A large, slow moving, moist system set up over the southern Great Plains on the 17th and brought persistent rain and snow to southern Colorado from the evening of the 17th to the morning of the 20th.  Most of the accumulating snow fell above 6000 feet, which included the central and southeast mountains and high valleys...as well as the adjacent plains.  Areas hardest hit by snow on the plains were the northern half of El Paso county and from southern Pueblo county to the New Mexico state line.  Snow amounts just north of Colorado Springs reached above 3 feet, while the official reading at the airport was just 1.7 inches.  Many areas around Trinidad in Las Animas county received over 1 foot of snow with Huerfano county snow amounts close to the mountains ranging from 1 1/2 feet to nearly 4 feet.  In addition, sustained winds of 20 to 40 mph caused considerable blowing and drifting of snow, and blizzard conditions at times, closing several highways and portions of Interstate 25.  Snow drifts of 4 to 10 feet were common across portions of northern El Paso county, north of Colorado Springs.Heavy snow accumulations pushed over the Sangre de Cristo mountains into the San Luis Valley and into the Upper Arkansas River Valley in Chaffee and Lake counties.  Snow amounts topped two feet in many locations in those areas.The greatest snow amounts occurred in or near the appropriately named "Wet Mountains" in Pueblo and Custer counties.  Unstable, moist air flowed into the Wet Mountains through the period allowing large amounts of snow to fall.  Snow amounts were around 5 feet in Custer county northeast of Westcliffe.  However, even higher snow amounts were measured and estimated on the east slopes of the Wet Mountains...on the Pueblo/Custer county line between 8700 and 9000 feet.  Just north of San Isabel Lake in Custer county on highway 165, a very accurate measurement of 74 inches of snow was made.  In that same area, an estimate of around 84 inches was reported on the shore of San Isabel Lake.  Similar estimates of 6 feet were confirmed a few miles north of San Isabel Lake.  Many of the SNOTEL sites high in the southeast mountains reported between 2 and 4 feet of new snow with this storm, which equated to an increase of snow water equivalent (SWE) of anywhere from 1 to almost 5 inches.

Winter Storm in EASTERN LAKE COUNTY / WESTERN MOSQUITO RANGE ABOVE 11000 FT, COLORADO
From 17-MAR-03 17:00:00 to 20-MAR-03 05:00:00 (MST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in LEADVILLE VICINITY / LAKE COUNTY BELOW 11000 FT, COLORADO
From 17-MAR-03 17:00:00 to 20-MAR-03 05:00:00 (MST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in EASTERN SAWATCH MOUNTAINS ABOVE 11000 FT, COLORADO
From 17-MAR-03 17:00:00 to 20-MAR-03 05:00:00 (MST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in WESTERN CHAFFEE COUNTY BETWEEN 9000 & 11000 FT, COLORADO
From 17-MAR-03 17:00:00 to 20-MAR-03 05:00:00 (MST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in CENTRAL CHAFFEE COUNTY BELOW 9000 FT, COLORADO
From 17-MAR-03 17:00:00 to 20-MAR-03 05:00:00 (MST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in EASTERN CHAFFEE COUNTY / WESTERN MOSQUITO RANGE ABOVE 9000 FT, COLORADO
From 17-MAR-03 17:00:00 to 20-MAR-03 05:00:00 (MST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in SAGUACHE COUNTY WEST OF CONTINENTAL DIVIDE BELOW 10000 FT, COLORADO
From 17-MAR-03 17:00:00 to 20-MAR-03 05:00:00 (MST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in SAGUACHE COUNTY EAST OF CONTINENTAL DIVIDE BELOW 10000 FT, COLORADO
From 17-MAR-03 17:00:00 to 20-MAR-03 05:00:00 (MST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in LA GARITA MOUNTAINS ABOVE 10000 FT, COLORADO
From 17-MAR-03 17:00:00 to 20-MAR-03 05:00:00 (MST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in UPPER RIO GRANDE VALLEY / EASTERN SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS BELOW 10000 FT, COLORADO
