A moist northwest flow produced 5 to 8 inches of new snow over the northwest San Juan Mountains, and 3 to 7 inches at some lower elevation areas in southwest Colorado. The exception was 9 inches at Northdale, just northwest of Dove Creek.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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 GJT wrote it up.
A moist northwest flow produced 5 to 8 inches of new snow over the northwest San Juan Mountains, and 3 to 7 inches at some lower elevation areas in southwest Colorado. The exception was 9 inches at Northdale, just northwest of Dove Creek.
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 Grand Junction, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 29, 2:49 PM MST, 3 hours 11 minutes earlier.
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
249 PM MST SAT DEC 29 2001
LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS CONTINUE TO FALL THIS AFTERNOON OVER MOST OF OUR
SOUTHERN ZONES AS DEEP PACIFIC MOISTURE OVERRUNS COLDER SFC.
AMOUNTS HAVE THUS FAR BEEN ON THE LIGHT SIDE...GENERALLY LESS THAN 2
INCHES. SATELLITE...UPSTREAM RADARS AND SFC OBSERVATIONS SHOW MORE
MOISTURE WORKING INTO THE SRN TWO-THIRDS OF THE FORECAST AREA
TONIGHT. USING DISTANCE TOOLS IN AWIPS...TIMING BACK EDGE OF SYSTEM
TO MOVE THROUGH BY MIDDAY SUNDAY...ALTHOUGH BULK OF ACTIVITY
EXPECTED TO OCCUR THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS TONIGHT.
SEVERAL FACTORS TO THINK ABOUT CONCERNING TOTAL SNOWFALL AMOUNTS
INCLUDING LACK OF STRONG DYNAMICS...LITTLE JET SUPPORT AND WEAK
OROGRAPHICS. HOWEVER...DID SOME RUNS OF THE OROGRAPHIC SNOW MODEL
WITH WEAK FLOW BUT DEEP MOISTURE...AND HAVE COME UP WITH LOW END SNOW
ADVISORY CRITERIA FOR MOST MOUNTAIN LOCATIONS SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 70.
WITH ISENTROPIC UPGLIDE IN A VERY MOIST ATMOSPHERE COMBINED WITH
PROLONGED NATURE OF EVENT AND OPTIMUM H7 TEMPS AROUND -6 C...BELIEVE
WE HAVE ENOUGH TO GENERATE ADVISORY SNOWFALL FOR MOST MTNS S OF THE
INTERSTATE...SO WL GO IN THIS DIRECTION. WL ALSO INCLUDE PORTIONS OF
THE 4-CORNERS...MAINLY IN THE VCNTY OF COLORADO ZONE 21 DUE TO
FAVORABLE...ALBEIT WEAK...FLOW FOR THIS AREA. REMAINDER OF THE
FORECAST AREA WILL SEE SOME SHOWER ACTIVITY THROUGH SUNDAY...ALTHOUGH
AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED TO BE ON THE LIGHT SIDE.
ACTIVITY WL WIND DOWN SUNDAY AFTERNOON AS DEEPER MOISTURE ERODES. NW
FLOW THEN RESUMES SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY WITH A CLIPPER-TYPE SYSTEM
DROPPING INTO THE PLAINS FROM SRN CANADA. MODELS HAVE BEEN FAIRLY
CONSISTENT WITH DRIVING THIS WAVE SOUTH ALONG THE FRONT RANGE
MONDAY...WITH SOME COLD AIR POSSIBLY SPILLING WEST OF THE DIVIDE. A
SECOND SYSTEM RIDES THROUGH THE RIDGE TO OUR WEST AT THE SAME TIME...
BUT WEAKENS CONSIDERABLE AS IT APPROACHES. WL NEED TO CONTINUE A
MORE BROAD-BRUSH APPROACH FOR NOW...TO ACCOUNT FOR MORE UNSETTLED
CONDITIONS AS WE MOVE INTO THE NEW YEAR. JDC
EXTENDED (WED-SAT)...MODELS IN GENERAL AGREEMENT ON REBUILDING
WESTERN RIDGE WED AND THU IN THE WAKE OF TUE/S WAVE. WITH RIDGE AXIS
TO THE WEST...WILL BE IN NORTHERLY BUT DRIER FLOW. SFC HIGH OVER
ERN UT/WRN CO WED AND THU POINTS TOWARD MORE STABLE AND STAGNANT AIR
IN VALLEYS. WED MORNING LOOKS QUITE COLD...THEN GRADUAL MODERATION.
MORE PAC ENERGY TO IMPACT RIDGE LATER IN THE PERIOD. MRF BRINGS WAVE
INTO PAC NW WHILE DROPPING A LOW SE ACROSS CA THU IN SOMEWHAT SPLITTY
FLOW. CA LOW FARTHER WEST THAN IN PREV MRF RUN. UK LEANING TOWARD MRF
PATTERN...WHILE 28/12Z EC RUN BRINGS WAVE INTO DESERT SW ON FRI. WILL
LEAN TOWARD MRF AT THIS TIME...BUT IF SOUTHWARD PLUNGE OF COLDER AIR
AFTER WED IS LESS...THEN SOUTHERN STREAM MAY REMAIN MORE INTACT AND
CARRY WAVE INLAND. MRF PUSHES NORTHERN WAVE THROUGH LATER FRI AND
EARLY SAT...WITH MAIN EFFECT LIKELY ACROSS CENTRAL AND NORTH.
HOWEVER...WILL LEAVE IN THE MENTION OF SNOW ACROSS ENTIRE AREA FOR
FRI AND SAT DUE TO PATTERN UNCERTAINTY. JAD
WESTERN COLORADO AND EASTERN UTAH EMERGENCY MANAGERS SHOULD MAINTAIN
A HEIGHTENED LEVEL OF WEATHER AWARENESS THROUGH EARLY SUNDAY
AFTERNOON DUE TO PERSISTENT LIGHT SNOWFALL...ESPECIALLY OVER THE
MOUNTAINS SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 70.
.GJT...SNOW ADVISORY UNTIL NOON SUNDAY FOR COLORADO ZONES 009-
012-017>021 AND UTAH ZONE 028.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 heavy snow. 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, December 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: 5276133, 5276134, 5276135, 5276136.