A slow-moving and moist Pacific storm dropped 6 to 12 inches of snow over most of the mountains of western Colorado and up to 5 inches in some of the higher valleys. The storm first spread into the San Juan mountains where southwest winds of 15 to 30 mph created areas of blowing and drifting snow.
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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.
A slow-moving and moist Pacific storm dropped 6 to 12 inches of snow over most of the mountains of western Colorado and up to 5 inches in some of the higher valleys. The storm first spread into the San Juan mountains where southwest winds of 15 to 30 mph created areas of blowing and drifting snow. As the center of the system passed and winds shifted to the northwest, the brunt of the snowfall spread into the central and northern 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 Feb 17, 2:45 PM MST, 6 hours 15 minutes earlier.
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
245 PM MST SUN FEB 17 2002
UPCOMING STORM HAS MOVED ONSHORE WITH MAIN CIRCULATION OVER CENTRAL
CA AT NOON TODAY. AVN AND ETA IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH TIMING AND
LARGER SCALE FEATURES...HOWEVER DIFFERENCES SHOW UP IN THE DETAILS AS
USUAL. LOOKS LIKE BEST ENERGY AND JET SUPPORT WILL REMAIN TO OUR
SOUTH AS MODELS MOVE THE TROUGH EAST. THE STRONGEST VORT CENTER WILL
TRACK TO THE SOUTHEAST...THEN ACROSS NORTHERN AZ AND INTO NORTHERN NM
MON. GOOD SOUTHWEST FLOW ALREADY IN PLACE ONCE THE LOWER LEVELS
MOISTEN UP. THIS WILL HAPPEN DOWN SOUTH THIS EVENING. EXPECT
PRECIPITATION THERE FIRST...THEN IT WILL SHIFT TO THE NORTH AS THE
FLOW BECOMES WESTERLY THEN NORTHWESTERLY THROUGH THE DAY TOMORROW.
HOWEVER FLOW WILL QUICKLY DIMINISH LATE TONIGHT...BEFORE INCREASING
AGAIN LATE MONDAY. INSTABILITY WILL BE A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR WITH
THIS STORM. LAPSE RATES REMAIN HIGH INTO WED.
FACTORS THAT WILL LIMIT SNOWFALL INCLUDE TODAYS WARM TEMPERATURES.
THIS WILL KEEP SNOW-WATER RATIOS HIGH THROUGH TONIGHT WITH
PRECIPITATION BEGINNING AS RAIN IN THE LOWER ELEVATIONS. ALSO UPPER
LEVEL JET SUPPORT MAINLY PRECEDES MOISTURE/INSTABILITY AND
POSITIVE VORTICITY ADVECTION. THE SOUTHWEST OROGRAPHICS DIMINISH BY
MORNING...WITH THE NORTHWEST OROGRAPHICS NOT INCREASING UNTIL MON
NIGHT.
WILL ISSUE A SNOW ADVISORY FOR THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS TONIGHT AND
MONDAY WITH THIS FORECAST PACKAGE. WILL HOLD OFF ON OTHER AREAS AT
THIS TIME DUE TO DELAYED TIMING OF THE EVENT AND UNCERTAINTY OF THE
STRENGTH.
UNSETTLED WEATHER IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE INTO TUE NIGHT...ESPECIALLY
OVER THE NORTH...AS MOIST NORTHWEST FLOW AND ADDITIONAL VORT CENTERS
IMPACT THE FORECAST AREA.
EXTENDED (WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY)...ECMWF AND MRF SIMILAR FOR
PERIODS 3 AND 4 (WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY) WITH DIFFERENCES BECOMING
APPARENT FRIDAY AND CONTINUING INTO THE WEEKEND. BOTH HAVE
SIGNIFICANT UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OVER THE REGION AT MIDWEEK. EC MUCH
MORE PROGRESSIVE WITH PAC NW TROF BRINGING AXIS TO THE NORTHERN
ROCKIES 12Z FRIDAY WHILE MRF SOLUTION JUST BRINGING FEATURE ONSHORE
AT THIS TIME. IN THE ENSUING PERIODS MRF THEN DEVELOPS BROAD TROF
OVER THE NORTHWEST U.S. WHICH PERSISTS THROUGHOUT THE WEEKEND.
SOME OF THE ENERGY AND MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SYSTEM TO
JUST BRUSH THE NORTHERN ZONES. APPEARS SUFFICIENT UNCERTAINTY IN
THE EXTENDED PERIODS TO WARRANT ONLY MINOR CHANGES TO THE GOING
PACKAGE. THEREFORE...WILL FOLLOW HPC GUIDANCE WHICH FAVORED MRF
SOLUTION AND WILL ADD LOW END POPS TO THE NORTH THIS WEEKEND. NL
.GJT...SNOW ADVISORY TONIGHT AND MONDAY UT ZN 28 AND CO ZNS
9/12/17/18/19.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
8 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
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, February 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: 5282108, 5282109, 5282110, 5282111, 5282115, 5282112, 5282113, 5282114.