A winter storm produced heavy snow and winds to 50 MPH across the mountains of southwest Colorado. Widespread snowfall amounts ranged from 11 to 15 inches with local amounts up to 20 inches.
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 winter storm produced heavy snow and winds to 50 MPH across the mountains of southwest Colorado. Widespread snowfall amounts ranged from 11 to 15 inches with local amounts up to 20 inches.
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 Mar 15, 3:10 AM MST, 7 hours 50 minutes earlier.
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 310 AM MST SAT MAR 15 2003 TODAY...QUICK BREAK THIS MORNING AHEAD OF THE COMPLEX STORM SYSTEM OVER THE WESTERN US. HIGH CLOUDS WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE AREA FROM WEST TO EAST TODAY. AS SYSTEM APPROACHES SOUTHERLY FLOW WILL INCREASE ESPECIALLY OVER MOUNTAIN LOCATIONS THIS AFTERNOON. EVEN WITH HIGH CLOUDINESS...SOUTHERLY FLOW WILL ALLOW HIGH TEMPERATURES SIMILAR TO FRIDAY. TONIGHT...SYSTEM SLOWLY MOVES EAST ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT. MAIN CONCERN THOUGH SUNDAY WILL BE WINDY SOUTHERLY FLOW ESPECIALLY OVER HIGHER TERRAIN AND NORTH FACING SLOPES...DUE TO ENHANCED DOWNSLOPE FLOW. AS MOISTURE INCREASES HAVE GONE WITH CHANCE POPS OVER MTNS... MAINLY WESTERN SECTIONS...WITH SLIGHT CHANCE OF WESTERN VALLEYS OF CWA. EXPECT RAIN/SNOW LEVELS AROUND 8500 FEET DURING THE NIGHT. SUNDAY...WINDY SOUTHWEST FLOW WILL CONTINUE ON SUNDAY ACROSS THE CWA. DUE TO FAIRLY GOOD FORCING AND INSTABILITY...HAVE GONE WITH CHANCE/LIKELY POPS OVER CWA WITH RAIN/SNOW LEVEL AROUND 8000 FEET. BEST FORCING REMAINS OVER THE WESTERN PORTION OF THE CWA WITH MODEST ACCUMULATIONS MAINLY ABOVE 9000 FEET...ESPECIALLY ON SOUTHWEST FACING SLOPES. DUE TO RELATIVELY HIGH SNOW LEVELS FOR SUNDAY HAVE DECIDED TO DELAY ISSUING HIGHLIGHTS AT THIS TIME. SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY...UNSETTLED PATTERN CONTINUES AS MAIN TROF MOVES EAST ACROSS THE REGION. EXPECT CHANCE/LIKELY POPS SUNDAY NIGHT AND CHANCE POPS ON MONDAY. COLDER AIR WILL MOVE ACROSS THE CWA SUNDAY NIGHT...AS A RESULT...EXPECT PRECIPITATION TO FALL AS ALL SNOW OVER MOUNTAIN LOCATIONS WITH RAIN/SNOW AT LOWER ELEVATIONS. MPM TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...MEDIUM RANGE MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT KEEPING A LARGE CLOSED LOW OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY...THEN SHIFTING IT OVER THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY THURSDAY. THE FORECAST AREA REMAINS IN NORTH TO NORTHWEST FLOW ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE LOW WITH BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES. WILL CONTINUE THE CHANCE OF SNOW EACH DAY IN THE MOUNTAINS WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW IN THE VALLEYS. PRIMARY FORCING WOULD BE OROGRAPHIC IN THIS SCENARIO WITH AN OCCASIONAL WEAK POSITIVE VORTICITY CENTER ADDING SOME MINOR DYNAMICS. THE LATEST GFS BRINGS AN OPEN WAVE ACROSS THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST AND OVER THE WESTERN GREAT BASIN THURSDAY... THEN INTO SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FRIDAY. PREVIOUS RUN OF THE GFS MOVED THIS WAVE ACROSS COLORADO. THE ECMWF SUPPORTS THE MORE SOUTHERN TRACK. WILL LEAVE PREVIOUS GRIDS ALONE...MENTIONING A CHANCE AND SLIGHT CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION UNTIL MORE RUN TO RUN CONTINUITY EXISTS. LINDQUIST .GJT...NONE.
COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-161230- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 555 AM MST SAT MAR 15 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN COLORADO AND FOR EASTERN UTAH .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS AND GUSTY SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL DEVELOP THIS EVENING. SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW WILL CREATE POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO...MAINLY ABOVE 9000 FEET. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY... MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. THE POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR SIGNIFICANT SNOW FOR ALL MOUNTAIN AREAS OF EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 winter storm. 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, March 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: 5348031.