Colorado, 2001

Extreme Cold in Colorado, June 14, 2001

June 14, 2001 · NWS GJT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

An unseasonably cold high pressure system settled over the Great Basin bringing a hard freeze to portions of southwest Colorado. Temperatures dropped to between 25 and 30 degrees for several hours and resulted in widespread damage to pinto bean and tomato crops in the vicinity of Cortez, Colorado.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
$250,000
Events
1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS GJT wrote it up.

An unseasonably cold high pressure system settled over the Great Basin bringing a hard freeze to portions of southwest Colorado. Temperatures dropped to between 25 and 30 degrees for several hours and resulted in widespread damage to pinto bean and tomato crops in the vicinity of Cortez, Colorado.

What forecasters said that day

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, 1:05 PM MST, 11 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 13, 1:05 PM MST, 11 hours 55 minutes before
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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Four Corners / Upper Dolores River Basin

When
June 14, 1:00 AM MST to 9:00 AM MST
Where
Four Corners / Upper Dolores River Basin forecast zone
Crop damage
$250,000
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
37.698, -108.507 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Colorado in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, June 2001

Sources

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5253172.