A moist low pressure system moved across eastern Utah and produced heavy snow across the southeast Utah mountains. Additionally, south winds resulted in blowing and drifting snow across high exposed terrain.
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 moist low pressure system moved across eastern Utah and produced heavy snow across the southeast Utah mountains. Additionally, south winds resulted in blowing and drifting snow across high exposed terrain. SNOTEL observation sites indicated snowfall accumulations ranged from 12 inches to just over two 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 Nov 12, 8:59 PM MST, 3 hours 1 minute earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
859 PM MST WED NOV 12 2003
.DISCUSSION...
AN UPPER LEVEL LOW IS CURRENTLY MOVING INLAND ACROSS THE SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA COAST WITH AN IMPRESSIVE FETCH OF MOISTURE STRETCHING
ACROSS BAJA THROUGH THE FOUR CORNERS AREA. STILL VERY DRY BELOW
500MB PER 00Z GJT RAOB. SHIELD OF CIRRUS STRATUS HAS SPREAD ACROSS
THE AREA WITH MID CLOUD DECK GRADUALLY ADVANCING NORTH. LOW LEVELS
HAVE MOISTENED UP ACROSS THE SOUTH WITH METARS SHOWING LIGHT RAIN AND
MVFR CEILINGS ACROSS SOUTHWEST COLORADO AND SOUTHEAST UTAH. 00Z
RAOB FREEZING LEVEL WAS NEAR 11K FEET BUT DIURNAL AND EVAPORATIVE
COOLING AND HAS BROUGHT FREEZING LEVEL DOWN TO 8K-9K FEET ACROSS THE
SOUTH PER RAWS DATA.
LATEST MODEL DATA STILL IN LINE WITH CURRENT WINTER WEATHER
HEADLINES ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. PRECIPITATION SHOULD INCREASE
SUBSTANTIALLY ACROSS THE SOUTH AROUND MIDNIGHT AS BETTER DYNAMICS
MOVE OVER THE AREA. AZTEC PROFILER SHOWING SOUTHEAST FLOW BELOW 3KM
WHICH WILL HINDER THE OROGRAPHIC COMPONENT INTO THE SAN JUANS
INITIALLY BUT THIS WILL CHANGE AS FLOW VEERS TOWARD THE SOUTH AND
SOUTHWEST LATE TONIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING. MID CREW WILL NEED TO
TAKE A LOOK AT POSSIBLE WINTER WEATHER HEADLINES FOR THE NORTHERN
MOUNTAINS NEAR THE DIVIDE AS FLOW ALOFT BECOMES MORE WEST THURSDAY
AFTERNOON AND NIGHT. MAY EVEN PICK UP A FEW LIGHTING STRIKES AS THE
ATMOSPHERE BECOMES MORE UNSTABLE THURSDAY.
MINOR UPDATE TO THE GRIDS THIS EVENING.
&&
.GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES..
.CO...WINTER STORM WARNING LATE TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY EVENING FOR
ZONE 19 ABOVE 9000 FEET.
...WINTER STORM WARNING THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT FOR
ZONE 18 ABOVE 9000 FEET.
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT FOR
ZONES 9/12/17 ABOVE 8500 FEET.
.UT...WINTER STORM WARNING LATE TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY EVENING FOR
ZONE 28 ABOVE 9000 FEET.
&&
TALCOZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-131230- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 533 AM MST WED NOV 12 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN COLORADO AND FOR EASTERN UTAH .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... ...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT LATE TONIGHT AND THURSDAY FOR THE SOUTHWEST SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS AND THE LA SAL AND ABAJO MOUNTAINS... CLOUDS WILL INCREASE TODAY WITH SCATTERED RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS DEVELOPING THIS EVENING ACROSS SOUTHEAST UTAH AND SOUTHWEST COLORADO. AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT...LOCALLY HEAVY SNOW WILL OCCUR ABOVE 8000 FEET IN THE SAN JUAN...LA SAL AND ABAJO MOUNTAINS OF SOUTHWEST COLORADO AND SOUTHEAST UTAH. SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS CAN BE EXPECTED. IN ADDITION TO THE SNOW OVERNIGHT...GUSTY SOUTH WINDS 20 TO 35 MPH WILL DEVELOP OVER THE MOUNTAINS. EXPECT BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW AND REDUCED VISIBILITIES. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY... WIND AND SNOW WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE CENTRAL AND NORTHERN MOUNTAINS THURSDAY AND PERSIST THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING WITH SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATION EXPECTED. HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS WILL ACCOMPANY THE SNOW DURING THIS TIME PERIOD...AS A STRONG UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM MOVES FROM SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TO CENTRAL WYOMING BY THURSDAY NIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT...BUT YOU ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT WEATHER OR SNOW REPORTS. DJN
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 Utah in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Utah, 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: 5331404.