Heavy snowfall fell in the Park and Gore Mountain Ranges December 27th and 28th with up to 15 inches of snowfall.
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The episode as NWS BOU wrote it up.
Heavy snowfall fell in the Park and Gore Mountain Ranges December 27th and 28th with up to 15 inches of snowfall.
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 27, 12:17 PM MST, 1 hour 43 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO 1217 PM MST Sat Dec 27 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Warm and dry across the plains today before a cold front brings colder temperatures for Sunday. - Mountain snow continues into early Sunday morning. The heaviest snow will be in the Park and Gore Ranges where a Winter Storm Warning is in effect. Moderate amounts are expected across the Front Range mountains with a Winter Weather Advisory in effect. - Uncertainty in the snow amounts for the lower elevations from tonight into Sunday morning. Anticipate T-2" of snow expected on the east side of the I-25 corridor and 2-5" on the west side of the I-25 corridor. && .UPDATE... Issued at 322 AM MST Sat Dec 27 2025 One more day of mild temperatures is expected across the plains today with highs in the mid 50s to lower 60s. Meanwhile, snow is expected in the mountains. Satellite imagery shows Pacific moisture streaming across the northern portion of the state. The Winter Storm Warning remains in effect for the Park Range mountains through 5 am Sunday. Better moisture arrives later today for the central mountains, so a Winter Weather Advisory is in effect beginning at 11 am today for the Front Range Mountains and continues through Sunday. The biggest concern in the near term is the continued uncertainty in snowfall amounts across the lower elevations later tonight and into Sunday morning. A strong cold front is expected to move south by midnight. While there is favorable frontogenesis, there is a lot of dry air in the lower levels. This is a quick hitting system and it may take some time for the atmosphere to saturate. Precipitation could begin as liquid before changing over to snow and that could lead to slick roads. However, latest models also show meager snow amounts for areas near the Wyoming border. For the Front Range Foothills and Mountains, snow amounts could be higher, especially with the potential for banding. Snow will come to an end by midday Sunday, but temperatures will remain cold. And with clearing skies and lighter winds Sunday night, overnight lows will be in the single digits and teens. .DISCUSSION /Through Friday/... Issued at 240 PM MST Fri Dec 26 2025 Water vapor imagery shows shortwave troughs over northern California and northwest Washington state with a broader trough over the western US. These shortwave troughs will combine and move into Colorado Saturday night into Sunday. Ahead of this trough, a stream of Pacific moisture will move into far northern Colorado tonight. This will bring snow to the Park Range mountains and the Winter Storm Warning begins at midnight tonight as a result. A lot of that moisture will miss the Front Range Mountains tonight and Saturday morning so PoPs and QPF amounts are on the lower side there. It is not until around midday Saturday that better moisture and orographic flow arrives in the Front Range Mountains that snow will begin there. Therefore, a Winter Weather Advisory was issued starting at 11AM. Strong frontogenesis ahead of the shortwave trough will create bands of moderate to heavy snow in the mountains Saturday afternoon through Saturday night. Travel will be poor to hazardous especially Saturday night when the sun sets and road temperatures decrease below freezing. Orographic snow showers will continue through midday in the mountains before coming to an end. Storm total snowfall amounts are expected to be between 8-18 inches in the Park and Gore Ranges and 4-12" in the Front Range. Across the I-25 corridor and eastern plains, Saturday will be mild with highs in the upper 50s to low 60s. A strong cold front at the surface will move across the plains shortly before midnight near the Wyoming border and around 2-4 AM near the Palmer Divide. Behind the front, northeast winds will develop which will create upslope flow. That low level forcing will combine with the upper level forcing from the PVA ahead of the trough and the mid level frontogenesis to create a couple brief bands of snow that will spread across the area. The latest ensemble guidance has decreased the QPF and snow amounts slightly. Roughly 0.10-0.15" QPF is forecast on the east side of the I-25 corridor with between 0.15-0.30" on the west side of the I-25 corridor. The snow amount forecast was decreased slightly for the eastern I-25 corridor with 1-3" now forecast. The western I-25 corridor is still expected to receive 2-5" of snow. Across the eastern plains, 0-2" of snow is forecast with the highest amounts around Akron to Last Chance. Due to the uncertainty, no winter weather highlights were issued at this time. However, highlights may be needed especially for the Sunday morning travelers which are expected to encounter poor road conditions. Snow will end Sunday around midday with clearing skies. Single digit to low teen lows are forecast across the plains. Colorado will be on the eastern edge of a ridge aloft late Monday through the rest of the work week. This will lead to dry conditions with warming temperatures. Highs in the 50s are forecast Tuesday through Friday across the plains. The next chance for precipitation will be next weekend for our forecast area. && .DISCUSSION /Through Friday/... Issued at 240 PM MST Fri Dec 26 2025 Water vapor imagery shows shortwave troughs over northern California and northwest Washington state with a broader trough over the western US. These shortwave troughs will combine and move into Colorado Saturday night into Sunday. Ahead