Thanks to those of you whom participated in our Late-Season Snow Contest.  The goal of the competition was to predict the amount of snow that would accumulate in Boulder from April 12 to May 31, 2017. In this post we review the entries, discuss the snow storms that occurred during that seven-week window, and announce the winners!

The entries:

After a weak showing for snow in February and March of 2017, most of the guesses came in lower than the climatological average for the time frame, which is 7.6″.

The results:

A slow-moving cut-off system slammed into Colorado in the final days of April. It packed plenty of cold air and abundant moisture which produced up to 14″ of snow in the Foothills. Boulder recorded 7.8″ officially from this system. Not too shabby!

While many would have though the late-April storm would be our last snow of the season, it was not. A solid three weeks later, epic Spring moisture and near-perfect upslope conditions came together to wallop the area with an historic amount of snow. More than 40″ was reported in the Foothills, while Boulder received 6.1″, an amount that is nearly unprecedented for the May 19th time-frame. This was also our 6th latest measurable snowfall on record.

These two storms combined to produce a cumulative total of 13.9″ in Boulder (7.8″ + 6.1″). This is higher than anyone predicted in the contest! Therefore, by default, the winners were the five largest guesses. No tie-breakers were needed since the guesses were all unique.

And the winners are…

  • 1st place: 6-month subscription to BoulderCAST Premium
    • Gabriel – 13.6″ – *Current Premium – Prize Doubled*
  • 2nd  place: 3-month subscription to BoulderCAST Premium
    • Nancy – 13.0″
  • 3rd – 5th places: 1-month subscription to BoulderCAST Premium
    • Denise G. – 11.7″ – *Current Premium – Prize Doubled*
    • Bob R – 10.0″
    • Edith K – 9.0″

Three out of the five lucky folks are new to BoulderCAST Premium! Winners will receive an email with further instructions in the next few days. Congrats, all! If you didn’t win, don’t worry. We’ll definitely host more weather-related contests periodically throughout the year.

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Ben Castellani

Ben grew up in southwestern Pennsylvania and holds both a bachelor's and a master's degree in Meteorology, the latter being from CU Boulder. His hometown received nearly three feet of snow from the Storm of the Century back in March of 1993, sparking his initial interest in impactful weather. Ben currently works on remote sensing and data analysis software at L3Harris Technologies in Boulder.

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