Strong downslope winds developed along the Front Range. Peak wind reports included: 91 mph (89 kts) atop Blue Mountain, 80 mph (70 kts) at Pinewood Lake and Carter Lake, 75 mph (65 kts) in Boulder, 72 mph (63 kts) at Buckhorn Mountain and 64 mph (57 kts), 2 miles southwest of Loveland.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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.
Strong downslope winds developed along the Front Range. Peak wind reports included: 91 mph (89 kts) atop Blue Mountain, 80 mph (70 kts) at Pinewood Lake and Carter Lake, 75 mph (65 kts) in Boulder, 72 mph (63 kts) at Buckhorn Mountain and 64 mph (57 kts), 2 miles southwest of Loveland. Damaging winds downed power lines over parts of Larimer and Boulder Counties. At least 7000 residents in Boulder County alone lost power due to the strong winds. The wind also caused two fires in Larimer County to quickly spread. The larger fire near Masonville was human caused and threatened a dozen homes, forcing the evacuation of 65 homes. The source of the smaller fire had not been determined. A delivery truck was flipped onto a small van at the intersection of State Highways 72 and 93. No one was injured in the accident. In addition, blowing rocks shattered several car windows at an RTD Park and Ride at the same location.
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 Nov 11, 3:40 AM MST, 4 hours 50 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 340 AM MST TUE NOV 11 2003 .SHORT TERM...CURRENT SATELLITE PICTURES ARE SHOWING PLENTY OF CLOUDINESS ASSOCIATED WITH A JET MAX STREAMING ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA FROM SOUTHWEST TO NORTHEAST. RADAR PICTURES SHOW SNOW CONTINUING OVER THE MOUNTAINS FROM ALONG THE DIVIDE AND WESTWARD. WATER VAPOR SATELLITE PICTURES ARE SHOWING THE NEXT BATCH OF CLOUDS/ENERGY OVER THE NORTHERN U.S. ROCKIES PUSHING TOWARDS US. GRIDS ARE SHOWING THE CURRENT 130 TO 145 KNOT WEST-SOUTHWEST JET MAX OVER US TO SLIDE SOUTHWARD AND EAST OUT OF THE FORECAST AREA BY EARLY THIS EVENING. THIS OCCURS AS THE AN UPPER TROUGH PUSHES EASTWARD TO OUR IMMEDIATE NORTH. AS A RESULT...THE FLOW ALOFT BECOMES DUE WESTERLY OVER US BY 03Z THIS EVENING AND STAYS STRONG IN THE 105 TO 135 KNOT RANGE THROUGH 12Z WEDNESDAY MORNING. CONCERNING SYNOPTIC SCALE DYNAMICS...GRIDS SHOW DECENT DOWNWARD FORCING PROGGED BY MID MORNING TODAY AND CONTINUING THROUGH TONIGHT. THE UPPER TROUGH TO OUR NORTH IS PROGGED TO DRAG DOWN A NEW AIRMASS OVER THE FORECAST AREA...GETTING IN HERE AFTER 06Z TONIGHT. THE BOUNDARY LAYER PRESSURE AND WIND FIELDS SHOW UPSLOPE FLOW OVER THE PLAINS BY 12Z WEDNESDAY MORNING. CONCERNING MOISTURE...CROSS SECTIONS KEEP THE PLAINS PRETTY DRY FOR THE FIRST TWO PERIODS. THE CURRENT MOISTURE IN THE MOUNTAINS IS PROGGED TO DECREASE THROUGH THE MORNING HOURS TODAY...WITH THE SNOWFALL EXPECTED TO CEASE BY EARLY AFTERNOON THERE. UPSTREAM RADARS SHOW A CONTINUED STREAM OF SNOWFALL TO MOVE INTO ZONES 31 SO WILL KEEP THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY GOING UNTIL ABOUT MID MORNING...WITH UP TO 3 OR 4 INCHES POSSIBLE. THE MOISTURE STAYS FAIRLY SPARSE IN THE MOUNTAINS THROUGH 12Z WEDNESDAY MORNING. ABOUT WINDS...CURRENTLY THE DECENT WESTERLIES/SOUTHWESTERLIES FROM EARLIER IN THE SHIFT HAVE SUBSIDED QUITE A BIT. NIWOT