From 17-MAR-03 17:00:00 to 20-MAR-03 05:00:00 (MST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in EASTERN SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS ABOVE 10000 FT, COLORADO
From 17-MAR-03 17:00:00 to 20-MAR-03 05:00:00 (MST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in DEL NORTE VICINITY / NORTHERN SAN LUIS VALLEY BELOW 8500 FT, COLORADO
From 17-MAR-03 17:00:00 to 20-MAR-03 05:00:00 (MST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in ALAMOSA VICINITY / CENTRAL SAN LUIS VALLEY BELOW 8500 FT, COLORADO
From 17-MAR-03 17:00:00 to 20-MAR-03 05:00:00 (MST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in SOUTHERN SAN LUIS VALLEY, COLORADO
From 17-MAR-03 17:00:00 to 20-MAR-03 05:00:00 (MST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in NORTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS BETWEEN 8500 & 11000 FT, COLORADO
From 17-MAR-03 17:00:00 to 20-MAR-03 05:00:00 (MST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in WET MOUNTAINS BETWEEN 8500 AND 10000 FT, COLORADO
From 17-MAR-03 17:00:00 to 20-MAR-03 05:00:00 (MST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in WET MOUNTAINS ABOVE 10000 FT, COLORADO
From 17-MAR-03 17:00:00 to 20-MAR-03 05:00:00 (MST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in NORTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS ABOVE 11000 FT, COLORADO
From 17-MAR-03 17:00:00 to 20-MAR-03 05:00:00 (MST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in SOUTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS BETWEEN 7500 & 11000 FT, COLORADO
From 17-MAR-03 17:00:00 to 20-MAR-03 05:00:00 (MST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in SOUTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS ABOVE 11000 FT, COLORADO
From 17-MAR-03 17:00:00 to 20-MAR-03 05:00:00 (MST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in NORTHWEST FREMONT COUNTY ABOVE 8500 FT, COLORADO
From 17-MAR-03 17:00:00 to 20-MAR-03 05:00:00 (MST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in WEST / CENTRAL FREMONT COUNTY BELOW 8500 FT, COLORADO
From 17-MAR-03 17:00:00 to 20-MAR-03 05:00:00 (MST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in WESTCLIFFE VICINITY / WET MOUNTAIN VALLEY BELOW 8500 FT, COLORADO
From 17-MAR-03 17:00:00 to 20-MAR-03 05:00:00 (MST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in TELLER COUNTY / RAMPART RANGE ABOVE 7500 FT / PIKES PEAK BETWEEN 7500 & 11000 FT, COLORADO
From 17-MAR-03 17:00:00 to 20-MAR-03 05:00:00 (MST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in PIKES PEAK ABOVE 11000 FT, COLORADO
From 17-MAR-03 17:00:00 to 20-MAR-03 05:00:00 (MST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in CANON CITY VICINITY / EASTERN FREMONT COUNTY, COLORADO
From 17-MAR-03 17:00:00 to 20-MAR-03 05:00:00 (MST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in NORTHERN EL PASO COUNTY / MONUMENT RIDGE / RAMPART RANGE BELOW 7500 FT, COLORADO
From 17-MAR-03 17:00:00 to 20-MAR-03 05:00:00 (MST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in COLORADO SPRINGS VICINITY / SOUTHERN EL PASO COUNTY / RAMPART RANGE BELOW 7500 FT, COLORADO
From 17-MAR-03 17:00:00 to 20-MAR-03 05:00:00 (MST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in PUEBLO VICINITY / PUEBLO COUNTY BELOW 6300 FT, COLORADO
From 17-MAR-03 17:00:00 to 20-MAR-03 05:00:00 (MST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in WALSENBURG VICINITY / UPPER HUERFANO RIVER BASIN BELOW 7500 FT, COLORADO
From 17-MAR-03 17:00:00 to 20-MAR-03 05:00:00 (MST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in TRINIDAD VICINITY / LOWER HUERFANO RIVER BASIN & WESTERN LAS ANIMAS COUNTY BELOW 7500 FT, COLORADO
From 17-MAR-03 17:00:00 to 20-MAR-03 05:00:00 (MST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Winter Storm in EASTERN LAS ANIMAS COUNTY, COLORADO
From 17-MAR-03 17:00:00 to 20-MAR-03 05:00:00 (MST)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER