A moist southerly flow produced 5 to 11 inches of snow across the southwestern San Juan Mountains, and 6 to 9 inches of snow across Grand and Battlement Mesas.
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 moist southerly flow produced 5 to 11 inches of snow across the southwestern San Juan Mountains, and 6 to 9 inches of snow across Grand and Battlement Mesas.
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 Mar 1, 2:18 PM MST, 11 hours 42 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 218 PM MST MON MAR 1 2004 .SHORT TERM (TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT)...MARGINAL INSTABILITY AND SUFFICIENT BOUNDARY LAYER MOISTURE HELPING TO SUPPORT NUMEROUS SNOW SHOWERS ACROSS THE HIGH TERRAIN OF WESTERN COLORADO THIS AFTERNOON. DO NOT EXPECT MUCH IN THE WAY OF ACCUMULATION AS SHOWERS DISSIPATE AFTER SUNSET. TONIGHT...WEAK SHORTWAVE MOVING INTO ARIZONA WILL SHEAR ACROSS THE FOUR CORNERS THIS EVENING. MOISTURE LIMITED WITH THIS FEATURE SO EXPECT JUST ISOLATED SNOW SHOWERS OVER THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS. LARGER UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE OVER NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WILL SPREAD MID/HIGH LEVEL MOISTURE ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA TONIGHT. 700MB/H7 SOUTHERLY FLOW WILL BEGIN TO INCREASE LATE TONIGHT SETTING THE STAGE FOR A POTENTIAL UPSLOPE/OROGRAPHIC SNOW EVENT FOR THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS LATE TUESDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. TUESDAY-TUESDAY NIGHT...ETA/GFS DIG UPPER LOW SOUTH AROUND THE BAJA/ SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AREA TUESDAY AFTERNOON. THEREAFTER...MODELS DIFFER ON TRACK WITH THE ETA CONTINUING A SOUTHWARD TRACK BEFORE TURNING IT EAST ACROSS NORTHERN OLD MEXICO. GFS IS A BIT FARTHER NORTH TAKING CENTER ACROSS SOUTHERN ARIZONA TUESDAY NIGHT. UPSTREAM THERE WILL BE WEAK TROUGH AXIS FROM THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST THAT WILL APPROACH WY/MT TUESDAY NIGHT. THIS COULD KEEP THE UPPER LOW FROM TURNING AND LIFTING NORTH...SO WILL LEAN TOWARD THE ETA TRACK AT THIS TIME. WITH LIMITED DYNAMIC FORCING...PRIMARY LIFT WILL COME FROM OROGRAPHIC/ISENTROPIC COMPONENT. H7 SPECIFIC HUMIDITY INCREASES TO >3.0G/KG AFTER 18Z/TUE ACROSS THE FOUR CORNERS. SOUTH-SOUTHEAST FLOW AT H7 AROUND 20KTS COMBINED WITH WEAK S/W ENERGY WILL INCREASE THE CHANCE OF PRECIP ACROSS THE SOUTH TUESDAY (MAINLY AFTER 18Z). GREATEST POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT SNOW OCCURS TUESDAY NIGHT AS NOW SATURATED AIR MASS AND DEEP SOUTHERLY FLOW (20-25KTS AT H7) WILL FAVOR THE SOUTH-FACING SLOPES OF THE SAN JUAN/ABAJO MOUNTAINS. LOWER ELEVATIONS FROM PAGOSA SPRINGS TO CORTEZ AND BLANDING (SE UTAH) ARE LIKELY TO SEE ACCUMULATING SNOW. OROGRAPHIC SNOW MODEL YIELDED 6-11 INCHES IN 18 HOURS (16:1 RATIO) IN COZN 19 WITH 3-6 INCHES FROM DURANGO TO PAGOSA SP. DUE TO UNCERTAINTY OF WEST COAST LOW/ MOISTURE AVAILABILITY AND STRENGTH OF SOUTHERLY FLOW...WILL HOLD OFF ON ISSUING ANY WATCH/ADVISORY ACROSS THE SOUTH. ACROSS THE NORTH... MINIMAL UPWARD FORCING AND LESS MOISTURE WILL RESULT IN LITTLE OR NO PRECIP. TUESDAY NIGHT MIN TEMPERATURES WILL NOT BE AS COLD AS TONIGHT DUE TO CLOUDS AND PRECIP. NADLER.83 .LONG TERM (WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY)... WEDNESDAY...CLOSED UPPER LOW WILL SLOWLY FILL AND DRIFT EAST ACROSS NORTHERN OLD MEXICO AS ANOTHER WAVE DROPS SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. LINGERING LOW LEVEL MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY WILL RESULT IN ADDITIONAL SHOWERS...ESPECIALLY OVER THE SAN JUANS AND ADJACENT LOWER VALLEYS TO THE SOUTH. WL CONTINUE WITH LOW CHC POPS EARLY IN THE DAY AND TAPER THEM DOWN THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. WEDNESDAY NIGHT-THURSDAY...BRIEF BREAK BETWEEN SYSTEMS EXPECTED WITH MAINLY ISOLATED MOUNTAIN ACTIVITY EXPECTED IN NORTHWESTERLY FLOW. LITTLE CHANGE IN TEMPS WITH READINGS HOLDING NEAR SEASONAL NORMS. THURSDAY NIGHT-FRIDAY...ENERGETIC SHORTWAVE WILL PASS THROUGH THE REGION BRINGING A QUICK SHOT OF PRECIP TO MUCH OF THE FORECAST AREA. HAVE INCREASED POPS OVER THE ENTIRE FORECAST AREA...WITH ONLY QUESTION MARK BEING THE AMOUNT OF AVAILABLE MOISTURE WITH THIS SYSTEM. SYSTEM IS RATHER FAST MOVING...BEING DRIVEN BY 110 KT JET. SURFACE WINDS WL INCREASE...WITH H7 FLOW BECOMING NORTHWEST AND INCREASING TO AROUND 35-40 KTS. TEMPS COOL DOWN WITH THE ARRIVAL OF THIS WAVE WITH H7 TEMPS DROPPING TO AROUND -14 C. SATURDAY-SUNDAY...WARM ADVECTION KICKS AS ANOTHER RIDGE TRIES TO DEVELOP ALONG THE WEST COAST. FLOW ALOFT COMES BACK AROUND TO THE WEST-SOUTHWEST...KEEPING BULK OF ENERGY NORTH OF THE FORECAST AREA. WILL CONFINE POPS TO THE NRN MTNS ATTM. TEMPS WL CLIMB TO NEAR OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE SEASONAL NORMS. