A quick-moving trough and a jet maximum traveled across the Rockies the first week of May, bringing upslope winds, low elevation rain, and some spotty accumulating snow.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 quick-moving trough and a jet maximum traveled across the Rockies the first week of May, bringing upslope winds, low elevation rain, and some spotty accumulating snow.
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 Apr 30, 10:10 PM MST, 1 hour 50 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pueblo CO 1110 PM MDT Thu Apr 30 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Rain and snowfall rates increase this afternoon through tonight, with precipitation coming to an end from northeast to southwest throughout tomorrow. - Travel impacts look to remain mainly confined to the high country, where Winter Storm Warnings and Winter Weather Advisories remain in place through tomorrow. - The Palmer Divide and the San Luis Valley are likely to see a few inches of wet, slushy snow late tonight into Friday morning, mainly on grassy and elevated surfaces. - Near freezing temperatures remain possible Friday night into Saturday morning on the plains. - A warming and drying trend is expected for Saturday through Monday, before another possible system towards midweek. && .SHORT TERM /THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT/... Issued at 110 PM MDT Thu Apr 30 2026 Rest of Today and Tonight.. Scattered showers remain draped across much of the forecast area. Lightning is not present yet, but there is enough clearing over Fremont County and the northern Sangres that we may begin to see lightning activity and heavier precipitation rates within the next hour or two. Temperatures are mostly in the 40s on the plains, with Springfield and Alamosa both sitting at 54F as of Noon, and far northeastern portions of El Paso County sitting in the upper 30s. This lull in precipitation looks to persist for another couple of hours, before enough clearing and instability push off the mountains to initiate our stronger convection in places later this afternoon as better forcing arrives. This will increase coverage and intensity of precipitation across the area this afternoon through tonight as the trough to our west continues to dig south and upslope deepens over our region. Precipitation is expected to remain all liquid rain below 8000 feet through the daytime hours, with a transition to snow possible down to 7000 or even briefly 6000 feet overnight and into the early morning hours of Friday. For the the lower elevations though, accumulations are expected to remain light and mainly confined to grassy and elevated surfaces. Travel impacts are not expected tonight across the plains, but may be possible over the Palmer Divide and the San Luis Valley early Friday morning near sunrise. Accumulations in these areas may reach 2 to 4 inches at most on elevated surfaces, but roads are expected to stay wet through much of the night. Tomorrow.. Near freezing temperatures early in the morning may help to change some rain over to flurries and light snow for some areas, but travel impacts and accumulations are expected to remain confined to the higher terrain. Another push of shortwave energy in the trough to our west pushes past us throughout the morning and early afternoon hours, keeping precipitation chances alive over the high country through much of the day. With the better forcing drifting south though, chances come to an end from northeast to southwest over the plains throughout the morning and early afternoon. This next push of energy does bring in some better snow chances for the San Juans late tomorrow morning into Saturday morning though, which will definitely help them to not feel so left out. QPF totals have come down just slightly over the San Juans with this model run, so have held off on advisories once again, but totals look to be in the 6 to 10 inch range over the San Juans for tomorrow. As clearing happens on our plains though, daytime highs look to climb back into the 50s and low 60s with light winds. Overnight lows tomorrow night are also expected to dip down close to freezing under clearing skies on the plains. For now, have held off any freeze highlights, given that temperatures look to only briefly approach the freezing mark across the plains. && .LONG TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... Issued at 110 PM MDT Thu Apr 30 2026 Saturday.. Ridging develops for Saturday and into the beginning of next week. Remnants of the weak shortwave look to linger over the Four Corners region for a bit, helping to keep chances for isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms over the high country and our southern plains. Convection does not look to be severe, but any storms that do develop should manage to bring wetting rains. On the plains, precipitation is not expected, and daytime highs look to be near normal for this time of year. Most lower elevation locations look to warm into 60s and 70s with fairly weak winds. Sunday