Blizzard — Cheyenne County, Colorado

2024-01-08 · Cheyenne County, Colorado

Event narrative

A widespread area of snow moved over the eastern half of Cheyenne County producing nearly four hours of blizzard conditions. Conditions were mainly observed in the eastern half of the county with a mesonet station in Firstview reporting gusts up to 60 mph and visibility of one-quarter mile and less observed. High wind gusts of 58 to 60 mph were reported over a ten minute duration between 1:44 PM and 1:54 pm MST. Total snowfall ranged from a trace over towns as far west as Kit Carson to one inch south of Cheyenne Wells. Highway 385 had to be closed for a few hours from Cheyenne Wells to Burlington due to road conditions.

Key impacts: limited visibility, snow packed roads, blowing and drifting snow.

Wider weather episode

A widespread area of snow moved over portions of Kit Carson and Cheyenne counties producing blizzard conditions up to four and a half hours and up to two inches of snow. Winds gusted up to 60 mph across the two counties, with the peak gust and snow amount observed in Burlington, Colorado. Highway 385 from Cheyenne Wells to Burlington, as well as Interstate 70 from Burlington to Kansas, had to be closed for a few hours due to the hazardous road conditions.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1154808. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.