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... .CO...NONE. .UT...NONE. && DJN/JDC
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 543 AM MST MON MAR 1 2004 COZ001>003-005>009-011-012-014-017-020-UTZ022>025-027>029-021245- 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- GRAND AND BATTLEMENT MESAS-GRAND VALLEY-LA SAL AND ABAJO MOUNTAINS- LOWER YAMPA RIVER BASIN-PARADOX VALLEY/LOWER DOLORES RIVER- ROAN AND TAVAPUTS PLATEAUS-SOUTHEAST UTAH-TAVAPUTS PLATEAU- UNCOMPAHGRE PLATEAU AND DALLAS DIVIDE-UPPER GUNNISON RIVER VALLEY- UPPER YAMPA RIVER BASIN-WEST ELK AND SAWATCH MOUNTAINS- 543 AM MST MON MAR 1 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN UTAH AND MOST OF WEST CENTRAL COLORADO AND LOWER ELEVATIONS OF NORTHWEST COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... SCATTERED LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS WILL OCCUR OVER THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS OF WESTERN COLORADO TODAY. THIS WILL KEEP MANY MOUNTAIN ROADS ICY AND SNOW PACKED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY... ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS WILL OCCUR ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS...ESPECIALLY THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS OF WESTERN COLORADO. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT...BUT YOU ARE URGED TO REPORT SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OR ANY HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND JUNCTION. COZ004-010-013-021245- ELKHEAD AND PARK MOUNTAINS-FLAT TOPS- GORE AND ELK MOUNTAINS/CENTRAL MOUNTAINS- 543 AM MST MON MAR 1 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE MOUNTAINS IN NORTHWEST COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS WILL OCCUR TODAY OVER THE NORTHWEST COLORADO MOUNTAINS NEAR THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE. THIS WILL CREATE SNOW PACKED AND ICY CONDITIONS ON ROADS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY... SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS WILL OCCUR EACH DAY OVER THE NORTHWEST COLORADO MOUNTAINS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT...BUT YOU ARE URGED TO REPORT SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OR ANY HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND JUNCTION. COZ018-019-021>023-021245- ANIMAS RIVER BASIN-FOUR CORNERS/UPPER DOLORES RIVER- NORTHWEST SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS-SAN JUAN RIVER BASIN- SOUTHWEST SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS- 543 AM MST MON MAR 1 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHWEST COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS WILL OCCUR OVER THE SOUTHWESTERN SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS LATE TONIGHT...CREATING SNOW PACKED AND AND ICY CONDITIONS ON MOUNTAIN ROADS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY... SCATTERED MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS WILL OCCUR TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY...WITH LOCALLY HEAVY SNOW POSSIBLE ACROSS THE SOUTHWESTERN SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS. ISOLATED TO SCATTERED MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS WILL OCCUR TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT...BUT YOU ARE URGED TO REPORT SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OR ANY HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND JUNCTION. MC/TL
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 Colorado in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, March 2004
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: 5389391, 5389392.