DENVER — The Front Range saw some huge rain totals this week, but the question on a lot of people's minds was: What if that rain had fallen as snow?
The National Weather Service in Boulder heard that question, too, so they shared a map on Friday showing what that hypothetical snowstorm would have looked like if all the rain had fallen as snow.
In general, snow totals are about 10 inches for every 1 inch of moisture. Using that direct comparison, with rainfall totals in the 4-to-5 inch range in the southeast Denver metro area, residents there could have been digging out from about 40 inches of snow – with some pockets closer to 50 inches.
Denver International Airport would have seen about 44 inches (from 4.4 inches of moisture). Areas on the north and west side of the metro area would have seen totals between 20 and 30 inches.
Boulder and Fort Collins would have gotten about 21 inches, and Pueblo would have seen about 18 inches.
While it's fun to speculate, a snowstorm like that doesn't historically happen in May in Denver. The average monthly snowfall for the month in Denver is 1.7 inches. The biggest total for May over the past decade was 4 inches in 2015.
NWS Boulder also shared a map showing its initial rainfall analysis between 6 p.m. Tuesday and 6 a.m. Friday.
Denver International Airport (DIA) recorded 4.4 inches of rain since Wednesday afternoon, as of 9:40 a.m. on Friday morning. That's more than 30% of the city's average annual rainfall in less than two days. It's also Denver's 5th-largest three-day rainstorm on record.
DIA received 2.92 inches of rainfall on Thursday alone. That shattered the previous May 11 record of 1.55 inches in 2011.
For context, Denver averages only about 14 or 15 inches of precipitation (rain and melted snow equivalent) in a full calendar year.
> Share your photos or video with 9NEWS through “Near Me” on the free 9NEWS app! DOWNLOAD APP FOR IPHONE HERE or DOWNLOAD APP FOR ANDROID HERE.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Latest from 9NEWS
9NEWS+
9NEWS+ has multiple live daily shows including 9NEWS Mornings, Next with Kyle Clark and 9NEWS+ Daily, an original streaming program. 9NEWS+ is where you can watch live breaking news, weather updates, and press conferences. You can also replay recent newscasts and find videos on demand of our top stories, local politics, investigations and Colorado specific features.
To download 9NEWS+ on Roku search for KUSA.
To download 9NEWS+ on Fire TV search for 9NEWS.