5 miles northeast of Estes Park, 76 mph (66 kts) at Evergreen, 75 mph (65 kts) in central Boulder and 68 mph (59 kts) at Hereford. In Fort Collins, an empty tractor-trailor was blown over near the Anheuser-Busch brewery.
Every event with a place to put it; 6 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.
Peak wind reports included: 86 mph (75 kts), 3 miles south of Rollinsville, 84 mph (73 kts), 4 miles south of Livermore, 82 mph (71 kts), 2.5 miles northeast of Estes Park, 76 mph (66 kts) at Evergreen, 75 mph (65 kts) in central Boulder and 68 mph (59 kts) at Hereford. In Fort Collins, an empty tractor-trailor was blown over near the Anheuser-Busch brewery. The strong winds also downed several trees along with a telephone pole.
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 29, 7:46 PM MST, 5 hours 14 minutes earlier.
NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 745 PM MST WED JAN 29 2003 DECIDED TO ISSUE HIGH WIND WATCH FOR THE FTHILLS AND MOST OF THE MTN ZNS FOR THURS. MM5 AND OTHER CROSS SECTIONS INDG FVRBL SHEAR WITH STG STRAIGHT-LINE WNDS DVLPG ARND 12Z THURS MRNG. JET STREAK WL MOVE ACRS NRN WY DURING WATCH PD AS WELL. PRES GRADS WL BE STG DURING THE DAY TMRW AND SANSTER DATA POINTING TWD A WARNING IN THE AFTN. STG WNDS WL GET AS LOW AS 7000 FEET OR SO JUDGING BY TEMP PROFILES...BUT NOT COUNTING ON THE REALLY STG WNDS TO MAKE IT INTO THE FNT RANGE. 46 .DEN...HIGH WIND WATCH THURSDAY CO ZONES 33>36.
COZ030>051-301300- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 1120 AM MST WED JAN 29 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. A DRY COOL AIRMASS WILL COVER THE FORECAST AFTER THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. SOME HIGH CLOUDS WILL MOVE ACROSS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE BRISK NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL HELP BRINGS WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS OF 20 TO 35 MPH TO THE MOUNTAINS ABOVE 10000 FEET BOTH THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. STRONG WEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP IN THE MOUNTAINS AND FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING. WINDS GUSTS TO AS HIGH AS 60 MPH MAY OCCUR IN THE FOOTHILLS WITH EVEN STRONGER GUSTS POSSIBLE ABOVE TIMBERLINE. STRONG WINDS WILL CAUSE AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW ON SOME OF THE HIGHER MOUNTAIN PASSES. WINDS IN AND ALONG THE FOOTHILLS ARE EXPECTED TO GRADUALLY FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY...WITH ANOTHER SHOT OF SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS WITH THE PASSAGE OF A PACIFIC WEATHER SYSTEM SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. RJK/FMC
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
6 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: 5338631, 5338632, 5338633, 5338634, 5338635, 5338636.