Colorado, 2003

Winter Weather in Colorado, January 5, 2003

January 5, 2003 · NWS GJT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Three to six inches of snow fell across the central Yampa River Basin as an upper level disturbance moved across northwest Colorado. Numerous automobile accidents occurred in the Craig area due to icy and snowpacked road conditions.

Where it happened

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.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS GJT wrote it up.

Three to six inches of snow fell across the central Yampa River Basin as an upper level disturbance moved across northwest Colorado. Numerous automobile accidents occurred in the Craig area due to icy and snowpacked road conditions.

What forecasters said that day

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 5, 4:20 AM MST, 4 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 5, 4:20 AM MST, 4 hours 40 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 5, 5:00 AM MST, 4 hours before
COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-061159-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
500 AM MST SUN JAN 5 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN COLORADO AND
EASTERN UTAH.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT...

THIS MORNING...PATCHY DENSE FOG IN THE COLORADO NORTHWEST PLATEAU AND
IN THE EASTERN UINTA BASIN COULD CAUSE LOCALLY HAZARDOUS DRIVING
CONDITIONS. HIGHWAYS 40 AND 64...ALONG THE YAMPA AND WHITE RIVERS
RESPECTIVELY...ARE VULNERABLE TO POOR VISIBILITY DUE TO FOG.

THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...A COLD FRONT WILL PUSH THROUGH THE
REGION. BRIEF BUT LOCALLY HEAVY SNOWFALL AND STRONG...BUFFETING WINDS
WILL CAUSE HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS IN THE MOUNTAINS OF EASTERN
UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY AND TONIGHT.

JOE

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, Central Yampa River Basin

When
January 5, 9:00 AM MST to 2:00 PM MST
Where
Central Yampa River Basin forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
40.361, -107.805 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Weather
Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Colorado in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, January 2003

Sources

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5338389.