From the National Weather Service:

IN A MEMORABLE PERIOD OF BLIZZARDS…FIRES…FLOODS…SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND TORNADOES…FROM 2001 THROUGH 2010…THE MARCH BLIZZARD OF 2003 WAS A CONSENSUS TOP EVENT AS DETERMINED BY A TEAM OF METEOROLOGISTS SERVING THE STATE OF COLORADO.

FOLLOWING ARE THE SURVEY RESULTS OF THE TOP TEN WEATHER EVENTS AS RANKED BY METEOROLOGICAL INTENSITY AND HUMAN/ECONOMIC IMPACT….

1. MARCH BLIZZARD OF 2003…MARCH 17-19…2003. ACCORDING TO THE DENVER MAYOR…THIS STORM IS THE STORM OF THE CENTURY…A BACK BREAKER…A RECORD BREAKER…A ROOF BREAKER. DENVER EXPERIENCED THE SNOWIEST MARCH IN ITS HISTORY…AND THE STORM BROKE A STREAK OF 19 CONSECUTIVE MONTHS OF BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION IN DENVER. THE FOOTHILLS AND PALMER DIVIDE RECEIVED 3 TO 8 FEET OF SNOW…WITH 2 TO 3 FEET IN THE URBAN CORRIDOR AND METRO DENVER. DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT WAS CLOSED…AS WAS INTERSTATE 70 IN BOTH DIRECTIONS FROM DENVER…AND HUNDREDS OF ROOFS COLLAPSED DUE TO THE WEIGHT OF THE SNOW.

2. CHRISTMAS BLIZZARDS OF 2006…DECEMBER 20-21 AND DECEMBER 28-30 2006. MOTHER NATURE DELIVERED A ONE-TWO PUNCH AS LARGE SLOW MOVING STORMS DROPPED HEAVY SNOW ALONG WITH STRONG WINDS TO PRODUCE BLIZZARD CONDITIONS ON THE PLAINS. TOTAL COST OF LOST REVENUE…SNOW REMOVAL AND LIVESTOCK LOSSES FOR BOTH STORMS WAS ESTIMATED IN THE TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. THE RESIDUAL EFFECTS OF THE STORMS INCLUDED HUGE RUTS ON LOCAL STREETS IN THE DENVER METRO AREA FOR WEEKS…AND THE HEAVY SNOWPACK CREATED AN EXTREMELY COLD WINTER INTO EARLY SPRING FOLLOWED BY A FLOOD THREAT OVER SOUTHEAST COLORADO.

3. 2002 SUMMER OF FIRE…AS A RESULT OF RECORD DRYNESS FROM EARLY SPRING THROUGH THE SUMMER OF 2002…DOZENS OF WILDFIRES ERUPTED ACROSS THE STATE DURING THE LATE SPRING AND SUMMER. IN JUNE DURING THE HEIGHT OF THE FIRE ACTIVITY…THE GOVERNOR OF COLORADO PRONOUNCED…IT LOOKS AS IF ALL OF COLORADO IS BURNING TODAY…THE FIRES SCORCHED HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF ACRES…WITH COSTS IN THE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. SOME OF THESE FIRES INCLUDED TRINIDAD COMPLEX…THE HAYMAN FIRE…SOUTHWEST OF DENVER WHICH SET A RECORD AS THE LARGEST FIRE IN THE HISTORY OF COLORADO…THE MISSIONARY RIDGE FIRE NORTHEAST OF DURANGO…THE MILLION FIRE SOUTH OF SOUTH FORK…AND THE MOUNT ZIRKEL COMPLEX FIRE…NORTH OF STEAMBOAT SPRINGS.

4. THE WINDSOR TORNADO…MAY 22…2008. IN THE LATE MORNING A POWERFUL TORNADO RACED NORTH NORTHWEST FOR 39 MILES ACROSS WELD COUNTY BEFORE MOVING INTO EASTERN LARIMER COUNTY. DAMAGE WAS EXTENSIVE IN EASTERN WINDSOR AND WEST OF GREELEY. ONE PERSON WAS KILLED AT THE MISSILE SILO CAMPGROUND AND THERE WERE 78 INJURIES. THE TORNADO WAS RATED EF3 ON THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE DUE TO THE EXTENT OF DAMAGE NEAR THE MISSILE SILO CAMPGROUND. WITH INSURED DAMAGES REACHING 147 MILLION DOLLARS…THIS WAS THE FOURTH COSTLIEST DISASTER FOR COLORADO.

5. 2002 DROUGHT…DENVER EXPERIENCED 19 CONSECUTIVE MONTHS OF BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION…MUCH OF THE STATE SHARED IN THE DRY CONDITIONS. IN APRIL 2002…THE GOVERNOR REQUESTED A STATEWIDE EMERGENCY DROUGHT DECLARATION FROM THE U.S. AGRICULTURAL SECRETARY. AT THE END OF THAT MONTH THE SNOWPACK IN THE SOUTH PLATTE RIVER BASIN WAS 44 PERCENT…OTHER BASINS WERE EVEN LOWER. THE DRY CONDITIONS DIRECTLY SET THE STAGE FOR THE 2002 SUMMER OF FIRE.

6. HOLLY TORNADO…MARCH 28…2007. A LARGE TORNADO DEVELOPED JUST SOUTH OF HOLLY IN PROWERS COUNTY AND MOVED NORTH AT 50 MPH…INTO KIOWA COUNTY. IN HOLLY…THE TORNADO PRODUCED EF3 DAMAGE…WITH 200 STRUCTURES IN THE TOWN HEAVILY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED. THE TORNADO REMAINED ON THE GROUND FOR 28 MILES. TWO PEOPLE WERE KILLED…THE FIRST TORNADO FATALITIES IN COLORADO SINCE 1960.

