Winter Weather — Ne Weld County, Colorado

2023-01-17 to 2023-01-18 · Ne Weld County, Colorado

Event narrative

Storm totals ranged from 2 to 5 inches.

Wider weather episode

A wet winter storm produced widespread blowing and drifting snow across much of the urban corridor and northeast plains of Colorado. Much of the region received a prolonged period of light to moderate snow, with bands of heavy wet snow from the 17th through the 18th. At Denver International Airport, 9.2 inches of snowfall was observed along with 0.87 inches of precipitation. This was the 8th largest 2-day snow event for Denver in the month of January to date. The greatest impacts occurred east and northeast of Denver. Across much of the urban corridor and northeast plains, storm totals ranged from from 3 to 12 inches, with 4 to 9 inches in the mountains and foothills. Warming shelters were opened up in Denver and several school districts across the region were closed. At Denver International Airport, there were 263 flight cancellations and 134 delayed flights.

Snow and blowing snow caused whiteout conditions, along with drifting snow up to 3 feet deep. Along the Interstate 70 corridor east of Denver to the Kansas state line, several 20 to 80 car pile ups were reported. Numerous road closures were implemented across the northeast plains of Colorado, outside of the metro areas. The closures included: Interstate 76 from Sterling to Nebraska state line; CO 14 East of US Highway 85, US 138 Sterling to Julesburg, US 6 from Sterling to Nebraska state line, CO 52 from Fort Morgan to CO 14, CO 113 north of Iliff, CO 55 near Crook, CO 59 Sedgwick to Yuma, CO 385 Nebraska state line and Julesburg to Wray, CO 23 Holyoke to Nebraska state line, CO 11 north of Julesburg.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1076733. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.