Heavy Snow — Elkhead and Park Mountains, Colorado

2025-01-04 to 2025-01-05 · Elkhead and Park Mountains, Colorado

Event narrative

Generally 8 to 16 inches of snow fell across the area with 20 to 27 inches of snow at Rabbit Ears Pass and Tower. Winds gusted up to 43 mph during the storm period and stayed below 45 mph.

Wider weather episode

A deep low pressure trough moved through the Great Basin and across western Colorado, pulling in remnants of a moderate Atmospheric River that lessened as it moved further inland. However, strong dynamics and instability from the low pressure trough helped overcome the lessening moisture and resulted in light to moderate snow across the central Colorado mountains, with moderate to heavy snowfall over the northern Colorado mountains, especially the Elkhead and Park Mountains, where snowfall amounts exceeded 1 to 2 feet in some areas. Cold air advection and northerly orographic flow on the back side of the trough led to moderate snowfall in the Uncompahgre Gorge of the Northwest San Juan Mountains as well as some moderate snow accumulations in some higher valley locations like Hayden.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1232999. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.