Alert archive / Colorado / Winter Storm Watches in 2016

Winter Storm Watch 1, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

January 28, 20169 counties in Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this winter storm watch at Jan 28, 2016, 3:13 PM MST for 9 counties in Colorado. It took effect at Jan 30, 2016, 12:00 AM MST. It was in force for .

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jan 28, 2016, 3:13 PM MST (22:13 UTC)
In effect from
Jan 30, 2016, 12:00 AM MST
Expired
Jan 29, 2016, 3:50 PM MST
In force
Issued by
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

Counties Boulder County, CO, Clear Creek County, CO, Gilpin County, CO, Grand County, CO, Jackson County, CO, Jefferson County, CO, Larimer County, CO, Park County, CO, Summit County, CO

The radar

The Denver radar (KFTG), 102 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:18 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Riverton, WY (KRIW), launched 12:00Z, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 414 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Riverton, WY at 12:00Z on 2016-01-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Riverton, WY at 12:00Z on 2016-01-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 67 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1563 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
67 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
78 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this winter storm watch went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before this winter storm watch went out at Jan 28, 3:03 PM MST, 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 28, 3:03 PM MST, 10 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 28, 11:02 AM MST, 4 hours 11 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO
1102 AM MST THU JAN 28 2016

COZ030>051-291815-
JACKSON COUNTY BELOW 9000 FEET-
WEST JACKSON AND WEST GRAND COUNTIES ABOVE 9000 FEET-
GRAND AND SUMMIT COUNTIES BELOW 9000 FEET-
SOUTH AND EAST JACKSON/LARIMER/NORTH AND NORTHEAST GRAND/
NORTHWEST BOULDER COUNTIES ABOVE 9000 FEET-
SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST GRAND/WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST BOULDER/
GILPIN/CLEAR CREEK/SUMMIT/NORTH AND WEST PARK COUNTIES ABOVE
9000 FEET-LARIMER AND BOULDER COUNTIES BETWEEN 6000 AND 9000 FEET-
JEFFERSON AND WEST DOUGLAS COUNTIES ABOVE 6000 FEET/GILPIN/CLEAR
CREEK/NORTHEAST PARK COUNTIES BELOW 9000 FEET-
CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PARK COUNTY-
LARIMER COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/NORTHWEST WELD COUNTY-
BOULDER AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES BELOW 6000 FEET/WEST BROOMFIELD
COUNTY-
NORTH DOUGLAS COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/DENVER/WEST ADAMS AND
ARAPAHOE COUNTIES/EAST BROOMFIELD COUNTY-
ELBERT/CENTRAL AND EAST DOUGLAS COUNTIES ABOVE 6000 FEET-
NORTHEAST WELD COUNTY-CENTRAL AND SOUTH WELD COUNTY-MORGAN COUNTY-
CENTRAL AND EAST ADAMS AND ARAPAHOE COUNTIES-
NORTH AND NORTHEAST ELBERT COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/NORTH LINCOLN
COUNTY-
SOUTHEAST ELBERT COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/SOUTH LINCOLN COUNTY-
LOGAN COUNTY-WASHINGTON COUNTY-SEDGWICK COUNTY-PHILLIPS COUNTY-
1102 AM MST THU JAN 28 2016

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL
COLORADO.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

GUSTY WEST WINDS WILL INCREASE OVER THE HIGH MOUNTAINS PASSES AND
LOCATIONS IN AND NEAR THE FOOTHILLS LATER TONIGHT AND CONTINUE
FRIDAY MORNING. GUSTS UP TO 60 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE AFTER
MIDNIGHT...ESPECIALLY IN WIND PRONE AREAS OF NORTHERN JEFFERSON
AND BOULDER COUNTIES.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

GUSTY DOWNSLOPE WINDS WILL OCCUR IN THE FOOTHILLS FRIDAY AND
FRIDAY NIGHT WITH SPEEDS OF 50 TO 60 MPH POSSIBLE. A DISTURBANCE
IN STRONGER WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL PRODUCE LIGHT SNOW FRIDAY
EVENING IN THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS THEN INCREASE QUICKLY AFTER
MIDNIGHT AND INTO SATURDAY EVENING. SNOW AMOUNTS OVER THE PARK AND
GORE RANGES NEAR RABBIT EARS PASS MAY REACH 10 TO 20 INCHES...WITH
LOWER AMOUNTS EAST OVER THE MOUNTAINS NEAR ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL
PARK. MOUNTAINS FURTHER SOUTH NEAR THE I70 CORRIDOR WILL RECEIVE
MUCH LESS...PERHAPS 3 TO 8 INCHES. AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW ARE
EXPECTED LATE FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY MORNING OVER THE NORTHERN
MOUNTAINS.

A COLD FRONT WILL PUSH SOUTH ACROSS THE PLAINS BY SATURDAY
EVENING TO BRING AREAS OF SNOW OR A MIX OF RAIN AND SNOW SATURDAY
NIGHT. THE COMBINATION OF THE FRONT COUPLED WITH A STRONG JET
OVERHEAD COULD PRODUCE BANDED SNOWFALL OVER THE NORTHEAST PLAINS
SATURDAY NIGHT. A FEW LOCATIONS COULD PICK UP A QUICK INCH OR TWO
UNDER ONE OF THESE BANDS. SUNDAY WILL BE COLDER WITH A CONTINUED
SNOW OVER THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS...THEN THE CHANCE OF LIGHT SNOW
WILL BUILD NORTH OVER THE PLAINS DURING THE EVENING.

MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW THE NEXT SYSTEM PUSHING INTO THE FOUR
CORNERS REGION EARLY MONDAY MORNING AND INTO SOUTHEASTERN
COLORADO OR NORTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO BY MONDAY AFTERNOON. ALTHOUGH
SNOW WILL BE LIKELY...FROM THE EASTERN SLOPES OF THE FRONT RANGE
MOUNTAINS ONTO THE PLAINS... THERE IS NO STRONG CONSENSUS YET
REGARDING THE TRACK AND POTENTIAL SNOW AMOUNTS. IF THE STORM
SYSTEM MOVES INTO SOUTHEASTERN COLORADO LATE SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH
MONDAY EVENING IT COULD BRING SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL AND STRONG
EASTERLY WINDS TO THE FRONT RANGE MOUNTAINS...FOOTHILLS AND
NORTHEAST PLAINS. IF IT TRACKS FURTHER TO THE SOUTH...THEN THE
FOCUS FOR THE HEAVIER SNOW WILL SHIFT TO THE SOUTH AS WELL. LATELY
THERE HAS BEEN A SHIFT OF MODELS TOWARD THE FURTHER NORTH
SOLUTION...SO SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL WILL REMAIN A POSSIBILITY.
AREAS OF LIGHT SNOW AND GUSTY NORTH WINDS MAY CONTINUE INTO
TUESDAY MORNING.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT.

ENTREKIN/KRIEDERMAN

Nearby

Winter Storm Watches in Colorado, 2016Every winter storm watch in 2016

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.