A fast moving winter storm brought heavy snowfall to the southwest San Juan Mountains and some lower elevation areas of southwest Colorado. Snowfall accumulations of 6 to 12 inches were common, with 15 inches reported at the Durango Mountain Resort (formerly Purgatory Ski Area), and up to 2 feet of snow over portions of northwest Archuleta county.
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 GJT wrote it up.
A fast moving winter storm brought heavy snowfall to the southwest San Juan Mountains and some lower elevation areas of southwest Colorado. Snowfall accumulations of 6 to 12 inches were common, with 15 inches reported at the Durango Mountain Resort (formerly Purgatory Ski Area), and up to 2 feet of snow over portions of northwest Archuleta 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 Grand Junction, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 15, 2:30 PM MST, 1 hour earlier.
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 230 PM MST MON JAN 15 2001 UPPER LOW OVER THE NORTHERN GREAT BASIN WILL BECOME A CLOSED CIRCULATION ALONG THE UTAH AND ARIZONA BORDER ON TUESDAY. REGIONAL SOUNDINGS AND SATELLITE IMAGERY INDICATE AIR MASS UNSTABLE WITH 500 MB TEMPERATURES COLDER THAN MINUS 30C. SNOW SHOWERS OCCURRING EAST OF THE WASATCH RANGE WHERE THE COMBINATION OF LOW LEVEL NORTH TO NORTHEAST FLOW (ENHANCING OROGRAPHIC LIFT) AND UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE EXISTS. EMBEDDED DISTURBANCES ROTATING AROUND THE UPPER LOW WILL GENERATE CONVECTIVE SNOW SHOWERS WITHIN THE FORECAST AREA NEXT 36 HOURS. WATER VAPOR IMAGERY AT 20Z SHOWS EDDY AT THE BASE OF BROAD UPPER TROUGH (OVER THE TRIPLE POINT OF NEVADA.. CALIFORNIA.. AND ARIZONA).. AND BEGINNING TO EJECT EAST NORTHEAST. THIS DISTURBANCE WILL INCREASE CLOUD COVER OVER SOUTHEAST UTAH AND SOUTHWEST COLORADO. MODEL DATA SHOW STRONGEST SOUTHERLY COMPONENT (IN THE 15 TO 20 KNOT RANGE AT 700 MB) OVER SOUTHWEST COLORADO.. AND THE AVN AND ETA INDICATE THE HIGHEST PRECIPITATION TOTALS WILL OCCUR HERE. THIS IDEA ACCEPTED AND WILL ISSUE SNOW ADVISORY FOR THE SOUTHWESTERN SAN JUANS AND THE ADJACENT UPSLOPE AREAS OF DURANGO AND PAGOSA SPRINGS. FARTHER NORTH.. WIND ALOFT NOT CONDUCIVE TO PRODUCE MUCH SNOWFALL.. BUT AS WAVE ROTATES AROUND CLOSED LOW.. WESTERN COLORADO VALLEYS MAY SEE BRIEF SNOW SHOWERS TUESDAY MORNING. WILL HAVE HIGHEST POPS TUESDAY TO INDICATE THIS.. OTHERWISE SKY CONDITIONS WILL BE GENERALLY CLOUDY WITH LITTLE ACTIVITY. UPPER LOW WILL DRIFT FARTHER SOUTH TOWARD THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER BASIN.. BUT WEAKEN WHILE DOING SO TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY AS PIECES OF ENERGY SHEAR EASTWARD. CLEARING TREND OCCURS NORTH TO SOUTH WEDNESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY NIGHT AS BACK EDGE OF DEFORMATION FIELD SAGS SOUTHWARD ACROSS COLORADO. GENERALLY DRY OUTLOOK DESPITE LOW CONFIDENCE IN EXTENDED MODELS. SHORT WAVES IN THE NORTHERN BRANCH MAY CLIP THE NORTHERN ZONES THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY.. BUT ANY SNOWFALL WILL BE MINOR. THE 12Z AVN MODEL AND YESTERDAY'S 12Z ECWMF SUGGEST STRONGER WESTERLY FLOW UNDER-CUTTING WESTERN U.S. RIDGE AXIS BY NEXT MONDAY. WILL ONLY USE "SLIGHT CHANCE" PHRASING FOR THE SIXTH AND SEVENTH DAY AT THIS TIME.. SINCE INITIAL SHORT WAVES BUSTING THROUGH RIDGE AXIS TYPICALLY GET DAMPED OUT. FRISBIE .GJT...SNOW ADVISORY TONIGHT AN8D TUESDAY CO ZONES 19 22 23.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 winter storm. 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, January 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: 5230247, 5230248, 5230249.