Heavy Snow, La Sal & Abajo Mountains
- When
- December 4, 3:30 PM MST to December 5, 6:00 AM MST
- Where
- La Sal & Abajo Mountains forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 38.304, -109.687 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow in Utah, December 4 to 5, 2001
A Pacific trough, preceded by a moist southwest flow aloft, produced 5 to 10 inches of new snow in the mountains of southeast Utah.
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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- 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.
A Pacific trough, preceded by a moist southwest flow aloft, produced 5 to 10 inches of new snow in the mountains of southeast Utah.
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 Dec 4, 2:20 PM MST, 1 hour 10 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Dec 4, 2:20 PM MST, 1 hour 10 minutes before
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
220 PM MST TUE DEC 4 2001
SEVERAL CONCERNS TO DEAL WITH THIS AFTERNOON AND WILL START OFF WITH
THE CURRENT ADVISORIES IN PLACE OVER THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS OF OUR
FORECAST AREA. SNOW CONTINUES TO FALL OVER MOST MOUNTAIN RANGES
AND OVER SOME VALLEY LOCATIONS. HAVE ALREADY RECEIVED 2-4 INCHES
OVER THE TAVAPUTS PLATEAU JUST NORTH OF GRAND JUNCTION WITH 2
INCHES IN RANGELY. MONTICELLO UTAH HAS ALSO RECEIVED 3 INCHES SO
FAR. RADAR CONTINUES TO SHOW EXPANDING AREA OF SNOW AND SOME RAIN.
EXPECT A 6 HOUR PERIOD OF ENHANCED PRECIPITATION THIS EVENING AS H5
TROF AXIS SLIDES THROUGH THE REGION...WITH MAX DYNAMICS AND JET
SUPPORT IN PLACE FROM 00Z THROUGH 06Z THIS EVENING. EXPECT TO SEE
SOME THUNDERSTORMS AS WELL IN THE 4-CORNERS AND SAN JUANS THIS
EVENING...TO ENHANCE PRECIPITATION. CURRENT SNOW ADVISORIES WILL
CONTINUE THROUGH TONIGHT...AND HAVE DECIDED TO EXPAND THE ADVISORIES
FURTHER NORTH TO INCLUDE THE ROAN AND TAVAPUTS PLATEAUS AND COLORADO
ZONES 1 AND 2 AS THESE TEND TO DO BETTER IN SW FLOW THAN WOULD BE
EXPECTED...ESPECIALLY MEEKER. AFTER 06Z...SOUTHERLY COMPONENT SHUTS
DOWN WITH FOCUS OF PRECIP SHIFTING TO WESTERN SLOPES. HOWEVER...
MOISTURE QUICKLY DISSIPATES AND SATELLITE INDICATING RAPID CLEARING
FROM WEST TO EAST WILL OCCUR OVER MOST AREAS BY LATE TONIGHT.
FOCUS OF CONCERN THEN SHIFTS NORTH ON WEDNESDAY AS 30-40KT WESTERLY
FLOW DEVELOPS OVER NORTHERN COLORADO. MOIST SATURATED LAYER FROM
800 TO 600 MB AND STRONG OROGRAPHICS WILL HELP TO INDUCE DECENT
SNOWFALL. MODELS MAINTAIN STRONG WESTERLY COMPONENT THROUGH
THURSDAY...BUT KEEP BULK OF DYNAMICS NORTH OF OUR AREA. H7 TEMPS
WARM FROM -10C TO -8C DURING THE EVENT. HAVE SEEN SIMILAR SITUATIONS
IN THE PAST YIELD SOME IMPRESSIVE SNOWFALL AMOUNTS IN THESE TYPES OF
WAA PATTERNS. WL ISSUE A WINTER STORM WATCH FOR COLORADO ZONES 4 10
AND 13 WHICH TEND TO BE FAVORED IN THESE STRONG OROGRAPHIC
PATTERNS. REMAINDER OF FORECAST AREA WL CONTINUE TO SEE SCATTERED
SHOWER ACTIVITY WITH MOIST WESTERLY FLOW IN PLACE...ALTHOUGH SOME
DRYING WILL TAKE PLACE LATE IN THE PERIOD. JDC
EXTENDED (FRI-TUE)...MOIST NORTHWEST FLOW IN PLACE FRI WITH SCT
-SHSN OVR THE NRN MTNS...OTHERWISE UPR HIGH RIDGE AXIS WILL AFFECT
AREA WEATHER SAT-SUN WITH DRY AND MILD CONDITIONS. SUN...PAC NW
STORM INTENSIFIES AS IT SLIDES SOUTH ALONG CA COAST BY MON. NEW MED
RANGE MODELS SUGGEST STRONGER AND MORE PROGRESSIVE UPR LOW MON AND
TUE AS STORM TRACKS EAST OVR DESERT SW. GIVEN CURRENT AND RECENT
PATTERN...SEE THIS AS MOST LIKELY POSSIBILITY SO WILL MENTION
CHANCE PRECIP OVR SRN MTNS MON-TUE WITH SLGT CHANCE ELSEWHERE. DJN.83
.GJT...SNOW ADVISORY TONIGHT FOR COLORADO ZONES 1>3-9-12-17>19-21>23
AND UTAH ZONE 28.
WINTER STORM WATCH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH THURSDAY FOR
COLORADO ZONE 4/10/13.The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Heavy Snow
- Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Heavy Snow in Colorado, December 4 to 5, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Idaho, December 4, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Arizona, December 4 to 5, 2001
- High Wind in Alaska, December 4, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Washington, December 4, 2001
- Flooding in Puerto Rico, December 4, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Idaho, December 4 to 5, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Washington, December 4 to 5, 2001
- Flood in Arizona, December 4, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Colorado, December 4 to 5, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Oregon, December 4 to 5, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Oregon, December 4 to 5, 2001
More
Every storm in Utah in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Utah, December 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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5276123.