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Mid-March storm dumps up to 5 feet of snow on Colorado (UPDATE)

Jesse Ferrell
AccuWeather
Thu, 14 Mar 2024 14:21 UTC
Snow piles up in Woodland Park. Debbie Kelley
© Debbie KelleySnow piles up in Woodland Park.
Portions of Interstate 70 were reopened late Thursday after being closed since the morning due to safety concerns during the snow.

"If you have to ask 'How do I get there?', the answer is, you can't," the Colorado State Patrol had warned during the closing on X.

Where the roads weren't closed, accidents abounded. Thursday morning, Denver Police and C-DOT Crews worked together to free a wrecked vehicle from the snow after it crashed into the concrete barrier on I-25 at Centennial.

Nederland, Colorado, reported 53 inches of snow -- over four feet -- from the storm. Most of the Denver Metro area had received 6 to 12 inches of snow by noon, while the airport recorded 5.7 inches, falling short of the biggest snowstorm this season, as 7.5 inches of snow fell on Oct. 28-29, 2023.


Comment: Update March 15

Denver7.com reports:
Thursday's snowstorm around Colorado was best measured in feet, not inches, with totals reaching beyond four feet in some locations.

Clouds are clearing out and you may even see some sunshine poking through today. Conditions will warm up and dry out through Tuesday, when a weak storm system might bring some light snow to the mountains, according to the National Weather Service.

Temperatures on Friday are well above freezing and snow is already starting to melt around the Denver metro area — something that will continue as highs will stay in the 40s, 50s and 60s for the foreseeable future.

The NWS is continuing to update its snow totals map. As of now, the list tops out at 61.5 inches in Aspen Springs, a community just north of Black Hawk.

We have collected a list of snow total data from the NWS of more than 300 locations.

These are the totals for the past 48 hours as of 3 p.m. Friday, according to the latest data from the NWS:

Aspen Springs (community near Black Hawk): 61.5 inches
1 W Aspen Springs: 57
4 ENE Nederland: 53
4 SE Pinecliffe: 50.7
1 WSW Eldora: 46
1 NNW Genesee: 45.7
3 W Jamestown: 45.5
1 SW Manitou Springs: 44
4 NE Nederland: 43.5
1 NE Divide: 42
1 SSW Crescent Village: 42
4 SSE Pinecliffe: 41.2
1 NNE Echo Lake: 41
1 SSE St. Mary's Glacier: 40.5
1 N Genesee: 40
2 W Pennock Pass: 40
2 SSE Manitou Springs: 40
1 S Manitou Springs: 40
4 W Conifer: 39.5
4 E Aspen Springs: 36
Aspen Park: 36
2 S Estes Park: 36
1 SSW Rollinsville: 36
6 ESE Hillside: 36

(More here)


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Two New Zealanders die in avalanche in Japan

Maroosha Muzaffar
Independent (UK)
Tue, 12 Mar 2024 11:32 UTC
The avalanche hit Mount Yotei in Hokkaido, Japan, on Monday, killing two people from New Zealand.
© Jun AsanoThe avalanche hit Mount Yotei in Hokkaido, Japan, on Monday, killing two people from New Zealand.
Two people from New Zealand died in an avalanche in Mount Yotei in Japan on Monday, police said.

A third person, also caught in the avalanche, sustained a shoulder injury.

Police in Japan confirmed that two foreigners "have sadly passed away" following an avalanche, New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

A spokesperson said: "The New Zealand embassy has offered consular support to the families of those involved."

The two New Zealand nationals lost their lives while skiing in the backcountry of Mount Yotei, approximately 90km from the city of Sapporo in Hokkaido island.
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Man dies in avalanche while skiing in Kananaskis, Alberta


The Weather Network
Mon, 11 Mar 2024 11:21 UTC
Avalanche locator map
© Robson Fletcher/CBCAvalanche locator map
A 19-year-old man from Kelowna, B.C., was killed in an avalanche in Alberta's Kananaskis Country on Sunday, according to Canmore RCMP.

Police said the avalanche happened around 1 p.m. on a mountain known as The Tower, about 25 kilometres south of Canmore and just east of Mount Engadine Lodge.

"One of the males was able to escape by digging himself out of the snow; however, the second male was buried," the RCMP said in a news release.

Police said they recovered and the man's body on Monday morning with the assistance of Kananaskis Mountain Rescue.
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Five skiers found dead and one missing in Swiss Alps during snow storm

Imogen Foulkes
BBC
Mon, 11 Mar 2024 18:44 UTC
mmmmmmmm
The bodies of five missing skiers have been found in the Swiss Alps, police have said.

Local authorities are still searching for a sixth person.

A huge search and rescue operation was launched on Saturday after the group went missing near the 3,706m high Tete Blanche mountain.

They had set off from Zermatt, home of the famous Matterhorn mountain, on a ski tour towards Arolla along the Swiss-Italian border.

Five of the six skiers were found at 21:20 local time (20:20 GMT) "without any signs of life," a statement from Swiss Valais canton police said.

Authorities had previously told the BBC that the skiers were all Swiss nationals, and range in age from 21 to 58 years old.

