BOULDER, Colo. — There has been 145.9 inches of snowfall in Boulder this season (and counting) – meaning it’s one for the record books.
The National Weather Service said with the addition of Thursday’s snowstorm, this is officially Boulder’s snowiest season on record.
That breaks a more than 100-year-old record. The previous snowiest season was 1908-09, when 142.9 inches of snow fell in Boulder.
The most recent season that came even close to this year’s was 2009-10, when the National Weather Service said 135.4 inches of snow fell in Boulder.
>>> Watch the video for Cory Reppenhagen's explanation for why Boulder is getting so much snow.
The reason for the high numbers in Boulder this season is an unusually high number of storm events with a weather setup called upslope.
It's a weather term that is so important to Boulder, and so famous there, that even one of the city's most popular microbreweries bears the name Upslope.
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Upslope is when the wind gets turned around and comes from the east. From that direction, it runs into the Front Range foothills and is forced to rise up the slope. When air rises, the water vapor in it cools, condenses and forms precipitation. The result is heavy and focused snow right along the windward side of the foothills. Which is right where Boulder sits.
The farther away from the foothills, the less benefit there is from upslope snow. At DIA, where Denver’s weather station is located, there is practically no benefit from upslope.
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