An early fall storm brought the first significant snowfall of the season to the northern mountains of western Colorado. Snowfall accumulations varied from 3 to 5 inches.
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.
An early fall storm brought the first significant snowfall of the season to the northern mountains of western Colorado. Snowfall accumulations varied from 3 to 5 inches.
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 Sep 7, 1:45 PM MST, 5 hours 15 minutes earlier.
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 245 PM MDT FRI SEP 7 2001 NEXT COLD FRONT ORIENTED WEST TO EAST CURRENTLY DIVING SOUTHWARD ACROSS CENTRAL WYOMING. CURRENT MOVEMENT PLACES FRONT INTO EXTREME NORTHEAST UTAH AND NORTHWEST COLORADO AROUND 02Z. COOLER CONTINENTAL AIR MASS COMPARED WITH LAST EVENINGS SURFACE FRONT WITH 700 MB TEMPERATURES DROPPING TO AROUND MINUS 4C OVER NORTHWESTERN COLORADO OVERNIGHT. LOW LEVEL INSTABILITY INCREASES BEHIND FRONT. NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT AIDS OROGRAPHIC COMPONENT FOR SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ALONG THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE OVERNIGHT. HAVE SOME CONCERN REGARDING LOW LEVEL WIND COMPONENTS PER MODEL DATA THAT SHOW A NORTH NORTHEAST DIRECTION A COUPLE HOURS AFTER FRONTAL PASSAGE. WITH A STRONG JET ALOFT MOVING SOUTHWARD OVER THE NORTHERN INTERMOUNTAIN REGION WHICH MAY RESULT IN A SMALL CLOSED LOW CIRCULATION OVER SOUTHWEST COLORADO. IF THIS OCCURS AS THE ETA/AVN HINT AT.. THEN THE SURFACE FRONT STRETCHES WITH A DOWNSLOPE COMPONENT FOR MOST MOUNTAIN AREAS WITHIN COUNTY WARNING AREA. BUT WITH A MOIST UNSTABLE AIR MASS TO 550 MB.. INCREASING POTENTIAL VORTICITY AND QG ASCENT.. SHOULD BE ENOUGH FAVORABLE OROGRAPHICS FOR A FEW INCHES OF SNOW NEAR THE DIVIDE. HAVE DECIDED TO ISSUE SNOW ADVISORY GIVEN PRIMARY FIRST SNOW OF THE SEASON. COLD POOL ALOFT NEVER REACHES SOUTHWEST COLORADO.. SO THE SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS MAY NOT SEE ANY COLD ADVECTIVE PRECIPITATION. AND COOLING TREND WILL BE LESS PRONOUNCED ACROSS THE FOUR CORNERS REGION. ANOTHER IMPULSE REINFORCES LONG WAVE TROUGH OVER THE CENTRAL U.S. SATURDAY NIGHT. LITTLE MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS FEATURE.. AND ITS PROGGED TRAJECTORY PLACES IT ALONG THE EASTERN FRINGE OF FORECAST AREA. COLDEST MORNING WILL BE SUNDAY DUE TO STRONG RADIATIONAL COOLING. AIR MASS MODIFIES SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT AS LIGHT WESTERLY FLOW ADVECTS WARMER AIR ALOFT. FRISBIE EXTENDED: THE PERIOD STARTS WITH LOW PRESSURE OFF THE WEST COAST AND HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE CENTRAL ROCKIES. THIS PATTERN SLOWLY SHIFTS EAST WITH THE HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING OVER THE CENTRAL CONUS. THEREFORE MAINLY DRY CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE EXTENDED WITH TEMPERATURES REBOUNDING TO AROUND NORMAL. THE MRF AGAIN IS THE FASTEST MODEL IN MOVING THE LOW PRESSURE TROUGH INLAND. HOWEVER IT IS SLOWER THAN ITS PREVIOUS RUN WITH A WEAK SHORTWAVE EJECTING FROM THE TROUGH AND MOVING ACROSS OUR AREA. THE TIMING IS NOW FOR THU. THIS SHORTWAVE JUST BRUSHES THE NORTH AS IT TRACKS ACROSS THE NORTHERN ROCKIES. AM SKEPTICAL SINCE THE OTHER MODELS DO NOT SUPPORT THIS WAVE AT 144 HRS AND ARE FURTHER WEST IN GENERAL WITH THE POSITION OF THE MEAN TROUGH. THEREFORE...WILL PULL CHANCES FOR WED AND KEEP ANY MENTION ON THU TO THE MOUNTAINS. .GJT...SNOW ADVISORY MIDNIGHT THROUGH NOON CO ZONES 04 10 12 13.
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, September 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: 5264831, 5264832, 5264833.