Snow moved into the mountains during the early morning hours of February 14th. Periods of snowfall continued through the 14th and then ended late on the 15th.
Every event with a place to put it; 5 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.
Snow moved into the mountains during the early morning hours of February 14th. Periods of snowfall continued through the 14th and then ended late on the 15th. The heaviest snowfall occurred over the Park and Gore ranges. An avalanche on Loveland Pass swept a truck off the road and down the slope. No injuries were reported from the avalanche. This led to a long closure of Loveland Pass.
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 Feb 13, 10:27 PM MST, 1 hour 33 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO 1027 PM MST Thu Feb 13 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Prolonged mountain snow starts tonight, continues through Saturday evening. Moderate to heavy accumulations and expected travel impacts. - Warmer Friday for lower elevations, then snow possibly returning Friday night/Saturday. - Active pattern continues into next week, with increasing potential for another system Monday into Tuesday. && .UPDATE... Issued at 851 PM MST Thu Feb 13 2025 Area Radars, observations and web cameras were showing snow falling over the mountains and high valleys, from the continental divide and westward. Newest model data supports current forecast of alpine snow overnight. Current highlights are fine for now. Will update the grids based of current conditions. No significant alternation at this time. && .SHORT TERM /Through Friday/... Issued at 214 PM MST Thu Feb 13 2025 Some interesting temperature gradients across the plains this afternoon. A narrow corridor of 40-45F temperatures is evident across the south/east side of the Denver metro, on the "warm" side of a Denver Cyclone. This also correlates pretty well to where snow has fully melted, as evident on day-cloud phase satellite imagery. Elsewhere, the low level inversion has held on just enough for temperatures to only make it into the upper 20s to low 30s. Satellite also shows that the arrival of a deep moisture plume is entering the western side of the state. Guidance is in good agreement that snow will begin across the higher terrain here later this afternoon into tonight, with moderate to heavy snow across the western edges of the CWA. That snow should gradually increase in coverage as we get into Friday, as a result of the flow aloft turning from the west-southwest to more of a due westerly component. The combination of favorable orographic lift and fairly steep lapse rates Friday afternoon will certainly promote heavy enough snow rates for travel impacts through most of the day. Our winter weather headlines have not changed in this period, and are in effect from tonight through Saturday evening. Across the plains, downslope flow should allow temperatures to warm into the upper 40s to low 50s, despite increasing mid/high cloud cover. A few members of guidance even try to get the metro into the upper 50s, but this seems to be a bit generous. A cold front is expected to arrive during the evening hours, bringing cooler air and a chance of precipitation to the lower elevations... but more on the weekend forecast below. && .LONG TERM /Friday night through Thursday/... Issued at 214 PM MST Thu Feb 13 2025 Very active pattern continues through this weekend and into the middle of next week with several rounds of snow for the mountains and 2-3(?) rounds of light snow for the urban corridor and eastern plains. For Friday night and Saturday...an upper level trough moves across the area. Areas of snow are expected in the mountains with snow showers for the plains Friday evening. Lower elevations may see a little rain at first. Snow increases Saturday over the mountains as northwest flow aloft increases behind the exiting tough. The plains stay dry to begin Saturday, but a weak trough may bring a little light snow Saturday afternoon and evening. Quieter weather settles over Colorado Saturday night and early Sunday under weak ridging in the west-northwest flow aloft. This ridging doesn't last long as it flattens out ahead of the next shortwave, which will be digging into the Northern Rockies. Moisture begins to increase and snow is expected to reform over the northern Colorado mountains late Sunday afternoon and evening. As far as temperatures go, the forecast will be a challenging one. Models favor lower pressure across western Colorado, which should result in an easterly low level flow and help to keep the cooler air from eroding. Expected highs across northeast Colorado to be in the 30s, though 20s will be possible, mainly over the northeast plains. Model temperature forecast really begins to diverge beginning Monday. There's good model agreement we will see an easterly upslope flow undercut the westerly flow aloft. With all the cool/cold air around, one would tend to think colder temperatures will prevail. However, the GFS is quite warm given the pattern with