Powerful Pacific System Impacting the West; First Significant Snow for Portions of the East

Power Pacific system will continue to bring significant impacts for Pacific Northwest into northern California the remainder of the week. Dangerous coastal affects, heavy rain, flooding, strong winds, and higher elevation mountain snow continues. Meanwhile, a storm across the east is set to bring the first accumulating snow to many higher elevations of the Catskills into the central Appalachians. Read More >

Overview

A large and unseasonably moist low pressure system lifted across the Four Corners region March 18-20. Favorable southerly flow during the onset of the event produced moderate to heavy snow over the southern mountains and some southwest Colorado valleys. Once cooler air moved into the region during the latter half of the storm, snowfall began to favor the northern and central Colorado mountains. By the end of the event, generally 12 to 20 inches of snow fell over the Southwest San Juan Mountains with 3 to 8 inches across the Northwest San Juans. The Animas River Basin saw an average of 7 to 11 inches of snow while the San Juan River Basin received 6 to 7 inches. The Uncompahgre Plateau saw locally high amounts of up to 27 inches while portions of the west-central Colorado mountains saw 8 to 11 inches. In eastern Utah, the La Sal and Abajo Mountains received an average of 12 to 19 inches of snow.

In addition to heavy snow, wind gusts exceeded 45 MPH at times.