A large rock slide crashed into seven vehicles and covered the west bound lanes of Interstate 70 near the South Canyon exit, about five miles west of Glenwood Springs. A passenger in one vehicle was killed when a three-foot-diameter boulder caved in the passenger side of the vehicle.
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 episode as NWS GJT wrote it up.
A large rock slide crashed into seven vehicles and covered the west bound lanes of Interstate 70 near the South Canyon exit, about five miles west of Glenwood Springs. A passenger in one vehicle was killed when a three-foot-diameter boulder caved in the passenger side of the vehicle. At least six other people were injured. The rock slide was initiated over 200 feet above I-70 and was likely caused by a cycle of freezing and thawing.
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 Jan 13, 3:00 PM MST, 2 hours 50 minutes earlier.
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 300 PM MST MON JAN 13 2003 OVERRUNNING MOISTURE IN THE FORM OF AN ADVANCING CIRRUS SHIELD SPREADING FROM THE NORTHWEST.. AND A DECK OF ALTOCUMULUS THAT HAS PERSISTED ACROSS THE NORTHERN ZONES. NOT EXPECTING ANY PRECIPITATION THIS EVENING IN THE NORTH.. EXCEPT FOR POSSIBLE FLURRIES ALONG RIDGETOP OF THE PARK RANGE. DIRTY RIDGE FLATTENS ON TUESDAY IN ADVANCE OF PACIFIC SHORT WAVE. ETA AND GFS MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT THAT THIS SHORT WAVE BUSTS THROUGH THE LONG WAVE RIDGE AXIS.. AND AMPLIFIES AS IT BEGINS TO MOVE INTO THE BACK SIDE OF THE LONG WAVE TROUGH. NORTHWEST CYCLONIC FLOW WITH THE VORTICITY MAXIMA PROGGED TO TRACK FROM NORTHEAST NEVADA TO EAST CENTRAL UTAH BY WEDNESDAY MORNING.. AND DEPARTING FROM SOUTH CENTRAL COLORADO ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT. THIS IS A GOOD TRACK FOR MOUNTAIN ZONES THAT ARE FAVORED IN NORTHWEST FLOW.. AND EVEN FOR THE LOWER VALLEYS OF A QUICK BURST OF SNOW. INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT THIS SHORT WAVE WILL NOT BE TYPICAL FOR JANUARY IN NORTHWEST FLOW. PRECIPITABLE WATER AND 700 MB SPECIFIC HUMIDITIES (AROUND 3 G/KG) WILL BE RESPECTABLE.. OR ABOVE NORMAL FOR NORTHWEST FLOW IN MID WINTER. WHILE THIS IS GOOD FACTOR FOR SNOW ACCUMULATION.. THERE ARE SOME FACTORS THAT WOULD REDUCE POTENTIAL SNOW AMOUNTS. THE JET AXIS ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE SHORT WAVE TRANSLATES EASTWARD ACROSS OUR FORECAST AREA INSTEAD OF DIGGING. THE COLD CORE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SHORT AT 700 MB STAYS NORTH AND EAST OF NORTHWEST COLORADO.. I.E. MID LEVEL COLD ADVECTION ISN/T AS PRONOUNCED WITH A STRONG SHORT WAVE IN NORTHWEST FLOW. BUT COLD ADVECTION ALOFT IS SUFFICIENT TO STEEPEN LAPSE RATES ON WEDNESDAY FOR GOOD ACCUMULATING SNOW DURING THE DAY.. ESPECIALLY FOR THE NORTHWESTERN MOUNTAINS.. AND TO A LESSER EXTENT THE NORTHWESTERN SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS. WITH WARMING ALOFT ON THE HEELS OF THIS SHORT WAVE.. AIR MASS WILL STABILIZE QUICKLY WEDNESDAY NIGHT WITH SNOW SHOWERS COMING TO AN END. THURSDAY WILL BE COOLER.. MOSTLY SUNNY TO PARTLY CLOUDY FOR MOST OF THE AREA.. EXCEPT FOR NORTHWEST COLORADO WHERE SOME CLOUDS WILL GET TRAPPED BENEATH THE SUBSIDENCE INVERSION. BECAUSE OF THE FACTORS MENTIONED ABOVE.. NO WINTER STORM HIGHLIGHTS WILL BE ISSUED.. BUT MAY BE NEEDED LATER. EXPECT VERNAL TO BREAK OUT ON WEDNESDAY FROM THE STRATUS.. BUT SHOULD REFORM ONCE AGAIN ON THURSDAY. FRISBIE FRIDAY-MONDAY...THE WEST-COAST LONGWAVE RIDGE DOMINATES THE PERIOD FOR MOSTLY DRY AND MILD ACROSS THE REGION. WITH SPLITTING PACIFIC ENERGY...ONLY THE NORTHERN BRANCH LOOKS TO BE A LOCAL WEATHER PRODUCER. DAILY RIPPLES IN NW FLOW THREATEN THE NORTH WITH LIGHT SNOW. A BETTER SHORTWAVE DIVES IN NEXT MONDAY FOR AN INCREASED CHANCE OF SNOWFALL. WITH A SIMILAR PATTERN IN THE FIRST HALF OF DECEMBER... FOG WAS THE DOMINATE WEATHER FEATURE FOR THE EASTERN UINTA BASIN AND ALONG THE YAMPA AND WHITE RIVERS. SNOWFALL AND COLDER TEMPS FROM WEDNESDAYS STORM WARRANTS A MENTION OF PATCHY FOG IN THOSE NORTHERN ZONES. ELSEWHERE DAYTIME TEMPS WILL STAY ABOVE AVERAGE. RAMEY .GJT...NONE
COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-141300- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 600 AM MST MON JAN 13 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN COLORADO AND EASTERN UTAH. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY... A PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL STRENGTHEN AS IT DIVES ACROSS EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO WEDNESDAY. SNOW WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS WEDNESDAY...THEN SPREAD ACROSS THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS BY WEDNESDAY EVENING. THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY SNOW TO BRING SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ACROSS THE HIGH COUNTRY OF WESTERN COLORADO AND EASTERN UTAH WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT...WITH COLDER TEMPERATURES FOLLOWING THE STORM THURSDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY AND TONIGHT. DJN
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 debris flow. Local standard time, as filed.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Debris Flow, Central Colorado River Basin | 2003-01-13 | 7 | Male | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Direct |
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, January 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: 5354358.