of this trough, a stream of Pacific moisture will move into far northern Colorado tonight. This will bring snow to the Park Range mountains and the Winter Storm Warning begins at midnight tonight as a result. A lot of that moisture will miss the Front Range Mountains tonight and Saturday morning so PoPs and QPF amounts are on the lower side there. It is not until around midday Saturday that better moisture and orographic flow arrives in the Front Range Mountains that snow will begin there. Therefore, a Winter Weather Advisory was issued starting at 11AM. Strong frontogenesis ahead of the shortwave trough will create bands of moderate to heavy snow in the mountains Saturday afternoon through Saturday night. Travel will be poor to hazardous especially Saturday night when the sun sets and road temperatures decrease below freezing. Orographic snow showers will continue through midday in the mountains before coming to an end. Storm total snowfall amounts are expected to be between 8-18 inches in the Park and Gore Ranges and 4-12" in the Front Range. Across the I-25 corridor and eastern plains, Saturday will be mild with highs in the upper 50s to low 60s. A strong cold front at the surface will move across the plains shortly before midnight near the Wyoming border and around 2-4 AM near the Palmer Divide. Behind the front, northeast winds will develop which will create upslope flow. That low level forcing will combine with the upper level forcing from the PVA ahead of the trough and the mid level frontogenesis to create a couple brief bands of snow that will spread across the area. The latest ensemble guidance has decreased the QPF and snow amounts slightly. Roughly 0.10-0.15" QPF is forecast on the east side of the I-25 corridor with between 0.15-0.30" on the west side of the I-25 corridor. The snow amount forecast was decreased slightly for the eastern I-25 corridor with 1-3" now forecast. The western I-25 corridor is still expected to receive 2-5" of snow. Across the eastern plains, 0-2" of snow is forecast with the highest amounts around Akron to Last Chance. Due to the uncertainty, no winter weather highlights were issued at this time. However, highlights may be needed especially for the Sunday morning travelers which are expected to encounter poor road conditions. Snow will end Sunday around midday with clearing skies. Single digit to low teen lows are forecast across the plains. Colorado will be on the eastern edge of a ridge aloft late Monday through the rest of the work week. This will lead to dry conditions with warming temperatures. Highs in the 50s are forecast Tuesday through Friday across the plains. The next chance for precipitation will be next weekend for our forecast area. && .AVIATION /18Z TAFS through 18Z Sunday/... Issued at 1138 AM MST Sat Dec 27 2025 Light winds are currently in place at DEN but two boundaries are close by. One is sitting to the northeast of the airport with light northeast to east winds behind it and another is to the south of the airport with gusty westerly winds behind it. While periods of gusty westerly winds up to 25 knots are possible this afternoon, easterly winds are favored and were included in the TAF for DEN. APA has seen the gusty westerly winds develop with gusts up to 36 knots. Gusty westerly winds will be somewhat persistent this afternoon although periods of lighter winds will be mixed in. BJC will have easterly winds for the majority of the time but some periods of westerly gusts could develop. Winds at all terminals will be westerly this evening before shifting to the north- northwest behind the cold front that moves through between 06-08Z tonight. VFR will persist through at least 06Z Sunday. There is then substantial disagreement among models as to whether snow and low clouds will develop. The global models have been consistent in showing low clouds and snow with 1-2" at the terminals. Their consistency has lead to the continuation of the low clouds and snow in the TAFs despite the very dry high resolution models. Ceilings around 1,500-2,500 feet are expected at the terminals although if the snow doesn't develop, ceilings may stay above 4,000 feet. Snow will likely bring visibility down to around 1-3 SM although it is possible the majority of the event has visibility above 6 SM. Snow and low clouds will leave the terminals around 16-18Z. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Storm Warning until 5 AM MST Sunday for COZ031. Winter Weather Advisory until 11 AM MST Sunday for COZ033-034. && UPDATE...Stark DISCUSSION...Danielson AVIATION...Danielson
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO 817 AM MST Sat Dec 27 2025 COZ030>051-281530- 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- 817 AM MST Sat Dec 27 2025 This hazardous weather outlook is for northeast and north central Colorado. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight A system will bring moderate snow to the Front Range mountains and heavy snow to the Park and Gore Range this morning through Sunday morning. Light snow will spread across lower elevations including the Denver metro on Saturday night and into Sunday. Travel impacts expected Saturday (for the high country) and Sunday morning (high country and plains). .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Sunday through Friday Snow will gradually end Sunday morning. Cold temperatures are expected, with most areas staying below freezing. Warmer and drier conditions are likely next week. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
An estimated 8 to 16 inches fell across the zone using a 15 to 1 snow water equivalent measured at the Zirkel and Columbine SNOTEL sites.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2025Every state in 2025This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, December 2025
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: 1302346.