Post-Storm Summary of the February 2-4, 2012 Record Breaking Winter Storm

A major winter storm struck Northeast Colorado on the evening of February 2nd, and continued to impact the region into the early morning hours of February 4th. This slow moving storm produced record snowfall for portions of the Front Range. Denver saw two records fall. First, the 12.5 inches of snow that fell on February 3rd broke the calendar day record snowfall for the month of February. Second, the storm total of 15.9 inches also broke the record for heaviest storm snowfall in the month of February, surpassing the old record of 14.1 inches set back in 1912. Boulder also set a new storm snowfall record, with 22.7 inches which smashed the old record of 16.5 inches set on February 12th and 13th in 1968.

A storm of this magnitude is more typical in the months of March and April. However, this early February storm had many of the same characteristics of a classic spring snowstorm along the Front Range. This storm system first moved into the Pacific Northwest during the early morning hours of Wednesday, February 1st, and then dropped southeast into the Great Basin by that afternoon. On Thursday, February 2nd, the storm began to intensify and also slow as it moved into the Four Corners region, a favored location for heavy snowfall across Northeast Colorado. At the same time another key ingredient to major winter storms, moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, was streaming northward ahead of this storm. This moisture reached Colorado by Thursday evening with snow (initially some rain over the far eastern plains) quickly developing. Snow became heavy along the Front Range late Thursday evening and continued into early Friday morning as a moist and unstable upslope flow developed along the Front Range. Snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour occurred with the heavier snow bands, while snowfall rates in excess of 2 inches per hour pounded the foothills.

On Friday, February 3rd, the storm system moved slowly east along and just south of the Colorado/New Mexico border in the morning, and then lifted northeast across Southeast Colorado in the afternoon. While snow temporarily decreased during the day Friday, another period of moderate to heavy snowfall developed late Friday afternoon and evening. In addition to the snow, north winds of 15 to 25 mph with gusts around 35 mph east of I-25 produced considerable blowing and drifting snow, with drifts as high as 5 feet reported in Douglas and Elbert counties. The storm finally moved away from the region late Friday night and Saturday with snow coming to an end.

Below, you can find the evolution of the upper level storm system (shown in green) and winds near 10,000 ft MSL (shown in light blue) during the progression of the storm. These are just two of the ingredients required for major Northeast Colorado snowstorms. The description is placed on top of each image.

Wednesday evening, February 1, 2012 - Pacific storm system was moving into the Great Basin.

Thursday morning, February 2, 2012 - Upper level low began to intensify along the Utah/Nevada border, and a weak surface cold front pushed into Northeast Colorado (not shown). The airmass was initially quite dry, so weak upslope flow along the Front Range did not product any precipitation at this time.

Wednesday afternoon, February 1, 2012

Thursday evening, February 2, 2012 - Strong upper level low dropped into the Four Corners region, and moist, unstable upslope flow began to establish itself across Northeast Colorado. Gulf of Mexico moisture had spread into southeastern Colorado and western Kansas, and precipitation quickly developed and became heavy Thursday night.

Friday morning, February 3, 2012 - Large upper level low pressure system moved slowly east along the Colorado/New Mexico border. Strong east/northeast upslope flow over eastern Colorado had resulted in heavy snow through Thursday night and into the early morning hours Friday.

Friday afternoon, February 3, 2012 - Upper level low had moved across Southeast Colorado. After a brief lull in the storm during the day Friday, another surge of moisture reaches Northeast Colorado with more snowfall Friday evening and Friday night.

Saturday morning, February 4, 2012 - The major winter storm finally moves east into the Central Plains, bringing an end to the record breaking snowstorm.

A loop of satellite imagery of the storm's progression can be found here... http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/120203-04_g13_wv_anim.gif

Below are the storm total maps showing the heaviest snowfall along the Front Range and Palmer Divide, stretching northeast onto the eastern plains of Colorado. Note how little snow fell west of the Front Range mountains, including much of Summit, Grand, and Jackson counties. Downslope northeasterly flow off the Cheyenne Ridge (along the Colorado/Wyoming border) also played a large role in the lack of signficant snowfall north of a Wellington to Greeley line.

Close-up of heaviest snowfall

Storm totals for specific sites - A huge THANK YOU to all our weather spotters who reported snowfall amounts during and after the storm!

