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This entry was originally posted sometime around the end of March 2003. I have updated a few things and moved this into my blog as of Dec 27, 2006.
A textbook 'upslope' snowstorm struck Colorado's Front Range Foothills and urban corridor. The storm started gathering Monday, March 17 with rain and thunderstorms and even a tornado out on the eastern Plains. A strong northerly barrier jet formed along the Foothills, with gusty cold north winds blowing at the surface, while the upper level system continued to circulate very moist air up and over this low-level jet and into the mountains. Copious amounts of snow fell up and down the Front Range right over the major urban areas. The storm wrapped up on the 19th - by then the accumulations had grown to historic proportions. Because the temperatures were near freezing during the entire event, the snow was very wet and heavy. Some locations saw more than 6" of liquid water equivalent! The weight of the snow led to numerous roof collapses through the Front Range and caused millions of dollars of damage.
Denver-Stapleton (the measuring site for official Denver snowfall) measured 31.5" from the storm. This storm brings March snowfall to 33.0", making this the snowiest March on record. The official tally for Fort Collins (measured at the CSU campus weather station) was 31", making this the second greatest snowfall on record.
| Date | Fort Collins Total CSU (in) | Denver WSFO Total (in) | Note |
| May 5-6, 1978 | 27.5 | 12.4 | |
| Nov 20-21, 1979 | 22.0 | 17.7 | |
| Dec 27-28, 1979 | 16.6 | 6.0 | |
| Dec 24-25, 1982 | 4.5 | 23.8 | Up to 4 feet in Littleton |
| Nov 27, 1983 | 21.5 | ||
| Dec 8-10, 1985 | 18.8 | 9.9 | |
| Feb 1-5, 1989 | 10.0 | 4.0 | |
| Mar 6-7, 1990 | 17.0 | 11.8 | |
| Mar 8-9, 1992 | 16.7 | 12.4 | |
| Apr 24, 1997 | 6.2 | 2.3 | Foot or more in west part of Fort Collins, 29.8" at Buckhorn Mt. and 16.4" in Boulder |
| Oct 24-25, 1997 | 17.5 | 21.9 | |
| Mar 17-19 | 32.0 | 31.5 | The CSU campus station reported 5.29" total liquid from this storm (although 0.39" of this was mostly rain on the 17th)! |
Dec 1-6, 1913 46" Biggest Denver Snowstorm, but there was a break of more than a day in the middle of the storm, so this could be considered more properly as two storms.
Storm snowfall totals form the National Weather Service, archived here:
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
255 PM MST THU MAR 20 2003
...ADDITIONAL SNOW REPORTS...
...ALL REPORTS ARE IN INCHES...
MAXIMUM SNOWFALL STORM TOTAL: FRITZ PEAK/ROLLINSVILLE 87.5 9000 FEET
AVERAGE SNOWFALL MOUNTAINS/FOOTHILLS: 48.0
AVERAGE SNOWFALL URBAN CORRIDOR: 28.0
SNOWFALL
TIME LOCATION COUNTY STORM TOTAL
---------------------------------------------------------------
122 PM SEDALIA 5SW DOUGLAS 46.0
100 PM BROOMFIELD BROOMFIELD 31.0
1202 PM GEORGETOWN CLEAR CREEK 66.9
1049 AM STAPLETON-DENVER DENVER 31.5 OFFICIAL
1021 AM WIGGINS 1.5S MORGAN 17.0
905 AM CHATFIELD 5W JEFFERSON 62.6
900 AM ERIE 1NW BOULDER 21.5
858 AM DECKERS DOUGLAS 44.0
850 AM CARTER LAKE LARIMER 29.0
800 AM BOULDER 6E BOULDER 25.2
800 AM BROOMFIELD BROOMFIELD 30.5
800 AM IDAHO SPRING 10WNW CLEAR CREEK 66.1
