Winter Storm — Upper Yampa River Basin, Colorado

2024-01-13 to 2024-01-15 · Upper Yampa River Basin, Colorado

Event narrative

Generally 12 to 20 inches of snow fell across the area with 20.3 inches at Oak Creek 0.4 W. Winds gusted in the 20s and 30s with a peak wind gust of 46 mph at Steamboat Springs Airport.

Wider weather episode

A moderately strong atmospheric river coming in from the west in conjunction with a low pressure system dropping southward out of the Pacific Northwest tracked along a strong northwest to southeast oriented jet. This led to significant snowfall across all mountain ranges of western Colorado with lesser amounts across the La Sals in southeast Utah. Some lower northwest and west-central higher valleys even saw moderate snowfall. Strong winds in the higher elevations continued to bring blowing and drifting snow as well as whiteout conditions and road closures to most mountain passes. A strong arctic front dropped in from the north late in the storms period, leading to some of the whiteout concerns and bringing continued snow in the Uncompahgre Gorge and north facing slopes. Snowfall was limited in the lower valleys due to cold arctic air being scoured out from the winds leading up to this system.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1162111. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.