Winter Weather — Elkhead and Park Mountains, Colorado

2024-10-20 to 2024-10-21 · Elkhead and Park Mountains, Colorado

Event narrative

Generally 4 to 11 inches of snow fell across the area with upwards of 11 inches at Tower and Rabbit Ears Pass.

Wider weather episode

A closed low pressure system dropped southward across eastern Utah from the Intermountain West, bringing significant snowfall to the eastern Uinta mountains before the system stalled near the Four Corners over northern Arizona. This allowed significant moisture to keep heavy snowfall ongoing over the San Juan Mountains for a few days before the low pressure system lifted northeast across west-central and northwest Colorado, bringing some additional snowfall to the northern and central mountains. The San Juan Mountains received the most snowfall due to the nearly stationary nature of this system with amounts upwards of 2 to 3 feet. Winds were also particularly strong over the southern mountains due to the presence of a strong upper level jet. This was the first significant winter storm of the season after a period of above normal warmth for early to mid October. Milder temperatures though kept snow levels above 8000 feet with most lower valleys seeing rain.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1220601. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.