Winter Storm — C & Se Park County, Colorado

2006-12-28 to 2006-12-29 · C & Se Park County, Colorado

Event narrative

In South Park, storm totals included: 14 inches at Fairplay and 8 miles southwest of Lake George, with 11 inches, 12 miles southwest of Hartsel.

Wider weather episode

Another slow moving storm system moved from the Desert Southwest and into the Texas Panhandle. As it did, a deep easterly upslope flow occurred along the Front Range, with blizzard conditions developing over portions of the Northeast Plains of Colorado, mainly south of Interstate 76.

The heaviest snow fell along east facing slopes with storm totals up to 2 1/2 feet in the North Central Mountains and Front Range Foothills. Across the Interstate 25 Corridor storm totals ranged from 6 to 18 inches, heaviest near the Front Range Foothills and Palmer Divide. In the Northeast Plains, storm totals ranged from 3 to 6 inches.

Strong winds and snow brought blizzard conditions to plains of eastern Colorado, forcing the closure of Interstate 70 as well as several other roads and highways. Greyhound Bus Company was forced to cancel all trips out of Denver. Whiteout conditions were reported across eastern portions of Adams, Arapahoe and Elbert Counties, as well as Lincoln, Phillips and Washington Counties. Northerly winds 20 to 30 mph were common with gusts to 40 mph. Snow drifts reportedly ranged from 4 to 14 feet in depth. The heavy wet snow also caused a barn roof to collapse, at Shelton Dairy near La Salle. The roof collapsed under the weight of an estimated 3 to 4 feet of snow, killing one cow.

The total cost in lost revenue and snow removal from both storms, at Denver International Airport alone, was estimated in the tens of millions of dollars. The airport estimated up to $6.7 million in extra costs for contractors, overtime, equipment, deicing chemicals and other expenses. The storms cost the airport $4.6 million in concession revenues. United Airlines reported lost revenue of over $25 million while Frontier Airlines lost an estimated $12.1 million.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 4205. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.