Fort Collins Weather



Fort Collins Snowstorms late 2006 to 2009



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This page includes small case studies on Front Range snowstorms affecting Fort Collins

November 28, 2006


Moderate snow occurred in the evening hours of November 28th (00z to 06z November 29th). The snow total was 7.4"

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Fort Collins snow picture

December 20-21, 2006

Moderate to heavy snow and blizzard conditions occurred in and around Fort Collins in this classic Front Range blizzard. Snow fell for nearly 24 hours, from about 10:00AM on December 20th to about 8:00AM on December 21st (17z December 20 to 15z December 21) The snow total was 19.9". Many areas of the foothills and mountains got over 3 feet of snow.

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500mb loop including a longer time span



Fort Collins snow picture


December 28, 2006

Heavy snow, more than 1" per hour, occurred in the evening and nighttime hours of December 28th (00z to 06z December 29). The snow total was 8.5". This was a classic blizzard for the southern Front Range area, northern New Mexico, and western Kansas. This was the second blizzard in 8 days for the Front Range area, although Fort Collins did not experience the strong wind or extreme snowfall as did the southern areas.

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Fort Collins snow picture


November 21-22, 2007


Moderate snow occurred in the overnight hours of November 20th and 21st (07z to 13z November 21) The snow total was 4.6".


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Fort Collins snow picture

December 27, 2007


1.2" of snow fell on Christmas. Then a second storm system with moderate snow occurred from the 4:00AM to about 4:00PM on December 27th (11z to 23z). The snow total was 6.2" on December 27th.



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Fort Collins snow picture

March 17, 2008

3.8" of wet snow occurred in the evening and nighttime hours of March 16th (01z to 06z March 17)


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500mb loop with a longer time span

Fort Collins snow picture


December 3-4, 2008

0.3" of snow fell on December 3rd. Then 6.3" of new snow fell in the overnight hours, 12:00 midnight to 6:00AM, on December 4th (07z to 13z). This storm was associated with a strong WNW to NW upper level flow througout the storm, with an arctic cold area in North Dakota, referred to as an arctic trough type storm.


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Fort Collins snow picture
Link to alternate snowfall total plot"


March 25-27 2009

7" of snow fell in the early morning through about noon on March 26th. Buckhorn Mountain, at 8320 feet, reported 19.9" of snow. This was a classic Front Range and southwestern Kansas blizzard.

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Fort Collins snow picture


April 3-5 2009

5.2" of snow fell on the morning of April 4th. This storm affected Denver with less snow than Fort Collins.

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Fort Collins snow picture

April 16-19 2009

A cold rain occurred at Fort Collins for 2 to 3 days. Wet snow occurred for several hours on April 17th, both in the morning and in the evening. This wet snow totaled only 2.3" even though it contained a lot of water, more than 0.2" of water. The rain total was over 2" because it was so steady. In the nearby mountains and foothills, that is, areas over 7000 feet elevation, all snow fell for 2 or 3 days and piled up several feet. Perhaps 12 to 24" of wet snow fell on Horsetooth Mountain at 7255 feet. Buckhorn Mountain, at 8320 feet, only 14 miles from Fort Collins, reported a whopping 47.8" of snow. This was a classic heavy snowfall for the foothills and mountains.

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Fort Collins snow picture


October 27-29, 2009

Light rain changed to snow on the evening of Tuesday October 27. 5.5" of snow was on the ground on the morning of October 28. By October 29, a total of 21.6" had fallen. Moderate winds accompanied this storm, all except for the northeast plains of Colorado, where some spots of blizzard conditions occurred. There were two main periods of snow at Fort Collins. A deep low at all levels of the atmosphere was created near the Four Corners as a strong northwesterly to northerly jet streak was situated in the Pacific Ocean and the Pacific Northwest and Great Basin. This deep low sat near the Four Corners for a long time. There was not a surface high in South Dakota or Minnesota with this storm, as a weaker low went near Montana and Saskatchewan.

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Fort Collins snow picture



November 14-15, 2009

Moderate to heavy snow occurred over a few hours on the night of November 14, and there was a total of 5.5" on the morning of November 15.

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Fort Collins snow picture

December 5-6, 2009

Moderate to heavy snow occurred over a few hours on the night of December 5 to the morning of December 6, and there was a total of 9.4" by the evening of December 6. The snow was very light and fluffy during the daytime hours of December 6 as well as December 7 with very cold temperatures.

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Fort Collins snow picture



December 22-24, 2009 - The Great Christmas Storm of 2009

Fort Collins got 6.9" of snow on late December 22, December 23 and early on December 24. This was part of the great Christmas storm of 2009, affecting all of the Midwest.

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Radar loop -Colorado area

Fort Collins snow picture

Purpose of this Web Site

The purpose is to provide high quality information on historical storms and provide links to weather information.