An unseasonably cold spring storm dropped 4 to 8 inches of heavy, wet snow over the central and southern mountains of western Colorado.
Every event with a place to put it; 5 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.
An unseasonably cold spring storm dropped 4 to 8 inches of heavy, wet snow over the central and southern mountains of western Colorado.
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 Jun 13, 2:30 AM MST, 9 hours 30 minutes earlier.
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
330 AM MDT WED JUN 13 2001
COLD ADVECTION UNDERWAY AS TROUGH AXIS WILL BE OVER WESTERN COLORADO
THIS AFTERNOON. PRECIPITATION ON THE WANE AT 09Z.. BUT THIS WILL
BE SHORT LIVED AS UPSTREAM ENERGY PIVOTS AROUND BROAD CLOSED LOW
CENTERED OVER SOUTHERN IDAHO. MODELS SHOW GOOD QUASI-GEOSTROPHIC
FORCING IN ADVANCE OF EASTERN OREGON VORTICITY MAXIMA.. ALREADY
ENHANCING CLOUD MASS OVER SOUTHERN UTAH. 110KT JET CORE WILL BE
SITUATED OVER THE FOUR CORNERS REGION.. ALIGNED WITH THE BAROCLINIC
ZONE. SHOWERS SHOULD FORM QUICKLY THIS MORNING OVER THE SAN
JUANS.. AND SIMILARLY TO THE YESTERDAY.. THE INITIAL DRY ENVIRONMENT
BELOW CLOUD LAYER WILL ENHANCE MICROBURST WIND. WILL ISSUE WIND
ADVISORY FOR THE SOUTHERN ZONES. FARTHER NORTH.. ISENTROPIC FIELDS
AND PRESSURE ADVECTION ON THE 310K LEVEL INDICATE THAT WIND WILL
STILL BE A FACTOR OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN. WITH JET ENHANCED CLOUD
MASS EXPANDING THIS MORNING.. WILL ALSO ISSUE SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW
ADVISORY FOR THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS THIS AFTERNOON AND
TONIGHT (THIS MAY BE INITIALLY MARGINAL FOR ZONE 4.. BUT WIND THERE
SHIFTS TO NORTHWEST THIS EVENING). THE SAN JUANS WILL ALSO HAVE SOME
ACCUMULATING SNOW OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN.. BUT LESS MOISTURE.. SHORT
TIME DURATION.. AND WARMER AIR WILL CAUSE MOST OF THE SNOW TO MELT
THIS AFTERNOON.
SECOND CONCERN REGARDS TRAJECTORY OF COLD CORE. UPPER LOW ASSOCIATED
WITH COLD CORE IS FILLING (AS A NEW UPPER LOW REFORMS OVER THE
NORTHERN PLAINS).. BUT TONIGHT THE REMNANTS OF THE UPPER LOW AND
ASSOCIATED COLD CORE TRACKS ACROSS NORTHWEST COLORADO IN NORTHWEST
FLOW. TEMPERATURES AT 700 MB AROUND -6C.. COLD ENOUGH TO BRING SNOW
INTO CRAIG AND STEAMBOAT SPRINGS. WILL NOT ISSUE ANY ADVISORIES
YET.. BUT NEXT SHIFT MAY NEED TO CONSIDER IT (AS WELL AS ANY
POTENTIAL FROST FOR SOME HIGHER VALLEYS). FRISBIE
WESTERN COLORADO AND EASTERN UTAH EMERGENCY MANAGERS SHOULD MAINTAIN
A HIGH LEVEL OF WEATHER AWARENESS TODAY AND TONIGHT.. CHECK
HIGHLIGHTS BELOW AND FORECASTS FOR FURTHER INFORMATION.
.GJT...WIND ADVISORY TODAY UT ZONES 22 28
CO ZONES 19 21 22 23
SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT
ABOVE 8000 FEET CO ZONES 04 10 12 13The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 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, June 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: 5253173, 5253174, 5253175, 5253176, 5253177.