700 AM WESTMINSTER JEFFERSON 31.0
400 AM ARVADA 52ND/WARD RD JEFFERSON 29.0
------------------------3/19/2003------------------------------
608 PM EL DORADO SPRINGS BOULDER 37.6
600 PM COAL CREEK CANYON JEFFERSON 71.8
530 PM BOULDER NOAA BLDG BOULDER 22.5
525 PM CABIN CREEK GILPIN 83.0
500 PM FRITZ PEAK GILPIN 87.5
438 PM BLACK HAWK 3N GILPIN 60.0
435 PM PARKER 6E DOUGLAS 37.0
420 PM SEDALIA 8W DOUGLAS 54.0
420 PM DECKERS DOUGLAS 46.0
417 PM TABERNASH GRAND 48.0
400 PM EVERGREEN 8NW JEFFERSON 72.9
400 PM CONIFER 4ENE JEFFERSON 69.0
349 PM LOVELAND 1SW LARIMER 24.5
300 PM STAPLETON-DENVER DENVER 29.5 OFFICIAL
250 PM MEAD 3E WELD 11.0
217 PM DENVER SW DENVER 35.0
208 PM BROOMFIELD BROOMFIELD 30.5
203 PM ARVADA JEFFERSON 32.0
158 PM ROLLINSVILLE GILPIN 87.5
130 PM EVERGREEN 8NW JEFFERSON 71.3
112 PM HIGHLANDS RANCH DOUGLAS 35.0
107 PM LOUISVILLE BOULDER 34.0
1254 PM LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN JEFFERSON 58.2
1249 PM JAMESTOWN 3W BOULDER 63.0
1226 PM KEN CARYL RANCH JEFFERSON 46.6
1213 PM BERGEN PARK 3SW JEFFERSON 74.0
1155 AM EVERGREEN 1SW JEFFERSON 53.2
1151 AM ALLENSPARK BOULDER 67.0
1145 AM BOULDER 7SW BOULDER 51.0
1143 AM GENESEE JEFFERSON 45.0
1142 AM FORT COLLINS 4E LARIMER 28.0
1138 AM BUCKLEY AFB ARAPAHOE 37.0
1045 AM THORNTON ADAMS 33.0
1040 AM BENNETT 4S ARAPAHOE 16.0
1038 AM FRITZ PEAK 1S GILPIN 82.5
1038 AM LARKSPUR 2W DOUGLAS 37.5
1035 AM ESTES PARK LARIMER 34.0
1033 AM ELIZABETH 6N ELBERT 22.0
1009 AM PARKER 6E DOUGLAS 38.0
952 AM DENVER INTL ARPT DENVER 17.0
950 AM RED FEATHER 1W LARIMER 64.0
950 AM PINE JUNCTION PARK 48.0
948 AM EVANS WELD 6.0
940 AM CONIFER 4ENE JEFFERSON 57.0
931 AM BAILEY 2NE PARK 45.0
928 AM WESTCREEK 1S DOUGLAS 27.0
924 AM HARTSEL 15SW PARK 28.0
919 AM FORT COLLINS 1S LARIMER 31.0
918 AM CENTENNIAL ARAPAHOE 38.0
915 AM KEENSBURG 4S WELD 18.0
912 AM BRIGHTON ADAMS 19.0
909 AM PARKER DOUGLAS 32.0
908 AM CHATFIELD 5W JEFFERSON 53.0
903 AM ALLENSPARK LARIMER 62.0
902 AM ESTES PARK 3SW LARIMER 42.0
901 AM FAIRPLAY PARK 11.0
900 AM BOULDER 7SW BOULDER 43.0
900 AM BUFFALO CREEK JEFFERSON 48.0
858 AM JAMESTOWN 2N WELD 12.0
855 AM HUGO 6W LINCOLN 5.0
850 AM DECKERS DOUGLAS 39.0
845 AM LIMON LINCOLN 6.0
834 AM BLACK HAWK 3N GILPIN 53.0
826 AM CASTLE ROCK DOUGLAS 36.0
826 AM LAKEWOOD JEFFERSON 36.0
825 AM FRANKTOWN DOUGLAS 30.0
825 AM HIGHLANDS RANCH DOUGLAS 32.0
818 AM ROLLINSVILLE GILPIN 70.0
815 AM FRITZ PEAK 1S GILPIN 75.0
813 AM CROW HILL PARK 35.0
806 AM ROXBOROUGH VILLAGE DOUGLAS 42.0
805 AM DENVER NW DENVER 31.5
804 AM NEDERLAND 4ENE BOULDER 44.0
800 AM ERIE BOULDER 22.0
800 AM LOUISVILLE BOULDER 30.0
751 AM WINTER PARK GRAND 62.0
745 AM EVERGREEN 1SW JEFFERSON 50.0
745 AM VIRGINIA DALE LARIMER 16.0
738 AM SEDALIA 10SW DOUGLAS 48.0
736 AM LONGMONT BOULDER 16.0
730 AM ANTERO RESERVOIR PARK 8.0
720 AM EVERGREEN 8NW CLEAR CREEK 65.0
717 AM GOLDEN 4SW JEFFERSON 50.5
715 AM BROOMFIELD BROOMFIELD 29.0
700 AM GREELEY WELD 8.5
700 AM BELLVUE LARIMER 40.0
700 AM STOVE PRAIRIE LARIMER 36.5
700 AM RUSTIC 9WSW LARIMER 33.0
700 AM BENNETT 4S ARAPAHOE 15.0
700 AM BYERS 5NE ADAMS 10.0
700 AM AURORA ARAPAHOE 40.3
700 AM GREELEY WELD 10.3
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