A strong low pressure system brought strong winds to southeast Colorado. Winds generally gusted under 70 mph in the eastern mountains and generally under 60 mph across the eastern plains.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS PUB wrote it up.
A strong low pressure system brought strong winds to southeast Colorado. Winds generally gusted under 70 mph in the eastern mountains and generally under 60 mph across the eastern plains. Some of the higher wind gusts include 60 mph south of Walsenburg in Huerfano county, 61 mph at the Pueblo Airport and 70 mph at Colorado City, both in Pueblo county, and 81 mph at Green Mountain Falls in western El Paso county.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Pueblo, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 20, 2:00 AM MST, 1 hour 36 minutes earlier.
SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST COLORADO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO COLORADO 300 AM MDT FRI APR 20 2001 MAIN CONCERN IS THE WIND FOR TODAY. ANOTHER WINDY DAY IS IN STORE. 100-110KT UPPER JET FORECAST TO BE OVER NRN NM AND SE CO BY THIS AFTERNOON. UPPER SHORTWAVE TROUGH WILL BE MOVING ACROSS CO DURING THE DAY AS WELL. 500MB WINDS ARE FORECAST TO BE 60 TO 75 KTS OVER THE AREA TODAY. HAD A FEW GUSTS YESTERDAY THAT WERE NEAR HIGH WIND CATEGORY...AND TODAY ITS LOOKS LIKE A BETTER CHANCE FOR HIGH GUSTS. WILL GO WITH A HIGH WIND WARNING FOR THE EASTERN MTNS AND ADJACENT PLAINS. MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW SOME MOISTURE OVER WESTERN PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA...BUT WITH STRONG SW WINDS OVER EASTERN AREAS THE LOWER LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE WILL BE QUITE DRY. CURRENT FORECAST HAS PRECIP CHANCE FOR THE SW AND CNTRL MTNS...THE SLV AND PIKES PEAK/TELLER COUNTY...AND THIS STILL LOOKS GOOD. FORECAST SOUNDINGS ARE SHOWING SOME MOISTURE AROUND 500MB WITH LOW RH'S BELOW THIS AFTERNOON OVER LOCATIONS ON THE EASTERN PLAINS ADJACENT TO THE MTNS...AND COULD SEE SOME VIRGA WITH STRONG GUST POTENTIAL. WITH THE TROUGH MOVING OVERHEAD TODAY...700MB TEMPS COOL ABOUT 5 TO 8 DEG C. THERE WILL BE GOOD SUBSIDENCE OVER THE AREA BY LATE AFTERNOON AND THROUGH THE EVENING. MOISTURE APPEARS TO BE LACKING TONIGHT AND WILL LEAVE THE FORECAST FOR TONIGHT DRY AREAWIDE. THERE WILL STILL BE SOME WIND IN THE EVENING HOURS...BUT THEN IT WILL DECREASE. ON SATURDAY SW FLOW ALOFT WILL CONTINUE OVER THE AREA AS A STRONG UPPER LOW DROPS INTO SRN CA. CHANCES FOR PRECIP IN THE SW AND CNTRL MTNS STILL LOOKS GOOD WITH DRY WX ELSEWHERE. MODELS SHOW POSSIBLY A 1 OR 2 DEG C COOLING AT 700MB OVER FRIDAYS TEMPS. SATURDAY NIGHT THE UPPER LOW MOVES EAST AND BY 12Z SUNDAY IS FORECAST TO BE NEAR THE 4 CORNERS. THERE ARE SOME SLIGHT DIFFERENCES WITH RESPECT TO THE POSITION OF THE UPPER LOW AT 12Z SUN. THE ETA SHOWS IT CENTERED ON THE 4 CORNERS...WHILE THE AVN SHOWS IT A LITTLE FARTHER SOUTH. THE POSITION OF THE SFC LOW IS ALSO DIFFERENT. WITH THE ETA'S POSITION OVER NORTHEAST NM...UPSLOPE DEVELOPS ON THE SOUTHEAST CO PLAINS SATURDAY NIGHT AND THERE IS A CHANCE FOR PRECIP. THE AVN SHOWS A FARTHER NORTH POSITION...AND A LESSER CHANCE FOR PRECIP. CURRENT FORECAST HAS SOME LOW POPS FOR SATURDAY NIGHT AND WILL LEAVE THIS AS IT IS. EXTENDED (SUN-THU): AVN TAKES THE UPPER LOW EASTER ALONG THE CO/NM BORDER SUNDAY WHICH BRINGS A CHANCE FOR PRECIP TO MOST AREAS... ALTHOUGH THIS POSITION DOES LEAVE A DRY SLOT OVER THE SE PLAINS. THE LOW THEN LIFTS NE SUNDAY NIGHT WITH WRAP AROUND PRECIP OVER THE FORECAST AREA. THE LOW THEN CONTINUES LIFTING NE ON MONDAY WITH THE PRECIP CHANCES DECREASING DURING THE DAY. TUESDAY AN UPPER RIDGE BUILDS TO THE WEST...FOR A DRYING AND WARMING TREND. THE RIDGE THEN SHIFTS EAST OVER CO FOR WED AND THU. .PUB...HIGH WIND W2ARNING TODAY ZONES 65/66/67/68/70/71/72/73/74/75.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, April 2001
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: 5239364, 5239365, 5239366.