Biggest snowstorm of the season shocks Fort Collins with nearly 10 inches of snow

Miles Blumhardt, Fort Collins Coloradoan
·4 min read
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Update: 6 a.m. Tuesday: Fort Collins officially received 8.8 inches of snow Monday at the city's weather station on the CSU campus.

Original story:

It came as a big surprise early Monday morning when residents in Fort Collins and the surrounding area woke up to heavy snow falling and strong wind.

It wasn't forecast to happen this way, but the result was the city's and surrounding area's largest snowfall of the season. Colorado State University closed, multiple vehicles slid off roads and the heavy, wet snow needed to be plowed and shoveled.

Here is a breakdown of unofficial snowfall totals, why the snowfall forecast was so far off and where we are with snowfall locally and in the mountains after Monday's storm.

Snowfall totals for Fort Collins and surrounding area impressive

These snowfall totals are not yet official and will increase slightly, as some snow fell after these reports were collected from 7 to 11 a.m. by the National Weather Service and Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network.

That being said, here were reported snowfall totals available as of Monday afternoon:

Fort Collins and surrounding area snowfall totals

  • Windsor (1 mile south): 11 inches

  • Timnath (2 miles west-northwest): 10.8 inches

  • Windsor (1 mile east-northeast): 10.5 inches

  • Fort Collins: (5 miles north-northeast): 10 inches

  • Fort Collins (2 miles northwest): 9.6 inches

  • Fort Collins (CSU campus, official weather station): 8.8 inches

  • Severance (1 mile southwest): 8.8 inches

  • Milliken (1 mile west-northwest): 8.7 inches

  • Eaton (4 miles west-northwest): 8.5 inches

  • Laporte (4 miles east): 8.2 inches

  • Timnath (4 miles north-northeast): 8.2 inches

  • Wellington (1 mile northwest): 8.1 inches

  • Loveland (3 miles east): 7.5 inches

  • Fort Collins (1 mile south-southwest): 7.4 inches

  • Fort Collins (1 mile southeast): 6.8 inches

  • Greeley (1 mile east): 6.8 inches

  • Longmont (2 miles northeast): 6.8 inches

  • Horsetooth Mountain (4 miles east-northeast): 6.5 inches

  • Loveland (3 miles west-northwest): 6 inches

  • Estes Park (2 miles south): 3.3 inches

Other cities/areas

  • Winter Park: 3 inches

  • Boulder: 2 inches

  • Denver International Airport: 1.4 inches

  • Denver: 1 inch

Why Fort Collins received way more snow than forecast

The National Weather Service had forecast 1 to 4 inches of snow for Fort Collins.

What the weather service didn't expect was a band of snow parking over the city and surrounding area early Monday morning. The weather service said the area received snowfall of 2 inches per hour from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. and 1 inch per hour before and after that period.

Caitlyn Mensch, National Weather Service meteorologist in Boulder, said the heavy snow over Fort Collins was due to a convergence zone parking over the city.

That's when wind in different directions intersects, creating lift, which increases snowfall.

"The predictability of where those bands will set up is hard to forecast," she said. "This stationary band set up directly over Fort Collins."

By mid-morning, the snow had moved off southeast of the city, leaving behind slushy and icy roads. Fort Collins, Loveland and Windsor all went on accident alert Monday morning.

More:What to know about shoveling snow in Fort Collins following a storm

Where Monday's snowfall ranks for Fort Collins this season and where the city sits with snowfall for the season

  • The official snowfall total is 8.8 inches.

  • The most snow in any one day this season before Monday was 4.8 inches on Jan. 18. The only other snows more than 4 inches were 4.2 inches on March 25 and on Nov. 29.

  • Fort Collins averages 9.4 inches of snow in March, the snowiest month on average.

  • We had 4.2 inches of snow in March before Monday's storm. After official snowfall totals from Monday's storm, we are at 13 inches.

  • Average snow for this time of the season is 42.5 inches. After Monday's storm we are at 42 inches on the season.

  • Average for the entire snow season for the city is 51.4 inches.

More:Why were Poudre School District schools open Monday during the biggest storm of the year?

Colorado's mountains looking at record to near-record snowpack

Here is a look at the state's snowpack in relation to average by basin before Monday's storm, which mostly helped the South Platte Basin:

  • Statewide: 141%

  • South Platte (Fort Collins, Denver): 107%

  • Laramie/North Platte: 130%

  • Yampa/White: 147%

  • Upper Colorado headwaters: 134%

  • Gunnison: 166%

  • San Miguel/Delores/Animas/San Juan: 183%

  • Upper Rio Grande: 139

  • Arkansas: 97%

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Fort Collins area snow totals far surpass forecast