PINECLIFFE 4 SSE	51.1
JAMESTOWN 3 W	46
WARD 4.6 NE	45.7
PINE JUNCTION 3 NE	39
BLACK HAWK 3 N	38
CONIFER 3 WSW	37
NEDERLAND 4 ENE	37
NEDERLAND 3.7 ENE	36
BOULDER 3.6 WNW	35.5
CONIFER 3 WSW	35.5
CONIFER 5 W	35
NEDERLAND .47 ESE	34
ASPEN PARK 5.2 ESE	34
EVERGREEN 1 SW	33
NEDERLAND 4.2 E	32.4
CONIFER 3 SW	32.4
KITTREDGE 2.5 SSE	32
GENESEE	32
BELLVUE 10.3 W	31.2
NEDERLAND 5.8 E	30.7
EVERGREEN 4 S	30.6
CONIFER 3.4 WNW	30.5
NEDERLAND 4.8 ENE	30.4
LIVERMORE 10.6 W	30.2
CONIFER 4 ENE	30
BELLVUE 4.7 W	29.4
LIVERMORE 10.5 WSW	29
EVERGREEN 3.5 W	28.7
CASTLE ROCK 7.3 NNW	28.6
NEDERLAND 2.61 NNE	28
CONIFER 4.2 ENE	28
CONIFER 3.9 SE	28
EVERGREEN 3.6 SSW	28
HORSETOOTH MOUNTAIN 3.2 NNW	28
LIVERMORE 9.2 W	28
LIVERMORE 9.9 WSW	28
LOUVIERS 1 NW	28
ROXBOROUGH PARK 1.7 NNW	27.5
ROXBOROUGH PARK 2 NNW	27.3
BOULDER 6.8 WNW	27
KIOWA 14 ENE	26.1
AGATE 14 WSW	26
CONIFER 2.1 WSW	25.9
BOULDER 3 S	25.9
AGATE 6.2 SSW	25.5
CASTLE PINES 2.2 NNE	25.3
STOVE PRAIRIE 2 WNW	25.3
BUCKLEY AFB 10 SSE	25.2
EVERGREEN 6.5 WSW	25.2
GOLDEN 6.4 SSW	25.2
ARAPAHOE PARK 5 SSW	25.2
HIGHLANDS RANCH 2.7 SSE	25
ROXBOROUGH PARK 2.0 N	25
LITTLETON 8.2 WSW	25
PINE 3.4 NNW	25
TINY TOWN 3 ESE	25
WATKINS 8 SE	24.8
LIVERMORE 12 SW	24.5
BOULDER 6.8 SE	24.4
EVERGREEN 4.6 S	24.3
BEVERLY HILLS 2.0 WNW	24
EVERGREEN 5.3 S	24
KEN CARYL 0.6 WSW	24
LITTLETON 4.6 W	23.5
LITTLETON 6.6 W	23.2
BOULDER 1.6 S	22.7
BOULDER	22.7
BOULDER 3.5 S	22.6
BOULDER 2.9 S	22.5
LITTLETON 7.7 ESE	22.5
CASTLE ROCK 4.6 NNW	22.5
CASTLE ROCK 4 NNW	22.5
CASTLE ROCK 6.5 SW	22.2
BOULDER 4.7 E	22.1
DENVER 9.4 S	22
DENVER 2.0 SSE	22
PARKER 2.1 WNW	22
BERGEN PARK 2 ENE	22
EVERGREEN	22
BROOMFIELD 1.1 NE	21.8
KIOWA 12.7 ENE	21.8
LITTLETON 3.1 S	21.5
NIWOT 1.8 SSW	21.5
BROOMFIELD 1.7 WSW	21.5
SEDALIA 7.2 S	21.5
WESTMINSTER 1 SW	21.5
RIVERSIDE 2.2 NE	21.3
BOULDER 2 SSW	21.1
WESTMINSTER 3.0 W	21
BOULDER 1.8 ESE	20.7
DENVER 8 SSW	20.7
BOULDER 3.5 S	20.6
LAFAYETTE 0.4 WSW	20.5
LAKEWOOD 1.7 SW	20.5
FRANKTOWN 3.5 NE	20.2
LOUISVILLE 1 NNW	20.2
SUPERIOR 2.5 E	20.1
CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE 2.1 N	20.1
DENVER 11.0 SSW	20
