A moist low pressure system moved across eastern Utah and produced significant snow across the mountains of east-central and northeast Utah. Westerly winds resulted in blowing and drifting snow across high exposed terrain.
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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 significant snow across the mountains of east-central and northeast Utah. Westerly winds resulted in blowing and drifting snow across high exposed terrain. Observed snowfall amounts ranged from 5 to 10 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 Nov 13, 3:49 AM MST, 41 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
349 AM MST THU NOV 13 2003
.DISCUSSION...
SHORT TERM (TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT)...
LATEST (10Z) IR/WV SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOW CENTER OF UPPER LEVEL
CIRCULATION OVER EASTERN NEVADA...WITH VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR
MASS SPREADING OVER EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO THIS MORNING.
A FEW PRECIP REPORTS FROM SOUTHEAST UTAH AND SOUTHWEST COLORADO
INCLUDE BLANDING UT (THROUGH 06Z) AT 0.25 AND DURANGO REGIONAL
AIRPORT WITH 0.39 THROUGH 10Z. CORTEZ ASOS ONLY WITH .06 THUS FAR.
SNOW FALLING IN THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS AS PER THE LATEST COLORADO
ROAD REPORT.
TODAY AND TONIGHT...VERY MOIST AND ENERGETIC SYSTEM WILL AFFECT THE
FORECAST THROUGH TONIGHT. UPPER LOW FORECAST TO TRACK NORTHEAST
ACROSS NORTHERN UTAH TODAY...THEN LIFT ACROSS WYOMING TONIGHT.
10Z/KGJX RADAR SHOWING WIDESPREAD PRECIP OVER THE SOUTHERN 2/3RDS
OF THE AREA...WITH CONTINUOUS REDEVELOPMENT OVER SE UTAH/SW COLORADO
WHERE NOSE OF 130KT JET IS PUNCHING INTO THE FOUR CORNERS AT THIS
TIME. MOIST/UNSTABLE AIR MASS IN CONTROL TODAY WITH PERIODS OF RAIN
AND SNOW. SAW A MIX OF RAIN AND SNOW AT DURANGO (6600 FT ELEVATION)
SO WILL ADJUST SNOW LEVELS DOWN TO AROUND 7000 FEET THROUGH THIS
MORNING WITH SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS STILL ABOVE 8000 FEET.
WILL LOWER TEMPS ABOUT 5-7F DEGREES TODAY GIVEN COOL/MOIST
ENVIRONMENT. WILL ISSUE A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THE EASTERN
UINTA MOUNTAINS (NE UTAH ZONE 23) AND THE TAVAPUTS PLATEAU (UTAH
ZONE 25) TODAY WITH 4-8 OF SNOW. SEE THESE AREAS RECEIVING HEAVIEST
SNOWFALL THIS AFTERNOON AS CORE OF THE STORM MOVES ACROSS NORTHERN
UTAH. ELSEWHERE...ACROSS THE NORTH...GENERALLY LIGHT PRECIP WILL
OCCUR THROUGH THE DAY. AS THE STORM MOVES ACROSS WYOMING...TROUGH
PASSAGE WITH STRONG WAVE WILL MOVE ACROSS NORTHWEST COLORADO AFTER
06Z/TONIGHT. BELIEVE THIS IS WHEN THE NORTHERN/CENTRAL MOUNTAINS OF
WESTERN COLORADO WILL BEGIN SEEING SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL POTENTIAL.
I DO THINK ADVISORY LEVEL SNOWS WILL FALL IN CO ZONE 4/10/13
TONIGHT...BUT FOR NOW WILL KEEP THINGS GOING AS IS...WITH ONLY THE
ADDITION OF UT ZONES 23/25.
FRIDAY...UPPER LEVEL JET CORE AND DEEPEST MOISTURE LIFT AWAY FROM
THE AREA LATE TONIGHT AND FRIDAY. LOW LEVEL MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY
ASSOCIATED WITH TROUGH PASSAGE WILL BE ENOUGH TO SUSTAIN SHOWERS
ACROSS WESTERN COLORADO. 700 MB WESTERLY FLOW 20-30KTS WILL ENHANCE
SNOWFALL OVER THE FLATTOPS AND THE PARK AND GORE RANGE OF NORTHERN
COLORADO. AS COLDER AIR MOVES IN WITH THE TROUGH...SNOW LEVELS WILL
FALL TO VALLEY FLOORS ACROSS THE NORTH...WITH A RAIN/SNOW MIX
POSSIBLE LATE TONIGHT AND FRIDAY MORNING ACROSS THE GRAND VALLEY.
BY FRIDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING...SHORTWAVE RIDGE APPROACHES FROM THE
WEST WITH DRIER AND MORE STABLE CONDITIONS DEVELOPING. SHOWERS WILL
DIMINISH ACROSS THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS FRIDAY EVENING AS SKIES CLEAR
FROM WEST TO EAST. SHOULD BE COLD NIGHT WITH GOOD RADIATIONAL
COOLING. AREAS OF FOG COULD DEVELOP LATE IN THE CENTRAL/NORTHERN
VALLEYS...AS LOW LEVELS REMAIN RATHER MOIST FOLLOWING PRECIP EVENT.
LONG TERM...SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...
UPSTREAM ENERGY OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC REACH THE INTERMOUNTAIN
REGION THIS WEEKEND. THE FIRST WAVE ARRIVES ON SATURDAY BUT WILL BE
RELATIVELY WEAK. THE BEST CHANCE OF SNOW WILL BE OVER THE NORTHERN
MOUNTAINS AND HIGHER VALLEYS. THE SECOND WAVE FOR SUNDAY WILL BE
STRONGER FOR A BETTER THREAT OF SNOW. THESE WAVES WILL BE COLDER
THAN PREVIOUS WEATHER SYSTEMS HAVE BEEN...AND PRECIPITATION TYPE
WILL BE SNOW FOR MOST AREAS EXCEPT FOR THE LOWEST VALLEYS OF
SOUTHEAST UTAH.
MONDAY WILL BE A TRANSITION DAY AS PROGRESSIVE RIDGE BUILDS FROM
THE WEST. MODERATE NORTHWEST FLOW BEHIND TROUGH AXIS CONTINUES THE
THREAT OF SNOW ACROSS THE NORTHERN ZONES. BUT BY TUESDAY AND
WEDNESDAY...WARM DRY ADVECTION OCCURS AND THAT WILL ALLOW FOR
TEMPERATURES TO RECOVER TO A LITTLE ABOVE SEASONAL NORMS.
&&
.GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES..
.CO...WINTER STORM WARNING THROUGH THIS EVENING FOR ZONE 19.
WINTER STORM WARNING THROUGH TONIGHT FOR ZONE 18.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY THROUGH TONIGHT FOR ZONES 9/12/17.
.UT...WINTER STORM WARNING THROUGH THIS EVENING FOR ZONE 28 ABOVE
7000 FEET.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TODAY FOR ZONE 23 AND 25.
&&
DJN/PFCOZ001>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.
2 winter weather. 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: 5331413, 5331414.