Winter Weather — Northwestern San Juan Mountains, Colorado

2025-03-05 to 2025-03-07 · Northwestern San Juan Mountains, Colorado

Event narrative

Generally 7 to 10 inches of snow fell across the area with locally higher amounts up to 15 inches at Red Mountain Pass. 9.5 inches of snow was measured at the Monument site in the Uncompahgre Gorge along Highway 550. Winds generally gusted in the 45 to 70 mph range at elevations above 12,000 feet with a peak wind gust of 72 mph at Telluride Ski Resort Gold Hill on March 6 at 19:00.

Wider weather episode

A deep closed low pressure system moved through the Great Basin into the Four Corners region on the heels of another system. This low brought deep Atmospheric River moisture from the Desert Southwest through the Four Corners ahead of it, along with impressive dynamics and a strong jet to produce moderate to heavy snowfall across most mountain ranges of eastern Utah and western Colorado where the highest amounts of 1 to 2 feet of snow fell across the mountains of eastern Utah and southwest Colorado. Temperatures remained mild enough that most lower valleys saw primarily rain, limiting snowfall accumulations. Winds were quite strong as well with gusts in the mountains in the 60 to 80 mph range on average, leading to impacts from blowing snow.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1248505. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.