How the Front Range’s biggest early-season snow events shaped Boulder’s winter story

Each November, Boulder watches the Flatirons for that first heavy snowfall — the one that transforms golden foothills into white wonder. While some years bring only a light dusting, others have dropped snow by the foot, rewriting local history overnight. The following storms are more than weather events; they’re time-capsule moments that capture Boulder’s resilience, community spirit, and the beauty of early winter in the Rockies.

The 70-Hour Blizzard of November 1946

In early November 1946, a powerful blizzard settled over Colorado’s Front Range. For nearly 70 hours, snow fell relentlessly, burying Boulder under an estimated 30 inches.
According to the Colorado Virtual Library, this storm isolated neighborhoods, closed schools, and brought daily life to a standstill. City crews resorted to tracked vehicles to reach residents as drifts climbed past windowsills.

Yet what locals remember most isn’t the hardship — it’s the unity. Neighbors shared food, wood, and laughter while the city came together beneath three feet of snow. Boulder learned that when the weather turns fierce, its people turn toward one another.

Thanksgiving Weekend 1996 — The Front Range Freeze

Half a century later, Boulder was hit again. From November 23–24, 1996, a fast-moving storm unloaded two feet of snow on the city and over 30 inches in nearby Nederland.

NOAA records list this as one of Boulder’s most significant November snowfalls on record. Flights were grounded at Denver International Airport, CU classes were canceled, and families turned Chautauqua Park into a sledding paradise.

That Thanksgiving weekend became legend — the kind of storm students still talk about decades later, when the Flatirons disappeared behind curtains of white and the world slowed to the sound of soft snowfall.

The Modern Snowfall of 2020

Fast-forward to November 24–26, 2020, when Boulder County woke to another memorable storm. Over 14–16 inchesfell across the city and foothills, ending a dry autumn and giving early powder days to skiers at Eldora.

For a community that lives outdoors year-round, that snow brought more than beauty — it brought renewal. The smoke-stained skies of the previous wildfire season gave way to cleansing white, a reminder that Colorado’s climate still holds balance and grace.

A City That Thrives in Snow

For Boulderites, these storms mark transitions — from golden leaves to white peaks, from trail runs to ski days. They remind us that life here moves in rhythm with the mountains.

Each time the snow returns, so does that familiar stillness along Boulder Creek, the muffled hush of Pearl Street, and the sense that another season of reflection and adventure has begun.

And every time it happens, the stories resurface — of snow-day memories shared across generations and of a town that never loses its wonder beneath the first great blanket of November white.

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