High Wind, Central Yampa River Basin
- When
- January 12, 12:00 PM MST to 12:10 PM MST
- Where
- Central Yampa River Basin forecast zone
- Property damage
- $3,000
- Coordinates
- 40.361, -107.805 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind in Colorado, January 12, 1997
A sudden gust of wind picked up hundreds of plastic squares off the ground which had just been delivered for use in construction at a coal burning power plant located 5 miles south of Craig. Each square was 12 inches thick and 3 feet square.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $3,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS GJT wrote it up.
A sudden gust of wind picked up hundreds of plastic squares off the ground which had just been delivered for use in construction at a coal burning power plant located 5 miles south of Craig. Each square was 12 inches thick and 3 feet square. Some of the plastic squares were impaled on louvers of the cooling tower as high as 60 feet above the ground.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- High Wind
- Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Winter Storm in Arizona, January 12 to 14, 1997
- Ice Storm in Louisiana, January 12 to 14, 1997
- Ice Storm in Texas, January 12 to 13, 1997
- Ice Storm in Texas, January 12 to 14, 1997
- Cold in Illinois, January 12, 1997
- Winter Weather in Texas, January 12 to 13, 1997
- Winter Storm in California, January 12 to 13, 1997
- Ice Storm in Louisiana, January 12 to 15, 1997
- Winter Storm in California, January 12 to 13, 1997
- Ice Storm in Texas, January 12 to 15, 1997
- Cold in Nebraska, January 12, 1997
- Cold in Wyoming, January 12 to 13, 1997
More
Every storm in Colorado in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, January 1997
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5589574.