Local police said teams on both sides of the route were alerted but severe weather was hampering the operation.
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Wintry weather hits south of Spain


Euronews
Sun, 10 Mar 2024 13:03 UTC
NNNNNNNNNNNNN
Five provinces in the region of Andalucía are under alert for rain, snow, wind or rough sea conditions.

Spain's state Met Office Aemet has warned of a weekend of unsettled and "wintry weather" this weekend in five of Andalucía's provinces.

Storm Monica has caused rough rain, snow, wind or rough sea conditions and is due to continue until Sunday night.

Since 10am on Saturday, much of Andalucia has under yellow and amber alert - making the impact of the weather as low (for yellow warnings) to severe (for amber), with some disruption to travel.

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Storm dumps up to 90cms of snow on Newfoundland, Canada

Eddie Sheer
ntv.com
Sat, 09 Mar 2024 12:31 UTC
Credit for the image above goes to Edgar Slade in Western Bay, NL
Credit for the image above goes to Edgar Slade in Western Bay, NL
A late-season storm brought heavy snowfall to eastern and northeastern Newfoundland from late Thursday through early Saturday morning. Significant amounts of ice were also observed over southern Avalon and Burin Peninsulas on Thursday night and Friday morning.

Here is a preliminary list of snowfall totals from around the region:

Kilbride: 90.0 cm
Bay Roberts: 80.5 cm
Paradise: 79.7 cm
Victoria (CBN): 79.0 cm
St. John's East: 78.0 cm

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Record snowfall blasts North Platte, Nebraska - 17.4 inches in a day


North Platte Post
Sat, 09 Mar 2024 13:56 UTC
Record snowfall impacts North Platte
Record snowfall impacts North Platte Thursday
A winter storm rolled into the area yesterday evening and blasted North Platte with snow. The snow began falling just around 5:00pm Thursday and as the evening progressed, the snow came flying down.

According to the National Weather Service, North Platte Office, a new single-day record was shattered when the weather service reported at 6:00am that 17.4" of snow was recorded. The previous record 13.9" that was set on January 18th, 2023.

Nebraska Department of Transportation crews are still clearing roads and travel is not advised. I-80 westbound is still closed from Paxton to Kearney while I-80 eastbound is closed from Sidney to Gothenburg. Highway 30 is also closed from Ogallala to Gothenburg. click here for the latest road conditions.

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Avalanche forecaster Nick Burks killed in avalanche near Anthony Lakes, Oregon


SnowBrains
Thu, 07 Mar 2024 13:40 UTC
Anthony Lakes, OR. |
Anthony Lakes, OR.
At approximately 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 6, an avalanche accident occurred on the north side of Gunsight Mountain (8,342′) in the Elkhorn Mountains near Anthony Lakes, Oregon.

Nick Burks, an avalanche forecaster with the Northwest Avalanche Center and a part of the snow safety team at Mt. Hood Meadows ski area, was killed due to trauma sustained in the slide.

The Central Oregon Avalanche Center shared the news of the slide on Thursday, March 7, writing on social media that its staff was deeply saddened to announce the death of Burks and stating that a full investigation and report will be forthcoming in the coming days.

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Massive snowstorm leaves high avalanche danger in the Alps after 2 meters of snow fell


Planetski.eu
Tue, 05 Mar 2024 18:59 UTC
Erezberg avalanche.
Erezberg avalanche.
Huge amounts of snow have fallen in parts of the south west Alps. An avalanche struck an open piste in Saas-Grund in Switzerland killing a skier.

A 16-year old boy died in Italy. Some resorts remain closed with disruption to transport. UPDATED

A skier was buried by an avalanche on the pistes in the Kreuzboden-Hohsaas area of Saas-Grund in Switzerland on Saturday.

The avalanche risk was at Level 3 - considerable.

According to the cantonal police an avalanche occurred at around 11:40 a.m. and hit the slope above the mountain restaurant in Hohsaas.

The avalanche caught a skier traveling on the 1a "Gletscher Hohkraut" run and buried him under a meter of snow.


Comment: The same source reports on March 4:
The storm that hit the south-western Alps over the weekend has delivered some truly staggering snowfall totals in places.

Much more than originally predicted.

"Some areas have seen between 1- 2m of new snow in the last three days, and in some cases 1m or more in just 24 hours alone," said Fraser Wilkin from weathertoski.co.uk



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Here's how much snow fell during the Sierra blizzard in California - up to 10.5 feet


nbcbayarea.com
Mon, 04 Mar 2024 11:45 UTC
California blizzard hits Sierra Nevada mountains and closes key highway
California blizzard hits Sierra Nevada mountains and closes key highway
A powerful blizzard that pounded the Sierra Nevada over the past several days dumped well over 100 inches of snow in some locations, according to the National Weather Service.

Here's a breakdown of how much snow piled up between 4 a.m. Thursday and 4 a.m. Monday in the following locations, per the weather service.

Sugar Bowl: 126 inches
Soda Springs Caltrans: 116 inches
Kingvale Caltrans: 106 inches
Palisades Tahoe: 93 inches
Dodge Ridge: 89 inches
Sierra Snow Lab: 75.2 inches
Boreal: 74 inches

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