2 winter storm, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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 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 Denver/Boulder, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 31, 4:00 PM MST, 8 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 400 PM MST SUN OCT 31 2004 .SHORT TERM DISCUSSION...STORM SYSTEMS ORGANIZING OVER WESTERN COLORADO AND WYOMING CONTINUES TO DEEPEN AT THIS HOUR WITH HEIGHT AND PRESSURE FALLS IN THE FOUR CORNERS AREA. MODELS HAVE CONTINUED TO WRENCH UP SNOW ACCUMULATION AMOUNTS WITH EACH RUN. LATEST 18Z RUN OF THE ETA HAS GONE CRAZY WITH SNOW AMOUNTS ALONG THE PALMER DIVIDE AND ACROSS NRN LINCOLN COUNTY. GFS NOT AS AMBITIOUS THOUGH ITS TOTALS HAVE ALSO COME UP SINCE ITS LAST RUN. BOTTOM LINE...HAVE ISSUED WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES FOR MANY AREAS...NAMELY FOR THE MTNS...THE NRN FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS...AND PLAINS ZONES EAST OF THE DENVER METRO AREA. ALSO KEPT THE GREATER DENVER METRO AREA UNDER A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR TONIGHT BUT INCREASED SNOW AMTS AN INCH OR TWO. LASTLY...REPLACED THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THE PALMER DIVIDE ZONE 41 WITH A WINTER STORM WARNING. ADDED THE SRN FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS ZONE 36 TO THIS WARNING. SEE WSWDEN FOR DETAILS. LATE TONIGHT STRONG NORTH WINDS MAY BECOME MORE OF A PROBLEM ON THE PLAINS WHERE BLOWING SNOW CAUSE REAL PROBLEMS FOR TRAVEL. EVENING CREW WILL NEED TO WATCH THIS CLOSELY. MONDAY... STORM MOVES OUT VERY SLOWLY. SNOWFALL WINDS DOWN BUT NORTHERLY WRAP AROUND FLOW WILL PROBABLY CONTINUE TO PRODUCE AREAS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW THROUGH MIDDAY IN HIGHER AREAS ALONG THE PALMER DIVIDE OUT ACROSS NRN LINCOLN COUNTY. AS FOR TEMPERATURES...COLD IS THE WORD. MAX TEMPS MONDAY AT LEAST 25 TO 30 DEGS BELOW NORMAL. .LONG TERM DISCUSSION...RIDGE ALOFT BUILDS IN ACROSS CO MON NITE WITH CLEARING SKIES AND VERY COLD TEMPERATURES BY TUE AM. WITH SNOW COVER AND CLEAR CONDITIONS...SFC READINGS WILL BE IN THE TEENS BY EARLY TUE AM. SLOW WARMING TREND TUE-WED WITH TUE AFTN READINGS PROBABLY COOLER THAN MOS GUIDANCE DUE TO SNOW COVER. NEXT UPPER LEVEL TROF MOVES ACROSS THE REGION WED NITE AND THU WITH THE NEXT CHANCE OF PRECIP. A BRIEF PERIOD OF UPSLOPE FLOW ALONG WITH JET DYNAMICS AS NERN CO UNDER THE RIGHT REAR QUAD OF JET MAX. STILL QUITE A BIT OF MODEL DIFFERENCES ON HOW MUCH ENERGY SPLITS AWAY BETWEEN THE NRN/SRN BRANCES. WILL CONTINUE THE LOW POPS THRU THE PERIOD. SIGNIFICANT RIDGE ALOFT THEN BUILDS ALONG WEST COAST WITH WEAKENING AND DRY NW FLOW ALOFT. WARMING TREND THRU THE END OF THE WEEK AND DRY CONDITIONS FOR ENTIRE BOU CWA. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THE GREATER DENVER/BOULDER METRO AREA (ZONES 39/40) FROM 8 PM TONIGHT TO 6 AM MONDAY WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR ARAPAHOE...ADAMS...NORTHERN LINCOLN AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES (ZONES 45...46...49) 9 PM TONIGHT TO NOON MONDAY WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THE NORTHERN CENTRAL MOUNTAINS AND NORTHERN FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS (ZONES 33...34...35) 6 PM TONIGHT TO NOON MONDAY WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UPGRADED TO A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THE SOUTHERN FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS AND PALMER DIVIDE (ZONES 36/41) 8 PM TONIGHT TO NOON MONDAY && NBAKER/ENTREKIN
