Residents in this Colorado city got to use their shovels plenty this winter, which ended up being one for the record books.
The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Boulder said that a snowstorm on Thursday in the region pushed the city of Boulder over the edge to the snowiest season on record.
“We’ve broken the seasonal snowfall record in Boulder! A whopping 151.2″ of snow has fallen this season (as of 6 PM April 16),” the forecast office said on Twitter.
The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Boulder said that a snowstorm on Thursday in the region pushed the city of Boulder over the edge to the snowiest season on record.
“We’ve broken the seasonal snowfall record in Boulder! A whopping 151.2″ of snow has fallen this season (as of 6 PM April 16),” the forecast office said on Twitter.
The fresh snowfall on Thursday broke a record that has lasted more than 100 years.
According to forecasters, Boulder’s previous record dated back to 1909 when the city saw 142.9 inches of snow.
The most recent record for a snow season was between 2009 and 2010 when 135.4 inches of snow fell on the city.
According to the Denver Post, Boulder saw a higher amount of snow than nearby Denver this winter due to upslope — wind out of the east rapidly rising as it meets the edge of the foothills and condenses into precipitation.
The NWS explained the weather phenomenon in a 2015 Facebook post.
“Upslope flow or the movement of air up a sloped surface such as the side of a hill or a steep mountain slope will typically result in the formation of clouds,” the weather service stated. “In the presence of sufficient moisture, and further lift and cooling, precipitation will usually follow.”
Boulder was boosted into the record books on Thursday as a storm system brought snow to the Rockies before shifting east.
Between 8 and 18 inches of fresh snow fell across northern Colorado before the band of “light to moderate wet snow” took aim at the Midwest.