Parts of Colorado are expected to see up to four feet of snow late Friday night as a winter storm stalls over the area.
Denver and a large portion of Colorado are expected to get historic snowfall, according to CBS Denver. The I-25 urban corridor and the I-70 mountain corridor are under a winter storm watch, the outlet reported. (RELATED: Rockies, Plains Get Hit With Incredible Snowstorm After Temperature Drops 60 Degrees In One Day)
Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis urged residents to stay home in areas set to be hit hard by the snowstorm.
I’ve activated the Colorado National Guard starting Friday at 12PM-Monday at 12PM to respond to search & rescue requests through the Emergency Operations Center due to the storm. I urge you to stay home if it’s going to snow hard in your area so you don’t need them to rescue you.
— Governor Jared Polis (@GovofCO) March 12, 2021
“I’ve activated the Colorado National Guard starting Friday at 12PM-Monday at 12PM to respond to search & rescue requests through the Emergency Operations Center due to the storm,” Polis tweeted. “I urge you to stay home if it’s going to snow hard in your area so you don’t need them to rescue you.”
Massive snowstorms in March are not uncommon for Colorado residents. The top 10 March snowstorms each totaled at least one foot of snow, according to CNN.
We expect a major winter storm to impact the Front Range Friday through Sunday. Here are the updated potential impacts. #cowx pic.twitter.com/Jh8FP8u4dz
— NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder) March 10, 2021
This snow storm has a “moderate to high potential to surpass the March 23, 2016, heavy snow event,” according to the National Weather Service in Boulder. That day, 13.1 inches fell in Denver, CNN reported. The National Weather Service in Boulder gave this snowstorm a “low to medium potential to approach the March 2003 historical snowstorm.”
The March 2003 snow storm dumped between two to four feet of snow across Colorado, according to CNN.