Weather Story
As a strong spring storm slowly pulls away from Colorado this morning, the wind will remain strong, with damaging gusts on the eastern Plains.
Snow accumulations are coming in on the low end of our forecast, primarily because of the warm nature of the storm. Normally with storms in southern Colorado, we get something called evaporational cooling early in the storm. This happens because the low and even sometimes low-mid levels of the atmosphere are relatively dry, while the mid and upper levels are wet. When precipitation falls through the dry air, it evaporates into it, which cools the air. Many of our spring storms use this mechanism of cooling. This is also how swamp coolers work.
In this case, much of the atmospheric column has been wet, which limited evaporational cooling. Because we were so warm on Monday, the lack of cooling led to a period of heavy overnight snow that didn't accumulate on the roads with the snow level ending up being around 6,500 feet. The wind is largely coming in as expected with widespread gusts of 50-60 mph this morning over the east plains.
Road Conditions
Per CDOT: Highway 24 is closed in both directions from just east of Falcon until Limon.
See One Of The Reasons Why Highway 24 Was Shut Down Tuesday In The Video Player Below
Weather Blog
11:20 A.M. UPDATE
8:50 A.M. UPDATE
Colorado Springs Utilities is reporting a power outage this morning that is affecting around 2200 customers along South Academy Boulevard and Highway 115. Click here for the outage map.
UPDATE: All overnight electric outages have been resolved except for a few small areas. Currently, there is an outage affecting approximately 2200 customers in the area of S. Academy Blvd. & 115. Our crews will continue to work until all customers are restored. https://t.co/pnFxr2mQIN pic.twitter.com/hYz2qCj1d4
— Colorado Springs Utilities (@CSUtilities) March 4, 2025
8:20 A.M. UPDATE
According to the Elbert County Office of Emergency Management, the Town of Simla and surrounding areas are experiencing power outages. The office says crews with Mountain View Electric Association are working to restore
power after downed power lines and poles are causing disruptions.
Power Outage Update – Simla & Southeastern Elbert County
— Elbert County OEM (@ElbertCountyOEM) March 4, 2025
Mountain View Electric Association (MVEA) crews are actively working to restore power to the Town of Simla and surrounding areas in southeastern Elbert County after high winds caused downed power lines and poles.…
7:30 A.M. UPDATE
Strong winds continue across Southern Colorado. Highway 24 remains closed at this hour. Check out the 20-minute timelapse from behind our Rockrimmon Studio of the clouds whirling through the area in the video player below.
6:00 A.M. UPDATE
Widespread strong wind reports have been coming in this morning from various official observation sites. Many gusts in the 60+ mph range across the Pikes Peak Region:
5:00 A.M. UPDATE
The National Weather Service has rescinded its previous blizzard warnings, as snow winds down this morning and low pressure moves into western Kansas. We'll continue to see the potential for damaging wind gusts across much of eastern Colorado. A High Wind Warning will remain in effect until 5 pm Tuesday.
10 P.M. UPDATE
With snowfall expected throughout the evening. We are keeping an eye on conditions on the roads. Here's a look at conditions on Monument Hill:
WATCH: Snowfall expected throughout the evening, live look at conditions on Monument Hill
HIGH WIND WARNINGS are in effect from 2 a.m. until 5 p.m. Tuesday for most of the plains. A BLIZZARD WARNING is in effect from 7 p.m. Monday until 3 p.m. Tuesday for northern El Paso County.
For the snow alerts, WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES are in effect in purple, and a WINTER STORM WARNING in pink is in effect until Tuesday late morning or early afternoon.
Check on current conditions in our interactive radar:
Track this storm through the morning, including snow totals and updated forecasts, on the First Alert 5 Weather stream, which can be viewed on the KOAA News5 app for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV or AndroidTV.
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