Winter Weather — Upper Gunnison River Valley, Colorado

2021-12-30 to 2021-12-31 · Upper Gunnison River Valley, Colorado

Event narrative

Generally 3 to 9 inches of snow fell across the area with locally higher amounts near a foot estimated at Cerro Summit.

Wider weather episode

A broad Pacific trough slowly moved inland across the western United States. Unsettled westerly flow out of this system, paired with a series of embedded disturbances, resulted in a prolonged period of moderate to heavy snow in the higher elevations. A strong cold front produced heavy snow bands, one of which sat over west-central Colorado for several hours. Winds gusted up to 55 mph in the mountains and up to 40 mph in the valleys. Bitterly cold temperatures moved into the region in the wake of the trough's passage on New Year's Day.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 990972. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.