High winds developed early in the afternoon across portions of the northeast plains. Peak wind reports included: 63 mph (55 kts) at Merino and 60 mph (52 kts) at Fort Collins and 21 miles north of New Raymer and 58 mph (50 kts), 4 miles east of Haxtun.
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 early in the afternoon across portions of the northeast plains. Peak wind reports included: 63 mph (55 kts) at Merino and 60 mph (52 kts) at Fort Collins and 21 miles north of New Raymer and 58 mph (50 kts), 4 miles east of Haxtun.
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 Jan 15, 3:52 AM MST, 8 hours 53 minutes earlier.
NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 345 AM MST WED JAN 15 2003 SHORT TERM DISCUSSION: CURRENT SURFACE DATA INDICATED A FAIRLY LARGE AREA OF LOW PRESSURE DEVELOPING ACROSS THE PLAINS OF THE FORECAST AREA. WATER VAPOR PICTURES ARE SHOWING AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH OVER THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN. SATELLITE PICTURES SHOW CONSIDERABLE HIGH CLOUDINESS OVER MUCH OF THE FORECAST AREA AT THIS TIME. AREA PROFILERS ARE INDICATED DUE WESTERLY 100 KNOT WINDS AT THE JET LEVEL. UNFORTUNATELY...THE LATEST SHORT RANGE MODELS CONTINUE THE TREND OF THIS LATEST WINTER STORM TO WEAKEN...FURTHER LESSENING THE POTENTIAL BENEFIT FROM PRECIPITATION FOR THE FORECAST AREA. GRIDS SHOW THE UPPER TROUGH AXIS ACROSS THE WESTERN FORECAST AREA BY 18Z THIS AFTERNOON...THEN THROUGH US BY 03Z THIS EVENING. BY 12Z THURSDAY MORNING A 110 KNOT NORTH-NORTHWESTERLY JET MAXIMUM IS PROGGED OVER THE FORECAST AREA. FAIRLY STRONG SYNOPTIC SCALE ASCENT IS PROGGED OVER THE FORECAST AREA ON THE DIV-Q GRIDS INTO THIS AFTERNOON...THEN STRONG DOWNWARD FORCING IS PROGGED AREA-WIDE BY 00Z-03Z THIS EVENING..CONTINUING OVERNIGHT. LOW LEVEL PRESSURE AND WIND FIELDS SHOW A SURFACE CYCLONE DEVELOPING AND STRENGTHENING OVER SOUTHEASTERN COLORADO/NORTHERN TEXAS PANHANDLE BY 18Z THIS AFTERNOON. THIS DRAGS IN THE COLDER AIR THATS BEEN AROUND FOR DAYS TO OUR NORTHEAST. THICKNESS GRIDS SHOW THIS NEW AIRMASS MOVING INTO THE FORECAST AREA IN A RATHER DIFFUSE MANNER (ITS PARTLY IN HERE NOW OVER THE NORTHEAST CORNER). NO REAL FIERCE COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED...WITH HIGHS TODAY PROGGED ABOUT 5 TO 8 C COOLER THEN TUESDAYS. THE BOUNDARY LAYER WINDS COME AROUND TO 340-020 DEGREES AFTER 18Z THIS AFTERNOON. THIS UPSLOPE OR PSEUDO-UPSLOPE CONTINUES UNTIL AROUND 03Z...THEN FULL FLEDGED NORTH-NORTHWEST DOWNSLOPE FLOW IS PROGGED INTO THE THIRD PERIOD. THE GRADIENT IS PRETTY TIGHT OVER THE NORTHEAST CORNER...WILL KEEP STRONG WINDS GOING THERE. CONCERNING MOISTURE...CROSS SECTIONS SHOW DECENT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE GETTING INTO THE MOUNTAINS BY MID MORNING...AND FAIR LOW LEVEL MOISTURE OVER THE PLAINS BY 21Z THIS AFTERNOON. THE BEST MOISTURE FOR THE PLAINS APPEARS WELL EAST OVER THE BORDER AREAS. THE REST OF THE PLAINS EXPERIENCE TOO MUCH DOWNSLOPING NORTH-NORTHWESTERLY FLOW JUST ABOVE THE BOUNDARY LAYER. THE MOISTURE DECREASES SIGNIFICANTLY IN MOST AREAS BY 06Z TONIGHT...EXCEPT FOR THE FAR EASTERN