measured.
There was 1.0 inches of snow measured.
There was 1.0 inches of snow measured.
There was 1.9 inches of snow measured.
There was 2.0 inches of snow measured.
There was 10.4 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: 1168106, 1168118, 1168120, 1168098, 1168100, 1168102, 1168103, 1168104, 1168105, 1168107, 1168109, 1168111, 1168113, 1168115, 1168119, 1168121, 1168122, 1168108, 1168110, 1168099, 1168101, 1168116, 1168114.