Winter Storm Ulmer, the March 2019 Bomb Cyclone, Blasted the Plains With Blizzard Conditions, High Winds

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Winter Storm Ulmer was named on the afternoon of March 11, with the expectation that areal criterion – that is, 400,000 square kilometers (248,548 square miles) under winter storm warnings – would be met the following day. That criterion was achieved by the morning of March 12.

Ulmer’s genesis began with two distinct disturbances that rolled down the West Coast on March 10. The first and more potent low rolled down the California coast from near San Francisco to northern Baja California March 10-11 as the second, weaker system arrived in the Pacific Northwest.

Ulmer brought snow to parts of the Pacific Northwest, mountains of Southern California and the Four Corners region March 11-12 before spreading eastward into the Rockies and Plains.

March 12-13

Ulmer went through the process of bombogenesis as it reached the central Plains March 12-13, dropping from 994 millibars on the evening of March 12 to 968 millibars by the afternoon of March 13. Bombogenesis is the process of rapid intensification that a winter storm system can undergo. Bombogenesis is defined as a 24-millibar drop in atmospheric pressure in 24 hours or less.

Pueblo, Colorado, is one location that set a preliminary, unofficial all-time record-low pressure on the morning of March 13, according to the National Weather Service. Colorado state climatologist Russ Schumacher tweeted it was the lowest pressure on record there since at least 1950.

Dodge City, Kansas, also hit a modern-day low-pressure record dating back to 1960 by dipping down to 974.7 millibars.

(MORE: Ulmer Sets Pressure Records)

Winter Storm Ulmer set records in Denver for both wind and pressure, according to the National Weather Service. A wind gust of 80 mph was measured around 12 p.m. MDT March 13 as heavy snow was falling. This broke the old record for highest non-thunderstorm wind gust of 63 mph set on April 4, 2009.

The sea-level pressure in Denver fell to 979.01 millibars on March 13, which broke the city's old record-low pressure of 979.9 millibars set on Feb. 25, 1998.

While Denver's wind gust to 80 mph sounds impressive, one Colorado city recorded even higher winds. Colorado Springs gusted to 97 mph on the afternoon of March 13. Thundersnow was also reported in the eastern half of the state.

Denver and Colorado Springs, Colorado; Cheyenne and Torrington, Wyoming; Alliance, Valentine and Sidney, Nebraska; and Pierre, South Dakota, all reached blizzard criteria (frequent gusts to 35 mph and visibility less than a quarter-mile for at least three hours) on March 13. Scottsbluff and Chadron, Nebraska, also neared blizzard criteria but did not quite achieve it.

All roads in the Nebraska Panhandle, more than 350 miles of interstates in Wyoming, several interstates in Colorado and 150 miles of Interstate 90 in South Dakota were closed, in addition to the North Dakota interstates mentioned earlier.

Casper, Wyoming, had its second-snowiest March day on record, picking up 13.6 inches. Cheyenne, Wyoming, tied its fourth-heaviest calendar-day snow on record on March 13. It was only its 12th day in which at least a foot of snow fell in records dating to 1935.

High winds were also widespread in areas that didn't pick up any snow.

A train was blown off the tracks in northern New Mexico. Damage to roofing and power lines was reported across eastern New Mexico, including in Clovis and Las Vegas, earlier on March 13. Winds gusted to 104 mph on San Augustin Pass and 100 mph at Cloudcroft.

Structural damage was reported in Borger and Hereford, Texas, in the panhandle, which saw gusts up to 80 mph on the afternoon of March 13. The tower at Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport was evacuated for a time when siding was torn off the building.

Several tractor-trailers had been blown over in the Texas Panhandle. Pine Springs, Texas, clocked a 103-mph gust. The high winds also created a dust storm across West Texas.

Winds also gusted 60 to 75 mph in western Oklahoma on March 13, causing some damage to roofs, power poles and fencing. At least two tractor-trailers were blown over.

March 14

Ulmer weakened slowly as it moved from Nebraska to the Great Lakes. Snow fell apart gradually during the day and winds decreased somewhat in the Midwest.

SevereStudios storm chaser Dan Fitts estimated drifts were 8- to 10-feet high in Melbeta, Nebraska, about 160 miles northeast of Denver. Fitts also documented ground blizzard conditions just before noon local time Thursday in the western Nebraska town. Parts of the panhandle picked up a foot or more of snow.

Blizzard conditions have also been seen in Grand Forks and Jamestown, among other locations in North Dakota, where a few locations have picked up around a foot of snow. Interstate 29 from Fargo to the Canadian border, and Interstate 94 from Fargo to Bismarck have been shut down, according to the North Dakota Department of Transportation.

Blizzard conditions have also been reported in northwestern Minnesota in Thief River Falls.

Drifts of 2 to 4 feet were reported in Rapid City, South Dakota, and the adjacent Black Hills. An observer in Kadoka, South Dakota, had already picked up 18.3 inches of snow. Large snow drifts were also seen in the state capital, Pierre, where 10 inches of snow had fallen.

Ulmer's cold front also likely produced more than a dozen tornadoes from the southern Great Lakes to the I-20 corridor in the South.

• I-94 from Fargo to Bismarck, North Dakota
• I-29 from Fargo, North Dakota, to the Canadian border
• I-80 from Rock Springs, Wyoming, to Kearney, Nebraska
• I-25 from Buffalo, Wyoming, to the Colorado border
• I-70 from Aurora, Colorado, to Goodland, Kansas
• I-76 northeast of Denver to the Nebraska border
• I-90 from Wall to Chamberlain, South Dakota
• I-90 from Rapid City, South Dakota, to the Wyoming border
• I-70 west of Denver
• All interstates in Nebraska Panhandle

Snowfall Totals

Here are snowfall totals from Winter Storm Ulmer:

Arizona: 10 inches in Forest Lakes; 9 inches in Flagstaff

California: 12.5 inches in Big Bear City

Colorado: 52 inches at the Wolf Creek pass; 7.1 inches at Denver International Airport

Idaho: 6 inches near Spirit Lake

Minnesota: 8.3 inches near Warren

Montana: 8 inches near Hungry Horse

Nebraska: 17 inches in Chadron; 12 inches in Scottsbluff

New Mexico: 17 inches near Red River; 12 inches in Chama

North Dakota: 13 inches near Ashley; 5.2 inches in Grand Forks

South Dakota: 18.3 inches in Kadoka; 4 to 8 inches in Rapid City with 2 to 3 foot drifts; 0.10 inches of ice accumulation near Watertown

Utah: 16 inches in Alta (8,799 ft. in elevation); 8 inches in Park City

Washington: 7 inches in Colville; 3.2 inches in Spokane

Wyoming: 26 inches south of Casper; 14.6 inches in Cheyenne

Wind Gust Reports

Here are some wind gusts observed during Winter Storm Ulmer:

Colorado: 97 mph in Colorado Springs (near Peterson Air Force Base)

Kansas: 85 mph in Weskan

Nebraska: 89 mph in Hemingford

Nevada: 91 mph near Ruby Valley

New Mexico: 104 mph at San Augustin Pass; 100 mph in Cloudcroft

Oklahoma: 74 mph in Gage

South Dakota: 70 mph in Rapid City

Texas: 103 mph in Pine Springs; 80 mph near Amarillo

Utah: 76 mph in Richfield

Wyoming: 76 mph near Dixon