RIDGE SHOWS A GUSTS TO 30 KNOTS. CROSS SECTIONS SHOW A DECENT STABLE LAYER DEVELOPING AROUND MOUNTAIN TOP LEVEL AFTER 06Z TONIGHT. WILL MAKES SURE WIND SPEEDS ARE PRETTY HIGH IN THE MOUNTAIN AND FOOTHILLS ZONES. NO HIGHLIGHTS AT THIS TIME...EXPECTED WIND SPEEDS DO NOT GET HIGH ENOUGH. FOR TEMPERATURES...GRIDS SHOW HIGHS TODAY RIGHT AT OR SLIGHTLY COOLER THEN MONDAYS .LONG TERM...AS ALLUDED TO ABOVE...UPPER TROUGH PASSING TO OUR NORTHEAST WEDNESDAY WILL BRING COOLER AIR IN WEDNESDAY MORNING. HOWEVER IT WILL REMAIN VERY DRY...SO THE SUN SHOULD MITIGATE THE COOLING SOMEWHAT. ETA CONTINUES TO SPREAD ISENTROPIC LIFT OVER THE MOUNTAINS WEDNESDAY NIGHT WITH A BAND MOVING OVER THE PLAINS THURSDAY...WHILE THE GFS IS ABOUT 12 HOURS SLOWER. BOTH SHOW GOOD LIFT AS THE LOW COMES JUST NORTH OF US...BUT THEY ALSO SHOW DRYING WITH SOUTHERLY WINDS AT THE SURFACE AND WINDS GOING QUICKLY WESTERLY ALOFT. SO IT COULD BE A QUICK BAND OF SHOWERS AND THEN A HUGE DRY SLOT. THINGS LOOK BETTER FOR THE MOUNTAINS THOUGH IT WILL BE PRETTY STABLE UNTIL AFTER THE FORCING HAS GONE BY. WIND DIRECTION WILL ALSO BE BRINGING WARMING...AND PROBABLY DRYING ALSO...TO THE PLAINS DURING THE PEAK FORCING. OUR CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION FOR THE PLAINS MAY NEED TO BE LOWERED IF WE HAVE CONFIDENCE IN THIS TRACK. I DID STRETCH THE CHANCE OF SNOW OUT INTO FRIDAY DUE TO UNCERTAINTY OF THE TIMING AND LINGERING OROGRAPHIC SNOW IN WESTERLY FLOW BEHIND THE TROUGH. CONTINUED UNCERTAINTY FOR THE NEXT TROUGH WHICH MAY ARRIVE EARLY NEXT WEEK...NO CHANGES IN THAT TIME FRAME FOR NOW. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY THROUGH MID MORNING FOR SNOW IN ZONE 31. && RJK/CMG
COZ030>051-111800- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 538 AM MST TUE NOV 11 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SNOW SHOWERS OVER THE NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO MOUNTAINS WILL CONTINUE EARLY THIS MORNING...THEN DECREASE BY LATE MORNING TODAY. ADDITIONAL SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OF UP TO 3 MORE INCHES ARE POSSIBLE BY 12 NOON. SKIES WILL THEN BECOME PARTLY CLOUDY IN THE HIGH COUNTRY. STIFF SOUTHWEST TO WEST WINDS OF 20 TO 35 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED ABOVE 8000 FEET THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. GUSTS TO 60 MPH ARE POSSIBLE ABOVE TIMBERLINE. BLOWING SNOW CAN BE EXPECTED IN THE WINDY AREAS WHERE SNOW IS PRESENT. TEMPERATURES OVER THE PLAINS WILL BE ABOVE NORMAL TODAY...WITH A WEAK COLD FRONT EXPECTED TO MOVE IN DURING THE PRE-DAWN HOURS OF WEDNESDAY MORNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY STRONG WINDS IN THE MOUNTAINS WILL DIMINISH WEDNESDAY MORNING. A STORM SYSTEM WILL BRING SNOW BACK TO THE MOUNTAINS THURSDAY AND FRIDAY...WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS ON THE PLAINS. THERE IS A POSSIBILITY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS IN THE MOUNTAINS...WHILE ANY ACCUMULATIONS ON THE PLAINS WILL BE LIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. KOOPMEINERS/GIMMESTAD
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 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, November 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: 5328773, 5328774, 5328775, 5331587.