High winds developed in the near the foothills of Boulder, Larimer and northern Jefferson Counties. Peak wind reports included: 77 mph (67 kt) 2 miles southeast of Loveland, 75 mph (65 kt) at the National Center of Atmospheric Research Mesa Lab (NCAR) and 71 mph (62 kt) at Rocky Flats.
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 BOU wrote it up.
High winds developed in the near the foothills of Boulder, Larimer and northern Jefferson Counties. Peak wind reports included: 77 mph (67 kt) 2 miles southeast of Loveland, 75 mph (65 kt) at the National Center of Atmospheric Research Mesa Lab (NCAR) and 71 mph (62 kt) at Rocky Flats.
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 Feb 8, 3:00 PM MST, 2 hours 45 minutes earlier.
NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER COLORADO
300 PM MST FRI FEB 8 2002
SHORT TERM DISCUSSION: A BUSY SHIFT INDEED. ADVERTISED PACIFIC COLD
FRONT NOW MOVING THROUGH THE NRN COLORADO MTNS AS WINDS AT COPPER
MTN HAVE SHIFTED TO NWLY DIR IN THE PAST HR. SHOULD SEE COLD FRONT
BLOW THROUGH THE URBAN CORRIDOR NEXT HR OR TWO SETTING STAGE FOR
STRONG WINDS/HIGH WIND EVENT ON THE PLAINS. HAVE UPGRADED HIGH WIND
WATCH TO A WARNING FOR THE NORTHERN FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS...AND ALL
OF THE NERN COLORADO PLAINS. WARNING DOES NOT INCLUDE THE DENVER
METRO AREA INCLUDING BOULDER...ALTHOUGH FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS
COULD SEE POST-FRONTAL WINDS APRCHG 60 MPH...WHICH IS BELOW HIGH
WIND CRITERIA. BLOWING DUST MAY BE A REAL PROBLEM. SNOWFALL
ALREADY OCCURRING IN THE NRN MTNS. SHOULD SEE INTERMITTANT SNOWFALL
IN THE MTNS OVERNIGHT WITH ACCUMULATIONS BY SATURDAY MORNING IN THE
3 TO 6 INCH RANGE. IN ADDITION TO THE SNOWFALL...NORTHWEST WINDS
GUSTING 50-70 MPH WILL PRODUCE MUCH BLOWING SNOW ON THE MTN
PASSES... PROMPTING THE ISSUANCE OF THE SNOW/BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY
FOR MTN ZONES 31...33 AND 34 NOW THROUGH SATURDAY. MM5 AND MESOETA
REALLY CRANK UP N-NWLY WINDS ON THE PLAINS TOMORROW AND WITH
SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS...COULD BE A REAL MESS IN THE NORTHEAST...
ESPECIALLY FOR TRAVELERS. FOR NOW WILL HOLD OFF ON ANY
ACCUMULATIONS ON THE PLAINS...BUT SHOULD THE UPR LOW NOW OVR CNTRL
WY CONTINUE TO SAG S-SEWRD...WE COULD SEE A PERIOD OF ACCUMULATING
SNOWFALL ON THE PLAINS SATURDAY MORNING. BIG COOL DOWN STILL ON THE
WAY FOR SATURDAY. BAKER
LONG TERM DISCUSSION: LOOKING PRETTY QUIET WX WISE FOR THE LONG TERM
AFTER SATURDAY...AS STRONG LOW SHEARS OUT QUICKLY AS IT MOVES INTO
THE GREAT LAKES RGN. SAT NITE WILL STILL SEE SOME STRONG WINDS OVER
NERN CO IN THE EVENING...THEN SLOWLY DECREASING AS SURFACE GRADIENT
RELAXES. THERE ALSO COULD STILL BE SOME SNOW SHOWERS OVER FAR NERN
CO IN THE WRAP AROUND FROM LOW. SUNDAY LOOKING LIKE A FINE DAY AS
STRONG RIDGE ALOFT BUILDS IN FROM THE NORTH.
THRU THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK FLOW ALOFT BACKS AROUND TO THE NW WITH
GENERAL DRY CONDITIONS AND CLOSE TO CLIMATOLOGY FOR TEMPS. THERE ARE
A FEW WK UPPER WAVES THAT MOVE THRU NRN PLAIN STATES BUT LOOKS LIKE
MUCH OF THE MSTR WILL BE NORTH OF CO. MAY TAKE A CHANCE OF SNOW IN
MTNS DOWN TO A SLIGHT CHANCE AS MSTR AVAILABILITY APPERS QUITE
SPARSE. SOME WINDS AT TIMES IN THE MOUNTAINS WITH THE FLUCTUATING NW
FLOW. MODELS STILL SHOWING QUITE A BIT OF VARIABILITY IN SOLUTIONS
FOR LATER NEXT WEEK SO LITTLE OR NO CHANGE TO THE OVERALL DRY
PATTERN. ENTREKIN
.DEN...HIGH WIND WARNING THROUGH SATURDAY FOR THE NRN FRONT RANGE
FOOTHILLS...ZONE 35.
HIGH WIND WARNING THROUGH SATURDAY FOR THE NERN CO PLAINS...
ZNS 38..42>51.
SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVSY THROUGH SATURDAY FOR THE
N-CENTRAL MOUNTAINS...ZONES 31...33 AND 34.The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 high wind. 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: 5283192, 5283193, 5283194.