Strong thunderstorm winds blew over a large cottonwood tree onto a house in Palisade. Substantial damage occurred to the house.
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The episode as NWS GJT wrote it up.
Strong thunderstorm winds blew over a large cottonwood tree onto a house in Palisade. Substantial damage occurred to the house. The cottonwood tree was dead, although it had a trunk diameter of about five feet.
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 Jun 16, 1:45 PM MST, 2 hours 45 minutes earlier.
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 245 PM MDT MON JUN 16 2003 SHORT TERM: WARM AIRMASS REMAINS OVER THE FORECAST AREA TODAY. SFC DEWPTS MOSTLY IN THE 30S AND LOWER 40S AND INSTABILITY FUELING SOME SHOWERS/TSTMS OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN AHEAD OF WEAK WAVE. GOES/12Z RAOBS SHOW PRECIP WATER VALUES AROUND .50 INCH...SO DO NOT EXPECT HEAVY RAIN AMTS. OUTFLOW WIND GUSTS THE MAIN CONCERN. TONIGHT...WEAK WAVE OVER NRN AZ/SRN UT WILL MOVE INTO ERN UT EARLY THIS EVENING...THEN CONTINUE NEWD. WEAK LOW LEVEL BOUNDARY ACROSS THE NORTH COULD ENHANCE LIFT AS WAVE APPROACHES. EXPECT CONTINUATION OF ISOLD TO SCT SHOWERS/TSTMS THIS EVENING. SHOWERS DECREASING WITH LOSS OF DAYTIME HEATING...BUT WEAK LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE WITH WEAK DYNAMICS AS WAVE PASSES MAY KEEP ISOLD CONVECTION GOING AFTER MIDNIGHT. RAISED MIN TEMPS. TUESDAY...WEAK TROUGH CURRENTLY IN THE WESTERN GREAT BASIN SLOW TO MOVE...AND NOT EXPECTED TO REACH THE FORECAST AREA UNTIL TUE EVE. BOTH ETA/GFS SHOW GOOD UPPER DIV LATE TUE OVER WRN CO...ESPECIALLY SWRN CO...WITH SOME LOWER CONVERGENCE. OTHERWISE...DAYTIME HEATING AND INSTABILITY MAIN CONVECTIVE FACTOR EXPECT LITTLE BETTER COVERAGE THAN TODAY...WITH SHOWERS TAPERING OFF AFTER TUE EVENING. GUSTY THUNDERSTORM WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO BE A CONCERN. SFC HIGH PUSHING DOWN EAST OF DIVIDE SHOULD KEEP MOISTURE NEARBY TO WRN CO... WITH ERN UT REMAINING DRIER. FLOW ALOFT REMAINS RATHER WEAK. 700 MB TEMPS INCH UPWARD...BUT CLOUDS SHOULD KEEP TEMPS SIMILAR TO TODAY. BOOSTED MIN TEMPS TUE NIGHT IN THE GRIDS. JAD EXTENDED DISCUSSION: WEDNESDAY-SATURDAY...THE PERIOD STARTS OUT WITH A HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE PARKED OVER THE CENTRAL ROCKY MOUNTAINS. AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH FORMS OFF THE NORTH CA COAST ON WED...THEN DIGS ALONG THE COAST FORMING A CUT OFF LOW ON THU. BY FRI THE LOW MOVES INLAND OVER SOUTHERN CA THEN OPENS UP AND MOVES ACROSS OUR FORECAST AREA ON SAT. ON WED AND THU THE HIGH REMAINS THE DOMINANT FEATURE...WITH OCCASIONAL HARD TO TIME DISTURBANCES BRINGING A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS TO THE FORECAST AREA. SO WILL BROAD BRUSH WED AND THU WITH SLIGHT CHANCE-CHANCE MAINLY DIURNAL THUNDERSTORMS AS ENOUGH MOISTURE WILL BE PRESENT FOR SOME ACTIVITY. BY FRI THE FLOW BECOMES SOUTHWEST AS THE LOW MOVES INTO THE DESERT SOUTHWEST. WILL CONTINUE TO KEEP AFTERNOON MOUNTAIN POPS 10-20%. THE 00Z GFS BRINGS AN ASSOCIATED SURFACE FRONT ACROSS THE AREA FRI NIGHT. THEN TROUGH PASSAGE IS SCHEDULED FOR SAT AFTERNOON WITH A SECONDARY SHOT SAT NIGHT. THE EC KEEPS THE ENERGY MORE TO THE NORTH AND NOT AS FAVORABLE FOR WESTERN CO/EASTERN UT. ALSO MOISTURE LOOKS LIMITED AT THIS TIME AND TIMING REMAINS UNCERTAIN. BUT THE FRONT/TROUGH IS SURE TO BE ACTIVE AND WILL UP POPS THROUGH SAT. HOWEVER WILL NOT INCREASE TOO MUCH DUE TO LIMITED MOISTURE. TEMPS WILL DROP TO MORE NORMAL READINGS BY SAT AFTERNOON. SUNDAY-MONDAY...THE 00Z GFS INDICATES DRIER NORTHWEST FLOW ON SUN... BECOMING WESTERLY BY MON WITH TEMPS WARMING. HEFFERNAN .GJT...NONE.
COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-171145- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 1023 AM MDT MON JUN 16 2003 UPDATED TO INCREASE THUNDERSTORMS FROM ISOLATED TO SCATTERED FOR THE MOUNTAINS IN DAY ONE THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN COLORADO AND FOR EASTERN UTAH .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTHEASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO...WITH ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS IN THE VALLEYS OF WESTERN COLORADO AND NORTHEAST UTAH. GUSTY WINDS TO 45 MPH AND CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING STRIKES WILL BE THE MAIN THREAT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...(TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY)... ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE EACH AFTERNOON ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS OF EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE IN THE VALLEYS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED TODAY.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 strong 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, June 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: 5366266.