May 2, 2013
May Day Snow
A May Day snowstorm dropped snow from Colorado to Minnesota. Some parts of Colorado and Wyoming received more than a foot of snow, including 16 inches (40 centimeters) in Fort Collins, Colorado, and just over 12 inches (30 centimeters) of snow in Boulder, Colorado. The snowfall in Boulder was a record for the date and possibly the largest May snowfall for that city since 1978. Single-day May snowfall records appeared to fall in multiple states, the Capital Weather Gang reported.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured the top image on May 2 after clouds had mostly cleared out of the Denver region. For comparison, the bottom image shows the same area on April 27, 2013, before the storm struck. Although far less dramatic than snow cover in February, the May Day snow nevertheless covered a wide area, especially for so late in the spring.
Record low temperatures—19°F (-7°C) in Denver, 17°F (-8°C) in Boulder, and 7°F (-14°C) in Laramie—followed the snow. Meanwhile, the storm system continued dropping snow northeast of the Rocky Mountains, possibly setting new records in Minnesota.
Related Reading
- Capital Weather Gang (2013, May 2) Historic snow and cold strike Rockies and Upper Midwest. The Washington Post. Accessed May 2, 2013.
- The Denver Post (2013, May 2) May Day comes with spring snow along Front Range. Accessed May 2, 2013.
References & Resources
NASA images courtesy LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Michon Scott.
