Blizzard Conditions Are Forecast Across Parts of the Northern Plains and Upper Great Lakes

In the north-central U.S., a strong storm will continue to bring heavy snow and gusty to high winds over parts of the northern Plains and Upper Midwest tonight before moving across the Great Lakes with heavy lake effect snow Wednesday into Thanksgiving Day. Read More >

Overview

A strong winter storm brought widespread rain and snow to much of Eastern Utah and Western Colorado between February 26 and 28, 2017. This complex storm system arrived over the region from two different areas. Moisture, associated with another "atmospheric river" got swept northeast across our region, bringing rain and snow to Southeast Utah and Southwest Colorado.

At the same time, a strong cold front was moving very slowly south across Northeast Utah and Northwest Colorado. The moisture streaming northeast rode over the top of the cold air, resulting in a band of heavy snowfall along and just south of the front. The cold front slowly sagged into the Interstate 70 Corridor early on February 28th, bringing moderate snowfall to the valleys with heavy snow for the central mountains. Grand Junction got in to the snow game as well with spotters reports ranging from 1 to 3 inches.

The cold front and snow continued pushing south in the Montrose area and eventually slid through Cortez, Durango and Pagosa Springs Tuesday night (Feb 28, 2017). The entire time the cold front was moving south, rain and snow was falling over the mountains and valleys of Southwest Colorado, where snowfall amounts exceeded 3 feet in a few mountain locations with up to 10 inches for the valleys.

Radar Loop showing cold front moving slowly south through I-70 Corridor

Radar image showing cold front aligned near Interstate 70 (I-70) during the early morning hours of February 28, 2017. Moderate to heavy snow was reported under the darker green bands.


Dolores, CO (Credit: Mike Hill)	Highway 160 near Cortez (Credit: CDOT)	Near Pagosa Springs, CO (Credit: Jenny Lynn Heckmann)

Photos & Video
Storm Reports

Photos & Video:

Snow photos from around the area


Collbran, CO (Credit: Karen Clifton)	Fruitvale, CO (Credit: John Painter)	Rifle, CO (Credit: Patti Huffmon-Soles)	Mancos, CO (Credit: Krista Boardman)

More snow images from around the region


Pagosa Springs, CO (Credit: Jenny Lynn Heckmann)	Snow falling at the Weather Forecast Office in Grand Junction, CO (Credit: Jeff Colton)	After the Storm photo of fresh snow along Highway 65 on the Grand Mesa (Credit:CDOT)	Near Pagosa Springs, CO (Credit: Jason Coward)

Storm Reports

Total snowfall map from the February 26 to 28, 2017 Winter Storm

Media use of NWS Web News Stories is encouraged!
Please acknowledge the NWS as the source of any news information accessed from this site.

GJT RSS Feed

Blizzard Conditions Are Forecast Across Parts of the Northern Plains and Upper Great Lakes

February 26-28 Winter Storm Summary