AREAS WHERE DECENT MOISTURE HANGS ON THROUGH DAWN. CONCERNING SNOWFALL ...HAVING DIFFICULTY PUTTING LIKELYS ANYWHERE ON THE PLAINS... EXCEPT MAYBE OVER THE PALMER RIDGE. CURRENT ZONES HAVE LIKELYS OVER THE NORTHEAST CORNER...I SUPPOSE I COULD LEAVE THAT BE IN HOPES THE JET MAX WILL DO SOME MAGIC. QPF GRIDS FROM THE 06Z MODEL RUNS SHOW VERY LITTLE SNOWFALL FOR ANY AREAS OF THE PLAINS. IN THE MOUNTAINS...CROSS SECTIONS SHOW HOPE FOR OROGRAPHIC SNOWFALLS...WITH DECENT WIND SPEEDS AN DIRECTIONS AFTER 18Z...COLD AIR ADVECTION THROUGH BOTH PERIODS...PRETTY DEEP MOISTURE UNTIL 06Z...AND STEEP LAPSE RATES. SNOW MODEL SHOWS UP TO 6 FROM 18Z TO 06Z IN THE HIGH MOUNTAINS. CURRENT ZONES ON TRACK THERE. WISH I COULD SAY DIFFERENT...BUT NO HIGHLIGHTS FOR NOW. RJK LONG TERM DISCUSSION: CLEARING EXPECTED THU MORNING BUT WINDS ON THE PLAINS WILL TAKE A WHILE TO UNWIND. NW FLOW ALOFT CONTINUES WITH A WEAK WAVE PASSING NORTH OF US EARLY FRI AND A STRONGER ONE SUN. THESE WILL SERVE TO PULL WARMER AIR OVER US AND PROVIDE PERIODS OF STRONGER WINDS IN THE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS. MAIN CHANGE WILL BE TO ADD WIND THU NIGHT AND FRI...COULD BE NEAR HIGH WIND CRITERIA FRI. SUN COULD BE SIMILAR. AIRMASS STILL PRETTY COOL ON THU...BUT I RAISED TEMPS FRI AS IT IS LOOKING LIKE THERE WILL NOT BE MUCH SNOW TO MELT. NEW CROP OF MEDIUM RANGE MODELS LOOKING SIMILAR TO THE OLD. NW US/WRN CANADA RIDGE WILL PROBABLY BE STRONGER THAN THE OPERATIONAL GFS RUN WITH A WEAKER SYSTEM OR NOTHING COMING UNDERNEATH. WHETHER...WHEN...AND HOW STRONG THE COLD AIR COMES BACK STILL UNCERTAIN. NO CHANGES BEYOND SATURDAY. GIMMESTAD .DEN...NONE.
COZ030>051-161700- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 1100 AM MST WED JAN 15 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE TO THE WEST OF THE FORECAST AREA WILL KEEP MODERATE NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT OVER COLORADO TODAY AND TONIGHT. WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS OF 20 TO 35 MPH WILL OCCUR IN THE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS WITH STRONGER GUSTS TO 60 MPH MAINLY ABOVE 10000 FEET. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 4 INCHES WILL OCCUR IN THE MOUNTAINS TODAY...WITH AN ADDITIONAL 1 TO 3 INCHES TONIGHT. GUSTY WINDS WILL CAUSE AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW ESPECIALLY OVER THE HIGHER MOUNTAIN PASSES. ACROSS THE NORTHEAST PLAINS...SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS WILL DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON WITH SOME LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS POSSIBLE OVER THE PALMER DIVIDE BY THIS EVENING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY PERIODS OF STRONG WINDS AND LIGHT SNOW ARE EXPECTED IN THE HIGHER MOUNTAINS...WITH THE WINDS OCCASIONALLY SPILLING INTO THE FOOTHILLS. FRIDAY AND SUNDAY ARE EXPECTED TO HAVE THE STRONGEST WINDS AND THE BEST CHANCE OF SNOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. COOPER/ENTREKIN
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 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: 5338637, 5338638, 5338639.