High winds occured across portions of the Front Range Foothills. Peak wind reports included: 95 mph (82 kt) 1 mile south of Fritz Peak, 88 mph (76 kt) atop Niwot Ridge and 73 mph (63 kt) 4 miles east-northeast of Nederland.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 occured across portions of the Front Range Foothills. Peak wind reports included: 95 mph (82 kt) 1 mile south of Fritz Peak, 88 mph (76 kt) atop Niwot Ridge and 73 mph (63 kt) 4 miles east-northeast of Nederland.
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 8, 2:29 PM MST, 8 hours 31 minutes earlier.
NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER COLORADO 229 PM MST FRI MAR 8 2002 SHORT TERM DISCUSSION: CURRENT SATELLITE PICTURES INDICATING UPPER TROUGH AXIS JUST WEST OF THE FORECAST AREA RIGHT NOW. AREA PROFILERS ARE SHOWING DEEPENING LOW LEVEL UPSLOPE FLOW...NOW UP TO ABOUT 650 MB. RADAR INDICATING MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW...IN BANDS... ACROSS THE FOOTHILLS AND MOST OF THE PLAINS. PLENTY OF CONVECTION ...EVEN A FEW LIGHTNING STRIKES AND SOME HAIL REPORTED. IT IS MARCH. MM5/MESOETA GRIDS/CROSS SECTIONS/SATELLITE PICTURES/RADAR PICTURES ALL SHOW DECENT UPSLOPE...MOISTURE...SYNOPTIC SCALE FORCING...AND POTENTIAL INSTABILITY THROUGH ABOUT 00Z TO 03Z. THEN EVERYTHING IS QUICKLY GONE AS THE TROUGH AXIS MAKES IT WAY ACROSS US. FAIRLY DECENT AMOUNTS OF HEAVY BRIEF SNOWFALL WILL OCCUR UNTIL ABOUT 00Z-03Z FROM WEST TO EAST...THEN END. CAN ALREADY SEE BACK EDGE ON RADAR SO NO HIGHLIGHTS...JUST SOME FIERCE WINTER FOR ABOUT 2-3 HOURS HEADING EASTWARD. SATURDAY LOOKS CONSIDERABLY WEATHER FREE COMPARED TO TODAY...A BIT UPPER LEVEL MOISTURE...AND WARMING. RJK LONG TERM DISCUSSION: SAT NGT-MON...UPR RDG BLDS OVR CNTRL RCKYS THRU SUN. WK PAC SHT WV FLATTENS UPR RDG AND SPRDS MSTR INTO MTNS ON SUN NGT AND MON. WILL MENTION SCT SNW SHWRS. SYS MOVES THRU RAPIDLY NOT ALLOWING MUCH IN WAY OF PCPN TO DVLP E OF MTNS ON MON SO WILL KEEP IT DRY ATTM. HWVR WILL COOL TEMPS CONSIDERABLY WITH INCRSD CLDNS AND COOLING AFL. WILL MAKE ONLY SML CHNGS TO MOS TEMP GDNC. IN XTNDD PRD...TUE-FRI...MRF KEEPS FLO ALF MORE ZNL ACRS CNTRL RCKYS ON TUE-THU IN ADV OF STG PAC SYS DIVING S INTO GRT BASIN ON FRI... WHICH WILL INCRS SWLY FLO ALF ACRS AREA. WILL DELETE SLGT CHC OF SUM LINGERING SNW MTNS MON NGT INTO TUE MRNG AS UPR TROF EXITS AREA...BUT NEW AVN/OLD MRF SHW SUM MSTR OVR MTNS ON WED INTO THU... SO WILL ADD CHC SNW SHWRS. NEW AVN IS SUGGESTIVE OF PCPN E OF MTNS ON WED...BUT WILL HOLD OFF FOR NOW. WILL GENLY GO ALG WITH MRF MOS TEMP GDNC. GARD...WFO BOULDER .DEN...NONE.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 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, March 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: 5284400, 5284401.