highs in the mid 30s to lower 40s over northeast Colorado. Meanwhile, the ECMWF shows temperatures in the 20s with even some teens across northeast Colorado. This model temperature difference is even greater on Tuesday with the GFS 20 degrees warmer than the ECMWF. With an upper level trough, cold front, and cloud cover, a colder forecast seems reasonable. Ended up pushing the forecast towards the colder models for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Not sure what the GFS model is picking up on and given the pattern, the warmer temperatures don't make much sense. As far as precipitation (snow) goes, models are in decent agreement with the upper level pattern for Monday through Wednesday. The northern mountains are expected to see snow Monday under northwest flow aloft and the snow continues into Tuesday as a shortwave trough pushes across the state. The plains could pick up snow Monday, if the ECMWF is correct on the placement of the jet. Snow will be likely Tuesday for areas east of the mountains as the upper level trough and northeast upslope flow provide lift. Amounts this far our are still unclear, but this doesn't look like a big storm with amounts less than 6 inches expected east of the mountains. For Wednesday and Thursday, models are still trying to resolve the upper level pattern during this period. Some colder air should hang with strong high pressure still off to the east, helping to keep a cold east to northeast flow over eastern Colorado. Northwest flow aloft continues, so there's at least a chance for snow in the mountains. If an embedded shortwave moves over the state (like the GFS shows), then we could see another round of snow east of the mountains. && .AVIATION /06Z TAFS through 06Z Saturday/... Issued at 1024 PM MST Thu Feb 13 2025 Drainage winds will prevail overnight, then turn more westerly late morning Fri before a weak frontal passage brings likely shift to NNE winds for KDEN/KAPA for a few hours late afternoon into the evening. All terminals will be VFR prior to frontal passage, and possibly beyond. Best chance for snow showers will be for KDEN/KAPA, with temporary CIGS 010-020 possible during any showers. Any such activity should end by 07-08Z, but there will be increasing potential for more persistent low bases into Sat AM. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Storm Warning until 8 PM MST Saturday for COZ031. Winter Weather Advisory from 5 AM Friday to 8 PM MST Saturday for COZ032>034. && UPDATE.......rjk SHORT TERM...Hiris LONG TERM....Meier AVIATION...Rodriguez
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO 1051 AM MST Thu Feb 13 2025 COZ030>051-141800- 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- 1051 AM MST Thu Feb 13 2025 ...WINTER STORM WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES FOR THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS LATE TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY EVENING... This hazardous weather outlook is for northeast and north central Colorado. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Snow will develop in the mountains tonight, first impacting the Park and northern Gore Ranges by this evening, and then spreading into the Front Range mountains and Summit County late tonight. Dry weather will persist on the plains. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday Snow continues in the mountains through Saturday, creating snow covered and slippery roads through the mountains. For the lower elevations, another round of light snow is expected Friday night A second storm system and additional snow will potentially move across the region Monday into Tuesday. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed today or tonight.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 winter storm, 1 winter weather, 1 avalanche. Local standard time, as filed.
Snotel stations showed 10 to 27 inches of snow fell, with Columbine Snotel near Rabbit Ears Pass receiving 27 inches.
CoCoRahs reports showed 4 to 10 inches of snow fell across the valleys of Grand County.
Snotel stations showed 8 to 16 inches of snow fell across the area.
Snotel and ski reports showed a wide range of snowfall fell across the area. The biggest snowfall report was from Copper Mountain where they received 19 inches of snow. Lower amounts occurred to the north with 5 inches at Eldora and 8 inches at Brainard Lake. Here are additional heavy snowfall reports, Arapahoe Basin 12 inches, Breckenridge ski area 17 inches, and Loveland ski area 14 inches. The heavy snowfall also produced an avalanche across US 6 over Loveland Pass, which swept one vehicle off the road. No serious injuries were reported.
At approximately 7:15PM a natural avalanche released in an avalanche path known as Seven Sister 6, and swept a pickup truck off the road. One person was in the vehicle at the time. They were not seriously injured.
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, February 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: 1228427, 1228428, 1228429, 1228430, 1228423.