NOAA National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

South Central and Southeast Colorado Spring Snow Storm

22-23 APR 2004

From late Thursday afternoon(22 APR 2004) through Friday evening(23 APR 2004), a relatively strong low pressure system was "parked" over the four corners region around southwest Colorado. The low pressure system began to weaken by Friday afternoon, as it moved through southern Colorado Friday afternoon and night. Below is a plot of estimated snowfall totals(storm event) based on NWS observations, NWS spotters, and high terrain SNOTEL data. A visible satellite image valid at 12pm MDT, Saturday, 24 APR 2004 shows the tight "snowfall to no snowfall" gradient in southern El Paso county, northern Pueblo county, and portions of the southeastern Colorado high plains. In these regions, much of the precipitation was in the form of rain. There was also an area of little or no snowfall in the eastern portion of the San Luis Valley and the western slopes of the Sangre De Cristo mountains in south central Colorado.

Estimated Snowfall Plot
Saturday("the day after") Satellite VisibleImage