Onwards.. Ridging continues into Sunday and Monday, allowing our warming and drying trend to continue. Highs look to rise into the 70s and 80s on the plains for both Sunday and Monday. Chances for showers and thunderstorms continue, especially on Monday, as models push a low onshore over California and moist southwest flow inches towards our forecast area. Models still show a lot of disagreement about the track and progression of this system, but in general it looks to weaken before making its way towards the Four Corners region towards Tuesday or Wednesday. As it comes through, chances for a cooler and wetter pattern will likely emerge depending on its track and timing. && .AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z SATURDAY/... Issued at 1056 PM MDT Thu Apr 30 2026 KCOS and KPUB will continue to MVFR conditions in -RA or -RASN (for KCOS) into the overnight hours with KCOS dropping into the IFR category towards 12z as winds shift around from the southeast. Otherwise cigs will bump up into the VFR range with another round of afternoon showers possible, especially at KCOS. Conditions should remain VFR during the afternoon though there will be some VFR cigs at times. KALS will see showers off and on overnight with MVFR conditions. Cigs will break during the morning with another round of showers possible in the afternoon though cigs should stay VFR. -KT && .PUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory until noon MDT Friday for COZ058-063- 076-078. Winter Storm Warning until midnight MDT Friday night for COZ072>075-079-080. Winter Storm Warning until noon MDT Friday for COZ081-082. && SHORT TERM...EHR LONG TERM...EHR AVIATION...KT
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Pueblo CO 1136 AM MDT Thu Apr 30 2026 COZ058>089-093>099-011745- 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- 1136 AM MDT Thu Apr 30 2026 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of central...east central...south central and southeast Colorado. .DAY ONE...This Afternoon and Tonight A strong weather system continues to move across the Rockies through tonight, bringing beneficial rain, and higher elevation snow, to much of south central and southeast Colorado. Total snowfall of 8 to 16 inches is possible across the Rampart Range, as well as across the Wet and Sangre de Cristo mountains, with the greatest amounts expected across east facing slopes. Total snowfall of 5 to 10 inches remains possible across the higher terrain of Fremont county and the eastern slopes of the Central mountains, with 3 to 7 inches possible across the Wet Mountain Valley. A few inches, mainly on grassy areas, will be possible across the middle and upper Arkansas River Valley, portions of the southern I-25 corridor and over northern and western El Paso county. There will likely be tight gradients in snowfall and accumulations across the higher terrain. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday Precipitation winds down from northeast to southwest through the day on Friday, as drier air works into the region. This will also bring the chance for frost across the eastern plains Friday night into early Saturday morning, with temperatures cooling to around freezing. A warming and drying trend remains in the offing into the weekend, though there may be enough lingering moisture to support afternoon showers across the higher terrain. Another weather system will bring chances of precipitation as it moves across the region through the middle of next week. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Weather conditions that meet reporting criteria for spotters will be likely over portions of the region. EHR/EHR
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Pueblo CO
725 PM MDT Thu Apr 30 2026
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1255 PM Snow 6 S Divide 38.86N 105.16W
04/30/2026 M12.5 Inch Teller CO Public
relayed by media.
&&Preliminary Local Storm Report...Summary
National Weather Service Pueblo CO
729 PM MDT Thu Apr 30 2026
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1255 PM Snow 6 S Divide 38.86N 105.16W
04/30/2026 M12.5 Inch Teller CO Public
relayed by media.
0842 AM Snow Woodland Park 39.00N 105.05W
04/30/2026 M5.0 Inch Teller CO Trained Spotter
Event Total so far. Roads are still wet.
0840 AM Snow Divide 38.94N 105.16W
04/30/2026 M6.0 Inch Teller CO Public
0840 AM Snow Florissant 38.95N 105.30W
04/30/2026 E6.0 Inch Teller CO Public
0840 AM Snow 8 NNW Royal Gorge 38.57N 105.37W
04/30/2026 M5.0 Inch Fremont CO Public
Heavy wet snow.
0814 AM Snow 2 NNE Monument 39.13N 104.86W
04/30/2026 M3.0 Inch El Paso CO Trained Spotter
Event total so far. Roads are still wet.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy snow, 1 dense fog. Local standard time, as filed.
There was 4.0 inches of snow measured.
There was a brief period of visibility down to 0.10 miles, 5 miles south of Mosca.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, May 2026
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: 1338777, 1338779.