Winter storm warning for Denver and Boulder: How much snow could fall

Celeb Gist

A major, long-duration storm is ongoing near the Rockies and dumping heavy snow in Denver and the foothills and mountains to its west. The sprawling storm will affect not only Colorado: Winter weather alerts for snow stretch from the mountains of Arizona and New Mexico to Wyoming.

Through Thursday morning, snow amounts around Denver ranged from 3 to 10 inches, with up to 24 to 30 inches in higher elevations just to the west. The heaviest amounts are forecast in the mountains of Colorado, where some locations could see 4 feet. Amounts drop off quickly east of Denver, with very little snow accumulation as close as Denver International Airport, less than 20 miles from downtown.

Winter storm warnings are in effect in Denver, Boulder and Colorado Springs, where double-digit totals are predicted. Forecasts for parts of the region call for the most snow from a single storm since 2021.

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More than 16,000 customers were without power from around Denver to near Colorado Springs early Thursday, according to the online tracker PowerOutage.us. Colorado’s Department of Transportation reported that Interstate 70 was closed from Silverthorne to where it meets the western portion of State Highway 470 in the Denver metro area, as were numerous other roads in the region.

Here is a view of I-70 just west of Floyd Hill.

REMINDER: I-70 IS CLOSED from Denver to Silverthorne.

If you have to ask "How do I get there?", the answer is you can't. S1 pic.twitter.com/ZMODdNuRql

— CSP Golden (@csp_golden) March 14, 2024

“Don’t travel into the foothills! If you do, be prepared to be stranded for an extended period of time,” the Weather Service warned. “In Boulder and Denver metro, difficult travel and many neighborhood streets may become impassable.”

The most significant impacts are in a zone from near Boulder to west of Colorado Springs. There, the storm is reaching “extreme” Level 5 out of 5 impacts, including dangerous travel; widespread closings of roads, schools and businesses; and a threat of power outages.

The storm system also unleashed strong winds from eastern New Mexico to western Oklahoma, generating a dangerous fire threat. Farther to the east and northeast, severe thunderstorms spawned tornadoes and dropped baseball-size hail in northeastern Kansas. That threat spreads over a larger section of the Midwest on Thursday, spanning from Dallas to Ohio, with a strong tornado risk near and west of Little Rock.

The storm formed in the lee of the Rocky Mountains as the jet stream takes a sharp dip over the Intermountain West. As the storm strengthens, it continues to draw an abundance of moisture northward from the Gulf of Mexico.

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This surge of moisture is a critical ingredient in the prolific snowfall.

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Snow that has fallen so far

So far, heavy, wet snow has focused from the Boulder and Denver area southward to around Colorado Springs and into the higher terrain to the west. Totals include:

  • 16 inches in Rocky Flats (western Denver suburb)
  • 11 inches in Aurora (eastern Denver suburb)
  • 11 inches in Arvada (western Denver suburb)
  • 8 inches in northwestern Denver
  • 8 inches just west of Colorado Springs

The highest numbers can be found just west of the urban corridor:

  • 38.5 inches in Aspen Springs
  • 33 inches in Ward
  • 30 inches in Eldora
  • 22 inches in Evergreen
  • 20 inches in Cascade

How much more snow is predicted

The Weather Service is forecasting storm totals of 10 to 18 inches for Denver itself, and up to 2 feet in its western suburbs. In the mountains, a widespread 2 to 4 feet is anticipated.

After a lull following heavy snow overnight, additional totals of 5 to 10 inches were expected in Denver and up to another two feet in the mountains to the west, according to the Weather Service. Here are some forecasts for snow still to come:

  • Boulder: The forecast for the city 30 miles northwest of Denver calls for an additional 4 to 8 inches both Thursday and Thursday night. Snow ends early Friday.
  • Denver: Depending on where the measuring is done, the Mile High City is potentially looking at its biggest snowfall since March 2021. Additional snowfall of 3 to 5 inches is forecast Thursday and 4 to 6 inches Thursday night.
  • Evergreen: This Front Range town less than 40 miles southwest of Denver could see an additional 8 to 12 inches Thursday and 6 to 10 inches Thursday night. Temperatures finally nudge above freezing as snow ends Friday.
  • Cheyenne, Wyo.: Just across the border from Colorado, and about 100 miles north of Denver, Cheyenne sits near the edge of an area of predicted heavy snow. An additional 1 to 3 inches Thursday and 1 to 2 inches Thursday night will be blown around by wind gusts near 35 mph.
  • Colorado Springs: About an hour south of Denver on Interstate 25, Colorado Springs is also on the edge of more-substantial snow potential, although parts of the area should still see significant amounts. A fresh 3 to 5 inches Thursday and another 3 to 5 inches Thursday night are possible before flakes exit by midday Friday.

It’s prime time for heavy snow

Unlike in many places, late winter and early spring is prime time for snow in much of the Rockies and High Plains.

Brian Brettschneider, a climatologist based in Alaska, recently shared the image above on X, showing where March is the snowiest month of the year. Many of the locations threatened by this storm are included in areas of pink, where March ranks as either the snowiest or second-snowiest month.

Jason Samenow contributed to this report.

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