On Friday, March 2, 1990, a young, brash, confident meteorologist addressed the daily news editorial meeting at KCNC-TV (then “Colorado’s News Channel,” now “CBS4”) and stated that a blizzard would strike Colorado’s Front Range on Tuesday of the next week. His declaration was met with skepticism bordering on pure disbelief. According to conventional wisdom, it was “impossible” to know Colorado’s weather more than one to two days in advance. Historically, that had been true: A young science, meteorology had been growing over the past century much like a puppy does from eight ...