1 high wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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 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 Denver/Boulder, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 31, 2:30 PM MST, 11 hours 30 minutes earlier.
NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER COLORADO 230 PM MST SUN MAR 31 2002 SHORT TERM DISCUSSION: STATE IS CURRENTLY UNDER NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT WHICH EXTENDS APPROX 3655 MILES FROM THE KODIAK ISLAND OF ALASKA SOUTHEASTWARD TO ALABAMA. THERE EXISTS NUMEROUS RIPPLES OF INSTABILITY IN THIS FLOW...HOWEVER THE BOU CWA WILL STAY DRY AND STABLE THROUGH THE NEXT 27 HOURS AS THE MID AND HIGH LVL MOISTURE AND STRONGEST WINDS ALOFT REMAIN TO THE NORTH OVER MT/WYO/ND/SD. WESTERLY DRAINAGE FLOW AFTER SUNDOWN ON THE PLAINS WILL KEEP STRATUS OUT TONIGHT. MON LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER LEE TROUGH DAY WITH RELATIVE HIGH PRESSURE WEST OF THE DIVIDE. THIS WILL LIKELY BRING SOME GUSTY WESTERLIES DOWN TO THE FOOTHILLS...CHEYENNE RIDGE AND PERHAPS THE I-25 CORRIDOR. AN AREA OF WEAK UPWARD Q-G FORCING BEGINS TO ENTER THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE STATE BY MIDDAY SO A HIGH WIND SETUP NOT LIKELY AS MNT TOP LAYER OPENS UP. FIRST DAY OF APRIL WILL BE ABOVE NORMAL WITH 700MB TEMPS APPROACHING THE 6-8 DEGC RANGE. FREDIN LONG TERM DISCUSSION: IT LOOKS MORE AND MORE LIKE THE SHORTWAVE PASSING OVER THE NRN ROCKIES MON NIGHT/TUE WILL MISS US. MODELS HAVE BEEN TRENDING SLIGHTLY SLOWER AND FARTHER NORTH WITH THIS FEATURE. AVN HAS BEEN MOST CONSISTENT AND IS NOW THE FARTHEST SOUTH...STILL PRODUCING A LITTLE LIGHT SNOW ALONG THE NRN BORDER TUE. HOWEVER...THE SYSTEM IS CLEARLY ABOUT 100 MILES FARTHER NORTH THAN THE AVN HAS IT TODAY...MATCHING THE ETA INITIALIZATION QUITE WELL. ETA SOLUTION REMAINS ABOUT THAT MUCH FARTHER NORTH WITH THE JET RELATED PRECIPITATION...ACROSS ERN WY/NRN NEB PANHANDLE. THIS LOOKS GOOD. REMAINING QUESTION IS THE HANDLING OF THE COLD/MOIST SURFACE AIR WHICH SHOULD STILL COME IN EARLY TUE. ETA WOULD SUGGEST A SHALLOW AIR MASS BELOW 7 OR 8 THOUSAND MSL WHICH STALLS OUT JUST AS IT REACHES DENVER...THEN BURNS OFF BACK TO THE NE CORNER BY THE END OF THE DAY. THIS SEEMS INCONSISTENT WITH THE ELY WINDS WHICH CONTINUE ON THE PLAINS IN THE ETA THROUGH THE DAY. I WILL BRING THE COLD AIR IN A BIT FARTHER...HOLDING IT AT THE PALMER DIVIDE AND THE FOOTHILLS. IF THE PREFERRED ETA IS CORRECT...IT SHOULD BE CLEAR ABOVE THE SHALLOW STRATUS. THERE COULD BE SOME EROSION IN THE AFTERNOON OR OVERNIGHT TUE NIGHT...BUT THIS IS HARD TO TELL. THERE COULD BE SOME DRIZZLE OR FLURRIES IN THE COLD AIR...BUT CHANCE OF MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION SEEMS QUITE LOW. FOR WED THROUGH SUN...SE WINDS ON THE PLAINS WILL PROBABLY HOLD THE COLD AIR IN THE NE CORNER...THOUGH IT COULD WARM UP NICELY AROUND DENVER AS THE SHALLOW COLD AIR DEPARTS. DEFINITELY WARM AGAIN AFTER THAT. THERE IS GOOD AGREEMENT ON THE RIDGING OVER THE NRN ROCKIES...LESS ON OTHER UPSTREAM FEATURES. CONSENSUS OF ENSEMBLES CONTINUES TO BE MORE BLOCKY AND SLOWER THAN THE OPERATIONAL MRF...IMPLYING A STRONGER RIDGE OVER US LONGER. MRF GUIDANCE TEMPERATURES AROUND 70 ARE HELD BACK BY CLIMATOLOGY...IT WILL PROBABLY BE EVEN WARMER. ANY REMNANTS OF SW LOW WOULD HAVE LITTLE COLD AIR ALOFT AND SHOULD BE IN A QUITE DRY AIR MASS...SO CONVECTIVE THREAT FOR OUR AREA SEEMS LOW. GIMMESTAD .DEN...NONE.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
High winds developed briefly across central Weld County. A storm spotter 2 miles west-southwest of Gill measured a wind gust to 64 mph (56 kts) with another gust to 60 mph (52 kts) recorded 5 miles east-northeast of Eaton.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, April 2002
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: 5290924.