Winter Weather, Central Yampa River Basin
- When
- February 7, 12:00 PM MST to February 8, 5:00 PM MST
- Where
- Central Yampa River Basin forecast zone
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 40.361, -107.805 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Winter Weather in Colorado, February 7 to 8, 2004
A low pressure system moved over northwest Colorado and produced significant snow accumulations across the high valleys and mountain areas. 3 to 4 inches of snow was reported in the Central Yampa River Basin, with local amounts up to 8 inches in the Hayden area.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 3
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.
What happened
The episode as NWS GJT wrote it up.
A low pressure system moved over northwest Colorado and produced significant snow accumulations across the high valleys and mountain areas. 3 to 4 inches of snow was reported in the Central Yampa River Basin, with local amounts up to 8 inches in the Hayden area. 5 to 9 inches were measured across the Upper Yampa River Basin and the Flat Tops Mountains.
What forecasters said that day
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 Feb 7, 2:45 AM MST, 9 hours 15 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 7, 2:45 AM MST, 9 hours 15 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 245 AM MST SAT FEB 7 2004 .DISCUSSION... SHORT TERM (TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT)...SATELLITE SHOWS MID AND HIGH CLOUDS ALREADY CROSSING CNTRL UTAH AHEAD OF ADVANCING SHORT WAVE. SLC RADAR INDICATED LIGHT SHOWERS CONFINED TO EXTREME NORTHWEST. MDLS IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH SYSTEM AS IT MOVES INTO OUR CWA TONIGHT...ALTHOUGH GFS A LITTLE MORE AMPLIFIED. SYSTEM APPEARS SOMEWHAT MOISTURE STARVED WITH SPECIFIC HUMIDITY VALUES DROPPING AS IT ENTERS THE GRT BASIN AND SRN ROCKIES. DYNAMICS APPEAR TO PEAK AROUND 00Z SUN BUT QPF FIELDS ARE QUITE LIMITED. THERE APPEARS TO BE SOME JET SUPPORT TONIGHT BUT IT DIMINISHES BY EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. COLD AIR ALOFT FILTERS IN THE REGION BUT A STANDUP COLD FRONT DOES NOT SEEM LIKELY AT THIS TIME AS H7 FLOW REMAINS SOUTHWESTERLY. H7 WIND SHIFT OCCURS AROUND 06Z SUNDAY BUT MAIN CAA HAS ALREADY OCCURRED. EVEN TROP UNDULATION ON THE WEAK SIDE WITH THIS SYSTEM SO COLD AIR AND JET SUPPORT EVIDENTLY LACKING. AN INVERTED SFC TROF NEAR THE 4 CORNERS WILL AID PCPN PROCESS LATE SATURDAY NIGHT AND INTO EARLY SUNDAY. RIGHT NOW BEST REASONING ARGUES FOR SUB-ADVISORY SNOW CRITERIA FOR THE MTNS. HOWEVER NRN MTNS AND ESPECIALLY TOWER SNOTEL MAY SEE LOCAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 7-10 INCHES. ACROSS THE EXTREME SOUTH...MOISTURE WILL BE LIMITED SO THERE WILL BE LESS OF THREAT OF SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL. LONG TERM (MONDAY-SATURDAY)... MON-WED...APPEARS REINFORCING TROUGH FROM THE NW WILL SPLIT OVER THE INTERMTN REGION WITH WEAK SFC COLD FRONT PASSING THROUGH THE AREA MON AND MON NGT...AND HIGH AMPLITUDE RIDGE SETS UP ALONG THE WEST COAST. POPS SHOULD CONTINUE DECREASING THRU MON NGT. MRF CONTINUES GENERAL N TO NW FLOW ALOFT TUE AND WED WITH NELY SFC WINDS. WEAK DISTURBANCES MOVE OVER THE AREA WED WITH ENUF ENERGY PROGGED FOR ONLY LOW END POPS. THU-SAT...WEST COAST RIDGE WEAKENS AND IS PROGGED TO MOVE EAST OVER THE GREAT BASIN AND THE FORECAST AREA THU AND FRI. LAST REMNANTS OF PRECIPITATION FRO FROM WED SHORTWAVES ENDS EARLY THU WITH FRI AND SAT APPEARING DRY UNDER NW FLOW ALOFT AS RIDGE COLLAPSES. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... .CO...NONE. .UT...NONE. && CJC/MC
Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 7, 7:23 AM MST, 4 hours 37 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 723 AM MST SAT FEB 7 2004 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-081230- ANIMAS RIVER BASIN-ARCHES/GRAND FLAT-CANYONLANDS/NATURAL BRIDGES- CENTRAL COLORADO RIVER BASIN- CENTRAL GUNNISON AND UNCOMPAHGRE RIVER BASIN- CENTRAL YAMPA RIVER BASIN-DEBEQUE TO SILT CORRIDOR- EASTERN UINTA BASIN-EASTERN UINTA MOUNTAINS- ELKHEAD AND PARK MOUNTAINS-FLAT TOPS- FOUR CORNERS/UPPER DOLORES RIVER- GORE AND ELK MOUNTAINS/CENTRAL MOUNTAINS-GRAND AND BATTLEMENT MESAS- GRAND VALLEY-LA SAL AND ABAJO MOUNTAINS-LOWER YAMPA RIVER BASIN- NORTHWEST SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS-PARADOX VALLEY/LOWER DOLORES RIVER- ROAN AND TAVAPUTS PLATEAUS-SAN JUAN RIVER BASIN-SOUTHEAST UTAH- SOUTHWEST SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS-TAVAPUTS PLATEAU- UNCOMPAHGRE PLATEAU AND DALLAS DIVIDE-UPPER GUNNISON RIVER VALLEY- UPPER YAMPA RIVER BASIN-WEST ELK AND SAWATCH MOUNTAINS- 723 AM MST SAT FEB 7 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... SNOW WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE NORTHERN PORTIONS OF EASTERN UTAH THIS AFTERNOON THEN SPREAD ACROSS WESTERN COLORADO TONIGHT. LOCALLY HEAVY SNOW IS POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM...ESPECIALLY IN THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS OF COLORADO. ROADS WILL BECOME ICY AND SNOWPACKED CREATING HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS TONIGHT. NO SIGNIFICANT WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY... SNOW WILL PERSIST THROUGH SUNDAY AND GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS CREATING AREAS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW...REDUCING VISIBILITIES AT TIMES ESPECIALLY IN THE HIGH MOUNTAIN PASSES. SNOW WILL GRADUALLY DECREASE MONDAY...THEN ANOTHER WEAKER STORM SYSTEM WILL BRING A CHANCE OF SNOW TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...MOSTLY IN THE MOUNTAINS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY. MC/CJC
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
3 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Winter Weather, Flattop Mountains
- When
- February 7, 12:00 PM MST to February 8, 5:00 PM MST
- Where
- Flattop Mountains forecast zone
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 40.062, -107.603 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Winter Weather, Upper Yampa River Basin
- When
- February 7, 12:00 PM MST to February 8, 5:00 PM MST
- Where
- Upper Yampa River Basin forecast zone
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 40.485, -106.991 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Winter Weather
- Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Rip Current in California, February 7, 2004
- Flooding in Pennsylvania, February 7, 2004
- Heavy Snow in Idaho, February 7, 2004
- Heavy Snow in Tennessee, February 7 to 8, 2004
- Blizzard and High Wind in Alaska, February 7 to 9, 2004
- Winter Weather in North Carolina, February 7 to 8, 2004
- Heavy Snow in North Carolina, February 7 to 8, 2004
- Blizzard and High Wind in Alaska, February 7 to 9, 2004
- Heavy Snow in Nevada, February 7, 2004
- Flooding in Virginia, February 7 to 9, 2004
- Flood in New Jersey, February 7, 2004
- Flood in Pennsylvania, February 7, 2004
More
Every storm in Colorado in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, February 2004
Sources
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: 5387888, 5387889, 5387890.