A storm system produced significant snowfall across the mountains of western Colorado. SNOTEL data indicated widespread snowfall amounts ranging from 5 to 12 inches throughout the mountains of western Colorado.
Every event with a place to put it; 8 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 GJT wrote it up.
A storm system produced significant snowfall across the mountains of western Colorado. SNOTEL data indicated widespread snowfall amounts ranging from 5 to 12 inches throughout the mountains of western Colorado. Local amounts from 14 to 19 inches were reported across the San Juan Mountains.
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, 2:15 PM MST, 3 hours 45 minutes earlier.
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 215 PM MST MON FEB 17 2003 TONIGHT: ANOTHER WAVE WILL AFFECT CWA OVERNIGHT. THIS SYSTEM A BIT FARTHER SOUTH THAN SYSTEM SUNDAY NIGHT. BOTH AVN AND ETA SHOWING GOOD MOISTURE WITH FAIRLY GOOD DYNAMICS STARTING THIS EVENING. OROGRAPHICS NOT AS IMPRESSIVE AS LAST NIGHTS STORM WITH SOUTHWEST FLOW AT 15 KT AT 700MB SWITCHING AROUND TO WESTERLY AFTER MIDNIGHT. AFTER COORDINATING WITH PUB HAVE GONE WITH WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING AS THE MAIN FOCUS WILL BE OVER SOUTHERN CWA. HAVE LEFT OTHER SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL MOUNTAIN ZONES BELOW ADV CRITERIA AMOUNTS. LOWER ELEVATIONS ACROSS THE SOUTH SHOULD EXPECT RAIN OR RAIN/SNOW MIX TO CHANGE OVER TO SNOW AFTER MIDNIGHT. TEMPERATURES NOT AS COLD ACROSS THE SOUTH WITH 700MB TEMPS COOLING TO -5C BY 12Z. HAVE KEPT RAIN/SNOW MENTION IN THOSE AREAS OVERNIGHT BUT HAVE ADDED LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS IN THESE AREAS FOR THE HIGHER TERRAIN. EXPECT ISOLD-SCT POPS ELSEWHERE. TUESDAY: HAVE KEPT SLIGHT CHANCE/CHANCE SNOW SHOWERS OVER SOUTHERN HALF OF CWA AS MOIST FLOW WINDS DOWN DURING MORNING HOURS. SHOWERS WILL BE MORE NUMEROUS OVER SAN JUAN MTNS AND HAVE CONTINUED THE ADVISORY THROUGH NOON WITH ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATIONS OF UP TO 3 INCHES. AS SYSTEM MOVES EAST OF CWA BY TUESDAY AFTERNOON EXPECT PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES WITH SOME LINGERING SNOW SHOWERS AND CLOUDS ACROSS SOUTHWEST COLORADO. MPM MEDIUM RANGE (TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY)...GFS AND ETA FAIRLY CLOSE WITH INCOMING SHORT WAVE TUE NIGHT. THE AVN IS MORE ENERGETIC ...PROBABLY AS A RESULT OF DEEPER TROF FEATURE AT 135W. MEANWHILE THE EC SHOWS SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES SO DISREGARDED FOR THE TIME BEING. TIME/HGHT XSECS NOT THAT IMPRESSIVE WITH DYNAMICS OR MOISTURE BUT SOME QPF IS INDICATED. CHANCE POPS NRN MTNS WILL BE ADEQUATE. BY WEDNESDAY THE ETA COMES AROUND TO THE EC SOLUTION WITH POWERFUL CLOSED LOW MOVING INTO CALIFORNIA. THE FLOW ALOFT OVER OUR FA BACKS TO THE SW BRINGING ADDED MOISTURE WITH A GOOD CHANCE OF SHOWERS DEVELOPING OVER THE SRN MTNS BY WED NIGHT. SURPRISINGLY THE GFS SUITE ALSO COMES AROUND TO EC SOLUTION THUR AS CLOSED LOW TRACKS ACROSS SRN AZ. WOULDNT BE TO SURPRISED TO SEE SUBSEQUENT MDLS A LITTLE SLOWER AND FURTHER SOUTH. EVEN WITH CURRENT SOLUTION TRACK OF STORM MAY BE TO FAR SOUTH TO HAVE TREMENDOUS IMPACT ON OUR CWFA... ALTHO MODERATE AMOUNTS OF SNOW WILL LIKELY MAKE IT TO THE SAN JUANS. FOR FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY...BROAD TROUGH WILL BE SITUATED ALONG 100W...AND THAT PLACES THE FORECAST AREA IN NORTHWEST FLOW. RIPPLES EMBEDDED IN THE FLOW WILL IMPACT THE NORTHERN ZONES FOR CHANCE POPS. NORTHWEST FLOW GRADUALLY WEAKENS THROUGH THE PERIOD AS THE JET ALOFT TRANSLATES EASTWARD. BUT LOW LEVEL INSTABILITY DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS WILL INDUCE SOME SNOW SHOWERS OVER THE NORTHWESTERN MOUNTAINS. FRISBIE .GJT...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TONIGHT THROUGH NOON TUESDAY CO ZONE 18-19.
COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-181200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 500 AM MST MON FEB 17 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN COLORADO AND FOR EASTERN UTAH .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... SNOW SHOWERS WILL INCREASE OVER SOUTHWEST COLORADO TONIGHT. UP TO 12 INCHES OF SNOW ACCUMULATION IS POSSIBLE IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS BY EARLY TUESDAY MORNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY... THE POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR A STRONG WINTER STORM SYSTEM TO IMPACT EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO ON THURSDAY. MOUNTAIN SNOW AND STRONG WINDS OVER EXPOSED AREAS AND RIDGETOPS WILL BE POSSIBLE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY AND TONIGHT. SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT THEIR SNOW REPORTS...OR ANY OTHER SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITION. RAMEY/FRISBIE
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
8 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, February 2003
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: 5344150, 5344151, 5344152, 5344153, 5344154, 5344155, 5344156, 5344157.