LITTLETON 6.2 WNW	20
NORTHGLENN	20
BROOMFIELD 1.2 NE	19.8
ELIZABETH 8.7 NNE	19.8
BROOMFIELD 1 WSW	19.8
WHEAT RIDGE 2 W	19.8
HIGHLANDS RANCH 2 WSW	19.7
LAKEWOOD 1.2 NW	19.7
DENVER 3.2 SSE	19.5
LAFAYETTE 0.8 WSW	19.4
GOLDEN 0.7 NW	19.3
LAKEWOOD 2.2 ESE	19.1
HIGHLANDS RANCH 3.2 ESE	19
PARKER 1.4 WNW	19
FRANKTOWN 2.1 ENE	19
HIGHLANDS RANCH 2 N	19
NW CASTLE ROCK	19
CENTENNIAL 2.0 SW	18.8
BOULDER 0.5 NNE	18.6
LAFAYETTE 2.5 NW	18.5
DENVER 5.4 SSE	18.5
DENVER 5.3 SW	18.5
WHEAT RIDGE 0.6 S	18.5
CHERRY CREEK RESERVOIR 2.8 N	18.4
BROOMFIELD 1.3 SSW	18.3
CASTLE ROCK 4 N	18.3
BOULDER 4.7 ENE	18.2
CHERRY CREEK RESERVOIR 1.9 N	18.1
NORTHGLENN 0.9 SW	18
DENVER 5.7 S	18
DENVER 2.1 ESE	18
CHATFIELD DAM 2 NW	18
ARVADA 2.7 NNE	18
ARVADA 3.3 NNW	18
GOLDEN 9.4 WNW	18
AURORA 3 SW	18
ELIZABETH 4 NW	18
PINE 1.3 ENE	17.9
DENVER 6.3 SSE	17.8
AURORA 8 SE	17.8
ARAPAHOE PARK 2 NNW	17.8
WHEAT RIDGE 2.8 WSW	17.6
BENNETT 9.8 N	17.5
BOULDER 5.4 ESE	17.5
LAKEWOOD 4.3 NNW	17.5
ARVADA 0.8 W	17.2
BOULDER 5 SE	17
DENVER 1.3 E	17
CALHAN 10.6 N	17
RALSTON BUTTES 1.1 NNW	17
LITTLETON 4 W	17
CHERRY CREEK DAM 4.7 ESE	16.9
BERTHOUD 4.4 WSW	16.9
DENVER 3.6 NNW	16.8
ERIE 1.7 WNW	16.5
DENVER 3.6 WSW	16.1
BENNETT 4 SSE	16
CHERRY CREEK DAM 6.7 SE	16
AURORA 2.8 WSW	16
ERIE 1.9 WNW	16
MORRISON 2.9 ESE	16
FEDERAL HEIGHTS 2 SSE	16
DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT	15.9
LONGMONT 1.7 NNE	15.9
LAKEWOOD 0.9 SSW	15.8
THORNTON 5.4 NNE	15.5
AURORA 7.3 SE	15.5
BERTHOUD 5.2 SW	15.5
NIWOT 1 NW	15.5
LOVELAND 1.8 NW	15.4
AURORA 2.9 NW	15.3
GLEN HAVEN 7 N	15.1
THORNTON 7.5 ENE	15
DENVER 6.6 W	15
LAKEWOOD 4.3 NNE	14.6
SURREY RIDGE 3 NW	14.5
LOVELAND 4.0 W	14.4
THORNTON 2.1 N	14.3
GLEN HAVEN 1.2 N	14.3
DRAKE 5.3 WNW	14.1
LOVELAND 3.1 WNW	14.1
COMMERCE CITY 1.9 NNE	14
ESTES PARK 10.5 SE	14
NIWOT 2.3 W	14
DENVER 4.7 SW	14
FRANKTOWN 5.4 SE	13.9
LOVELAND 5.0 SW	13.8
THORNTON 2 NE	13.8
AURORA 7.6 ESE	13.5
LONGMONT 2.0 SSW	13.5
HOLYOKE 0.3 WSW	13.5
ERIE 1.6 NE	13.5
THORNTON 2.3 SSE	13.1
LONGMONT 2.1 N	13
BROOMFIELD 1.6 ENE	13
N LONGMONT	13
NE NORTHGLENN	13
HOLYOKE 0.4 SW	12.6
OTIS	12.5
