A long fetch of moisture off the Pacific combined with an upper level disturbance to produce widespread snowfall amounts from 5 to 12 inches across most mountains of extreme eastern Utah.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 long fetch of moisture off the Pacific combined with an upper level disturbance to produce widespread snowfall amounts from 5 to 12 inches across most mountains of extreme eastern Utah.
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 9, 3:03 PM MST, 6 hours 47 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 303 PM MST SUN NOV 9 2003 .DISCUSSION... SHORT TERM (TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT)...MOSTLY CLOUDY MORNING GAVE WAY TO A CLOUDY AFTERNOON AS MID AND HIGH MOISTURE CONTINUED TO FILL IN ACROSS THE AREA TODAY. PACIFIC MOISTURE SPREADING NEWD OVER THE REGION AHEAD OF A CLOSED AND CUT-OFF LOW JUST OFF THE NORTHERN CA COAST. CLOUD BASES LOWERING WITH A GREAT DEAL OF VIRGA VISIBLE IN ALL DIRECTIONS AS A WEAK SHORTWAVE MOVES ACROSS THE NORTHWEST PORTION OF THE CWFA THIS AFTERNOON. SOME RAIN REACHING THE GROUND IN THE EASTERN UINTA BASIN AS LIGHT RAIN REPORTED AT KVEL JUST BEFORE 1400 MST. MODELS APPEAR TO HAVE A GOOD HANDLE ON THE SITUATION WITH GFS AND ETA IN GOOD AGREEMENT THROUGH THE FIRST 48 HOURS OF THE FORECAST. BOTH INDICATE QPF SPREADING INTO THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS THIS EVENING AND CONTINUING THROUGH THE NIGHT AS LOW DROPS SOUTHWARD OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC CAUSING JET TO SAG SOUTH. NEGATIVE DIV-Q... OROGRAPHICS AND AGEOSTROPHIC LIFT ASSOCIATED WITH JET PROVIDING UPWARD FORCING FOR PRECIPITATION OVERNIGHT. RELATIVELY STABLE LAPSE RATES SEEM TO BE WORKING AGAINST SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL AMOUNTS FOR THE HIGHER AREAS AND CONTINUED WITH IDEA OF 2 TO 5 INCHES IN THE MOUNTAINS TONIGHT. SITUATION AS DESCRIBED ABOVE LIKELY TO CONTINUE MONDAY INTO MONDAY NIGHT AS PACIFIC MOISTURE CONTINUES TO STREAM INTO THE AREA BENEATH 120KT JET AHEAD OF A STRONGLY POSITIVELY TILTED TROF. THEREFORE... EXPECT ACCUMULATIONS TO CONTINUE AT A RATE OF 3 TO 5 INCHES A PERIOD THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT IN THE HIGH COUNTRY. TEMPERATURES REMAIN FAIRLY MILD SO EXPECT BEST ACCUMULATIONS ABOVE 9000 FEET IN THE SOUTH...BUT CLOSER TO MOUNTAIN BASES IN THE NORTH. SHOULD SNOW CONTINUE AT THIS RATE...MOUNTAINS WILL REQUIRE A SNOW ADVISORY BEGINNING EARLY MONDAY. HOWEVER...ENOUGH UNCERTAINTY REGARDING INTERPLAY BETWEEN JET... OROGRAPHIC FORCING AND LAPSE RATES TO HOLD OFF ON HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE TIME BEING. TEMPERATURES LIKELY TO BE MODERATED BY CLOUD COVER TONIGHT AND MONDAY NIGHT AND GOING FORECAST LOOKED GOOD SAVE FOR A FEW TWEAKS. HIGHS TOMORROW LIKELY TO BE SEVERAL DEGREES COOLER WITH NUMEROUS SHOWERS AROUND THE CWFA. AGAIN...THIS TREND SEEMED TO BE WELL REPRESENTED IN GOING FORECAST AND MADE ONLY MINOR ADJUSTMENTS. LONG TERM... TUESDAY...ACTIVITY WILL CONTINUE INTO TUE MORNING...DECREASING DURING THE AFTERNOON IN WAKE OF MONS SYSTEM. THE SOUTHERN EDGE WILL REMAIN UNDER MOIST SOUTHWEST FLOW AS UPPER PACIFIC LOW CUTS OFF NEAR THE COAST OF SOUTHERN CA. THEREFORE CHANCES WILL BE BETTER OVER THE SOUTHERN EDGE OF THE FORECAST AREA. TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY...BY TUE EVENING MOST SHOWERS WILL END...WITH A FEW REMAINING NEAR THE DIVIDE THROUGH THE NIGHT. LOW POPS CONTINUE OVER THE SOUTH UNDER CONTINUING SOUTHWEST FLOW THROUGH WED. ACCORDING TO THE 12Z GFS THE UPPER LOW COMES ONSHORE OVER SOUTHERN CA ON WED...THEN TRACKS NORTH-EASTWARD REACHING EASTERN UT MIDDAY THU. MODELS HAVE BEEN TRENDING FASTER WITH EACH NEW RUN. THE LATEST EC STILL LAGS BEHIND THE 00Z GFS...BUT IT WAS FASTER THAN ITS PREVIOUS RUN. I EXPECT THE 09/12Z EC WILL CONTINUE WITH FASTER TREND. PREVIOUS FORECAST HAS GOOD HANDLE ON THIS SYSTEM WITH ACTIVITY STARTING WED NIGHT. HAVE MADE SOME MINOR ADJUSTMENTS TO CLOUD COVER AND POPS. BEST CHANCES FOR THU AS SYSTEM TRACKS ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. MINUS 24 COLD POOL MOVES OVERHEAD DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND IS ACCOMPANIED BY DEEP MOISTURE. STORM WILL WIND DOWN THU NIGHT WITH ONLY LOW POPS UP NORTH BY FRI. SATURDAY AND SUNDAY...DRIER AIR WITH WEAK IMPULSES EMBEDDING IN A NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL BRING DECREASING CLOUDS AND DRY CONDITIONS BOTH DAYS. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... .CO...NONE. .UT...NONE. && NL/EH/CJC
COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-101500- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 752 AM MST SUN NOV 9 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN COLORADO AND FOR EASTERN UTAH .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT MOUNTAIN SNOW WILL BRING ENOUGH ACCUMULATION IN ALL MOUNTAINOUS AREAS OF THE FORECAST AREA TO CAUSE LOCALLY HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS IN THE HIGH MOUNTAINS PASSES TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY... MOUNTAIN SNOW IS ALSO EXPECTED MONDAY AND TUESDAY...THEN AGAIN THURSDAY. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS IN THE HIGH MOUNTAIN PASSES DURING EACH EVENT SHOULD BE ENOUGH TO CAUSE LOCALLY HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT...BUT YOU ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT WEATHER OR SNOW REPORTS. MC/CJC
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: 5331395, 5331396.