Rare February Blizzard Rages in Denver

Published: February 3rd, 2012

For the millions of Americans who have been wondering where winter is, look no further than Colorado, which has been blasted by 1 to 2 feet of wind-whipped snow during the past 24 hours. The storm responsible for the snow and wind is also causing severe thunderstorms in Texas and Oklahoma, with the threat of tornadoes Friday. Overnight, heavy snow is expected to fall across Nebraska, including Lincoln, Grand Isle and Omaha, with up to a foot of snow expected.

A snowy Denver neighborhood. Credit: dmooneyham/Instagram.

According to the National Weather Service, Gilpin County, Colorado, has already received 34.5 inches of snow, and 26.5 inches have fallen in Ward, Colorado, with 16 inches in Boulder, a foot in Denver, and 18 inches at Sand Creek Reservoir in Wyoming.

While snow in Colorado isn't unusual, it's rare for Denver and eastern Colorado to get a storm of this magnitude during February. Most of Denver's snow comes during the fall and spring, and this storm may break records for the biggest February snowstorm.

To make the all-time top 10 list of storms in Denver, however, more than 22.1 inches would need to fall, which doesn't appear likely. According to the Associated Press, the city's heaviest snowfall on record was 45.7 inches, recorded in 1913.

The storm has forced the closure of large parts of Interstate 70 between eastern Colorado and Denver, and road conditions will worsen in Nebraska as the snow moves in. The storm has also hampered air travel at Denver International Airport, and may have played a role in a Learjet accident at Pueblo Airport, which caused no serious injuries. An avalanche warning was issued east of the Continental Divide, with a high risk of avalanches Friday.

Map showing areas of unusual warm weather (orange/red) and cold (blue/purple) between Jan. 26 and Feb. 1. The circles highlight the cold temperatures in Alaska and Europe. Credit: NOAA/ESRL.

This spring-like storm comes in the midst of a very unusual winter, with much milder than average temperatures and below average snowfall affecting most of the U.S., and extreme cold bottled up in Alaska. Many U.S. cities are on track to set marks for the least snowiest winter on record.

Recently, cold air has spilled into Europe, causing a rare snowfall in Rome, and killing dozens in Ukraine, Poland, and other countries in Eastern Europe as temperatures dipped well below zero Fahrenheit.

Writing for weather.com, Stu Ostro, a senior meteorologist at The Weather Channel, said that a combination of natural and manmade factors may account for this winter weather pattern, as well as the extreme weather trends seen during the past several winters:

"Weather extremes have existed for as long as there has been weather on Earth. That’s a fundamental reason why as a meteorologist who is routinely observing them I was so skeptical for so long that anything was out of the ordinary."

"However, increasingly during the past decade or so, the extremes have been so frequent, and so extraordinary, and sometimes even at the same time and in such close geographical proximity to each other, that I have become convinced that something ain’t right. That while there have always been extremes, their nature is changing."

Posted in Climate, Snow & Ice, Weather, Extreme Weather, United States, Plains, Rockies, West, Extreme Planet

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Comments

By dan in illinois
on February 3rd, 2012

Okay, I admit I don’t know a lot about Colorado weather, having only been there on vacations, business, etc. But is a February blizzard in Colorado really that out of the ordinary?

By Andrew
on February 3rd, 2012

Hi Dan,

Yes, a February blizzard in Denver is quite rare, as the article states. Their snowiest months occur in the beginning and the end of what the rest of us consider the winter season, particularly in March/April. The track/characteristics of this storm are unusual for this time of year.

By dan in illinois
on February 4th, 2012

Hi, Andrew.

Hmmm… Seems odd. I recall going skiing several times in February at mountains outside of Denver. There was always a good snowbase and snowstorms occurred without anyone thinking it was out of the ordinary.

By Andrew
on February 4th, 2012

Dan - the snowstorm was Denver’s largest snowstorm ever recorded during the month of February, with more than 15 inches. Yes, it’s normal for the ski areas in the Rockies to have snow and get more snow during February, but a blizzard dropping 1-2 feet of snow from Denver north and east to Nebraska and Kansas is not as typical during this month. Also, this storm spawned severe thunderstorms in Texas and other states, which is also rare for Texas at this time of year.

-A

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Andrew Freedman

Andrew Freedman is a senior science writer for Climate Central, focusing on coverage of extreme weather and climate change. Prior to working with Climate Central, Freedman was a reporter for C...