7. 4 MILE FIRE…SEPTEMBER 5-13…2010. A WILDFIRE SPREAD RAPIDLY …FANNED BY ERRATIC 45 MPH WIND GUSTS…BURNING 3500 ACRES THE FIRST DAY…WITH A FINAL TALLY OF 6181 SCORCHED ACRES. THE FIRE BECAME THE MOST DESTRUCTIVE FIRE IN COLORADO HISTORY…DESTROYING 171 HOMES AND AND ESTIMATED COST OF 217 MILLION DOLLARS IN DAMAGE.

8. NORTHWEST METRO AREA HAILSTORM…JULY 20…2009. AFTER A CLEAR EVENING…A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPED RAPIDLY OVER THE NORTHWEST DENVER METRO AREA…TRACKING SOUTHEAST ACROSS ARVADA…WHEAT RIDGE …AND LAKEWOOD. DOWNBURST WIND GUSTS TO 80 MPH COMBINED WITH GOLFBALL HAIL PRODUCED DAMAGES OF 350 MILLION DOLLARS TO HOMES AND CARS. AS MANY AS NINETY THOUSAND HOMES AND BUSINESSES LOST POWER.

9. DIA HAILSTORM…JUNE 21…2001. A SEVERE HAILSTORM TRACKED ACROSS DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AND THE TOWN OF WATKINS…DROPPING GOLFBALL TO BASEBALL SIZED HAIL. PLANES AND A GROUND SURVEILLANCE RADAR WERE DAMAGED AT THE AIRPORT…WHILE 200 PEOPLE WERE LEFT HOMELESS WHEN THE SAME STORM MOVED THROUGH A MOBILE HOME PARK IN WATKINS. STATE FARM INSURANCE ESTIMATED THE HAILSTORM CAUSED NEARLY 17 MILLION DOLLARS IN DAMAGES.

“AND THERE WERE TWO EVENTS THAT WERE TIED FOR 10TH.”

10. ELLICOTT TORNADO…MAY 28…2001. MICROBURSTS AND TORNADOES RAGED ACROSS EASTERN EL PASO COUNTY THAT EVENING. ONE TORNADO DESTROYED NEARLY HALF OF THE JUNIOR-SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL. NEARLY 100 MOBILE HOMES…SOME OCCUPIED…WERE DESTROYED.

10. JULY 2005 HEAT WAVE…IN DENVER FROM THE 19TH TO THE 23RD THE HIGH TEMPERATURE EACH DAY CLIMBED ABOVE 100 DEGREES…WITH A HIGH OF 105 DEGREES ON THE 20TH WHICH TIED THE ALL TIME RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE FOR DENVER. IN THE MONTH THERE WERE 7 NEW RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES AT DENVER AND 4 NEW RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE RECORDS AT BOTH PUEBLO AND COLORADO SPRINGS. PUEBLO HAD 20 DAYS OF 90 DEGREES OR HIGHER …AND 12 DAYS OF 100 OR HIGHER.

Thanks to the Summit County Citizens Voice for the link.

From the Aurora Sentinel (Sara Castellanos):

“Snowpack totals early in the season aren’t generally considered a reliable indicator of the following year’s water supply,” Baker said. “Most of Colorado’s snow falls in the late winter and early spring.” [Greg Baker, spokesman for the city’s water department] said when snow falls in December it either melts off or evaporates, so it’s not necessary to test the levels until February. While parts of Colorado’s High Country have been pummeled with snow, some parts of southern Colorado are showing signs of drought, which may pose threats to the water supply in some cities. The U.S. Drought Monitor lists the entire Lower Arkansas Valley east of Pueblo as having severe drought conditions. The Rio Grande basin is categorized as abnormally dry. The areas have not seen significant rainfall since mid-summer.

The Pueblo Chieftain reports that the snowpack in the Rio Grande is the lowest in the state at 77 percent of average. In western Colorado, meanwhile, the Upper Colorado River basin is at 142 percent.

From The Aspen Times (Scott Condon):

The four ski areas are running between 13 and 22 percent above the 30-year average for snowfall in November and December to date, Skico spokesman Jeff Hanle said Monday. Snowmass has received 98 inches of snow in November and so far in December, with another storm forecast to hit before the new year…

Aspen Mountain received 90 inches of snow in November and December. The December storms that rolled in one right after another before Christmas deposited loads of wet, heavy snow that drastically boosted the ski areas beyond their 30-year averages, Hanle said. Snowfall totals were about average in November, although many locals felt it was wetter because the last few Novembers had been so dry. But December’s snowfall was between 16 and 42 percent above average for all local ski areas, according to Hanle. Snowmass enjoyed a particularly high bounty…

Snowpack figures tracked by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), a federal agency, are consistent with the Skico’s findings on its slopes. The agency measures snowpack at seven places in the Roaring Fork River basin, including a site between Aspen and the summit of Independence Pass. That site showed the snowpack was 132 percent of average on Monday. The sites include three in the Crystal River Valley and three in the Fryingpan River Valley. All were considerably above the 30-year average. In the Fryingpan, the Ivanhoe site was 136 percent of average; the Kiln site was 139 percent of average; and the Nast Lake site was at 139 percent of average. In the Crystal Valley, Schofield was at 149 percent of average; North Lost Trail near Marble was at 164 percent of average; and McClure Pass was at 147 percent of average. As a whole, the Roaring Fork River basin was at 145 percent of average on Monday. The NRCS data shows other impressive snowpack totals in other parts of the state as well. Rabbit Ears Pass near Steamboat was at 180 percent of average while Copper Mountain was at 191 percent of average. Wolf Creek was at 139 percent of average. Vail Mountain was at 103 percent of its average.