LONGMONT 2.6 NE	12.3
LONGMONT 2.6 NW	12.2
LOVELAND 1.8 W	12.2
LOVELAND 5.3 WSW	12.2
LOVELAND 1.4 WSW	12.2
LOVELAND 2.4 SSE	11.9
LOVELAND 1.5 N	11.7
LOVELAND 1.7 W	11.6
LOVELAND 2.4 NW	11.5
LOVELAND 2.3 NW	11.5
FORT COLLINS 3.7 SW	11.3
LONGMONT 5.1 E	11.3
FORT COLLINS 2.8 WSW	11.1
LOVELAND 12.2 W	11.1
LOVELAND 2.4 NNW	11
ESTES PARK 2.2 S	10.9
LYONS 4.8 N	10.6
HYGIENE .79 N	10.1
LONGMONT 2.7 SW	10.1
FORT COLLINS 0.7 SSW	10.1
FORT COLLINS 4.6 N	10
LAPORTE 0.3 WNW	10
FREDERICK 1.1 SE	10
WOODROW 16.8 SSE	9.9
OTIS 6.4 WNW	9.8
LOVELAND 4 N	9.8
FORT COLLINS 1.8 SW	9.6
LONGMONT 8.2 ESE	9.5
FORT COLLINS 4.0 S	9.2
FORT COLLINS 3.3 SSW	9.2
BRIGHTON 4.0 WNW	9
LOVELAND	9
FORT COLLINS 5.4 N	8.9
LYONS 0.3 NNE	8.7
LOVELAND 3.0 NNE	8.7
MILLIKEN 2.5 NNW	8.7
FORT COLLINS 3.7 S	8.3
LOVELAND 3.8 SW	8.2
FORT COLLINS 0.9 SE	8
FORT COLLINS 2.8 NE	7.8
LOVELAND 3.4 NNE	7.5
FORT COLLINS 4.5 SSE	7.5
BERTHOUD 5.0 WSW	7.5
BAILEY 3 N	7.3
GREELEY 3.8 W	7
MILLIKEN 3.2 NNW	7
ESTES PARK 2.2 NE	6.7
STERLING 1.5 S	6.7
GREELEY 5.2 SW	6.5
BELLVUE 1 NW	6.4
BRUSH 0.8 S	6.2
LAKE GEORGE 7.2 WNW	6.1
GREELEY 10.5 SSE	6.1
LAKE GEORGE 7.5 WSW	6
HENDERSON 4.1 SSW	5.8
FORT COLLINS 10 SSE	5.6
BAILEY 6.4 NNW	5.5
IDAHO SPRINGS 4.9 NW	5
FORT COLLINS 4.8 SE	5
VIRGINIA DALE 7.2 SSW	5
HUDSON 4.8 WSW	5
STERLING 1.8 NW	4.7
HOLYOKE .59 SW	4.7
BLACK HOLLOW RESERVOIR 3.0 W	4.5
FORT MORGAN .7 SE	4.3
WINDSOR 3.4 SW	4.2
HILLROSE 2.5 SSW	4
GREELEY 6.6 E	3.8
TIMNATH 4.1 NNE	3.5
FAIRPLAY 2.7 WNW	3.3
JEFFERSON 12.1 SE	2.9
EATON 3.4 SE	2.9
PAGOSA SPRINGS 13.7 SSE	2
HARTSEL 12.0 S	1.8
BRECKENRIDGE 3.3 SE	1.5
TABERNASH 2.5 ENE	0.8
SILVERTHORNE 2.1 WSW	0.8
TABERNASH 1.9 W	0.5
SAN LUIS 8.8 SW	0.3
FRISCO 0.5 N	0.3
DILLON 0.6 WNW	0.3
PARSHALL 3.0 NNW	0.2

Finally, check out the post-storm visible satellite imagery showing most of Northeast Colorado buried under the fresh blanket of snow. Image courtesy of NASA Earth Observatory.

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National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

Post-Storm Summary of the February 2-4, 2012 Record Breaking Winter Storm