A backcountry skier was caught in an avalanche in Wolverine Basin. The skier was hurled into a tree and suffered a broken leg.
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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 backcountry skier was caught in an avalanche in Wolverine Basin. The skier was hurled into a tree and suffered a broken leg.
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 Feb 18, 3:04 PM MST, 56 minutes earlier.
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 304 PM MST SUN FEB 18 2001 SHORT WAVE THAT ROARED THROUGH HERE THIS MORNING NOW WELL ONTO THE PLAINS. LOW CLOUD DECK LINGERING IN THE CENTRAL VALLEYS THIS AFTERNOON LIMITING TEMPS AND WIND DEVELOPMENT. KGJX VWP SHOWING SW AT 20KTS ON THE LOWEST GATE...AND WAVE CLOUDS IN VIS PIX INDICATE STRONG WINDS CONTINUING OVER THE MOUNTAINS. VORTEX NEAR 40N/135W CONTINUES TO SPIN SEVERAL WEAK WAVES TOWARDS THE AREA PER WATER VAPOR IMAGERY...ONE OF WHICH IS NEARLY OVERHEAD AT 21Z. MAIN CHALLENGE FOR THIS PACKAGE IS CLOUD TRENDS FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS ASSOCIATED WITH THESE PIECES OF ENERGY. MODERATE INSTABILITY AND LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE TRAPPED IN THE CENTRAL VALLEYS HAVE ALLOWED STRATOCU TO REMAIN ENTRENCHED THIS AFTERNOON. EXPECT THESE CLOUDS TO SLOWLY DISSIPATE DURING THE EARLY EVENING AS THE SUN SETS. MID/HIGH LEVEL MOISTURE PUSHING NORTHWESTWARD THROUGH THE CWFA WITH NEGATIVE TILT ASSOC W/LITTLE PRECIP UPSTREAM. THUS... WILL TREND FORECAST FOR DECR CLDS TONIGHT. EXCEPTION WILL BE IN THE NORTHERN/CENTRAL MTNS THIS EVENING WHERE MOISTURE WITH PASSING WAVE AND 700MB WSW WIND 20-30 KTS WILL HELP TO FOCUS SHOWERS. NEXT WAVE WILL ARRIVE DURING THE EARLY A.M. HOURS WITH ANOTHER QUICKLY ON ITS HEELS FOR THE AFTERNOON. DYNAMICS WITH THESE FEATURES EXPECTED TO STAY WELL TO OUR WEST...AND GIVEN WHAT CURRENT WAVE IS DOING...EXPECT MAINLY MID/HIGH MOISTURE FOR MONDAY. WILL WORD AS PTLY CLDY WITH INCR AFTN CLDS. ONE CAVEAT HERE IS INCREASING JET OVERHEAD WHICH COULD THICKEN CIRRUS AND MID DECK...LIMITING SUNSHINE AND TEMPS. STILL... TEMPS WILL REBOUND TO MORE CLIMO NUMBERS FOR MONDAY...BUT GUIDANCE APPEARS TOO WARM. VORTEX SHOULD MOVE ONSHORE TUESDAY SPAWNING ADDITIONAL SHORTWAVES AND AIDING CLOUD COVER AND POPS. HOWEVER... BELIEVE THAT PRECIP TUESDAY WILL BE CONFINED TO MAINLY MTN LOCALES. IN THE EXTENDED...SHORTWAVE SET TO AFFECT THE REGION WEDNESDAY LOOKS LIKE IT WILL WEAKEN AS IT MOVES ONSHORE SOUTH OF UPPER RIDGE. AVN TRIES TO PHASE THIS FEATURE WITH NORTHERN BRANCH SYSTEM SET TO PLUNGE SOUTH ON THE PLAINS. BELIEVE THAT BEST POPS WILL BE NORTH OF I-70 WITH LESS CLOUDS AND POPS SOUTH. ALL MODELS AGREE THAT RIDGE WILL BUILD OVER THE CWFA IN THE WAKE OF THIS SYSTEM BEFORE NEXT LOW DIVES INTO THE GREAT BASIN FOR FRI/SAT. .GJT...NONE.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 avalanche. 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, February 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: 5232651.