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 1032 AM MST SUN OCT 31 2004 COZ030>051-011300- JACKSON COUNTY BELOW 9000 FEET-WEST JACKSON AND WEST GRAND COUNTIES ABOVE 9000 FEET-GRAND AND SUMMIT COUNTIES BELOW 9000 FEET-SOUTH AND EAST JACKSON/LARIMER/NORTH AND NORTHEAST GRAND/ NORTHWEST BOULDER COUNTIES ABOVE 9000 FEET-SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST GRAND/WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST BOULDER/GILPIN/CLEAR CREEK/ SUMMIT/NORTH AND WEST PARK COUNTIES ABOVE 9000 FEET-LARIMER AND BOULDER COUNTIES BETWEEN 6000 AND 9000 FEET-JEFFERSON AND WEST DOUGLAS COUNTIES ABOVE 6000 FEET/GILPIN/CLEAR CREEK/NORTHEAST PARK COUNTIES BELOW 9000 FEET-CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PARK COUNTY-LARIMER COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/NORTHWEST WELD COUNTY-BOULDER AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES BELOW 6000 FEET/WEST BROOMFIELD COUNTY-NORTH DOUGLAS COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/DENVER/WEST ADAMS AND ARAPAHOE COUNTIES/ EAST BROOMFIELD COUNTY-ELBERT/CENTRAL AND EAST DOUGLAS COUNTIES ABOVE 6000 FEET-NORTHEAST WELD COUNTY-CENTRAL AND SOUTH WELD COUNTY-MORGAN COUNTY-CENTRAL AND EAST ADAMS AND ARAPAHOE COUNTIES- NORTH AND NORTHEAST ELBERT COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/NORTH LINCOLN COUNTY-SOUTHEAST ELBERT COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/SOUTH LINCOLN COUNTY-LOGAN COUNTY-WASHINGTON COUNTY-SEDGWICK COUNTY-PHILLIPS COUNTY- 1032 AM MST SUN OCT 31 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY WILL BE IN EFFECT TONIGHT FOR THE GREATER DENVER METRO AREA...AS WELL AS EASTERN BOULDER...EASTERN DOUGLAS AND ELBERT COUNTIES. RAIN AND SNOW WILL SPREAD SOUTH THROUGH NORTHEAST COLORADO LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY THIS EVENING ON GUSTY NORTH WINDS. A STRONG COLD FRONT LYING ACROSS CENTRAL WYOMING LATE THIS MORNING WILL RACE SOUTH THROUGH NORTHEAST COLORADO EARLY THIS EVENING. ANY RAINFALL SHOULD QUICKLY CHANGE OVER TO SNOW AS MUCH COLDER AIR FUNNELS IN FROM WYOMING. THE SOUTHERN FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS...THE SOUTHERN URBAN CORRIDOR AND THE PALMER DIVIDE OUT ACROSS ELBERT AND NORTHERN LINCOLN COUNTIES...MAY SEE A RAPID ACCUMULATION OF SNOW AROUND MID-EVENING CAUSING VISIBILITIES TO DETERIORATE AND ROADS IN AND ALONG THE FRONT RANGE TO BECOME ICY AND SNOW PACKED. IN THE MOUNTAINS AND NORTHERN FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS... SNOW WILL BEGIN THIS AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE OVERNIGHT WITH SEVERAL INCHES OF SNOW ACCUMULATION LIKELY BY MORNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY SNOW WILL BE DECREASING MONDAY MORNING FROM NORTH TO SOUTH ACROSS EASTERN COLORADO...BEFORE ENDING ACROSS THE PALMER DIVIDE AND SOUTHERN FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS BY LATE MONDAY AFTERNOON. STRONG NORTH WINDS OF 20 TO 30 MPH WILL CONTINUE TO CREATE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW AND REDUCED VISIBILITIES. THE NEXT DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE INTO COLORADO WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY FOR THE NEXT CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. BAKER/ENTREKIN
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
947 PM MST SUN OCT 31 2004
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0800 PM SNOW NIWOT 40.10N 105.16W
10/31/2004 0.50 INCH BOULDER CO TRAINED SPOTTER
0805 PM SNOW 5 ESE BLACK HAWK 39.77N 105.40W
10/31/2004 4.70 INCH GILPIN CO TRAINED SPOTTER
0820 PM SNOW 3 W JAMESTOWN 40.12N 105.45W
10/31/2004 4.00 INCH BOULDER CO TRAINED SPOTTER
0900 PM SNOW 1 W BOULDER 40.03N 105.27W
10/31/2004 1.00 INCH BOULDER CO NWS EMPLOYEE
0912 PM SNOW CASTLE ROCK 39.38N 104.85W
10/31/2004 1.00 INCH DOUGLAS CO TRAINED SPOTTER
0919 PM SNOW 3 W GREELEY 40.42N 104.80W
10/31/2004 0.30 INCH WELD CO TRAINED SPOTTER
0925 PM SNOW 5 NW LARKSPUR 39.23N 104.96W
10/31/2004 3.10 INCH DOUGLAS CO TRAINED SPOTTER
0946 PM SNOW CENTENNIAL 39.60N 104.87W
10/31/2004 1.00 INCH ARAPAHOE CO TRAINED SPOTTER
&&
KTFPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT ... SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
1150 PM MST SUN OCT 31 2004
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0800 PM SNOW NIWOT 40.10N 105.16W
10/31/2004 0.50 INCH BOULDER CO TRAINED SPOTTER
0805 PM SNOW 5 ESE BLACK HAWK 39.77N 105.40W
10/31/2004 4.70 INCH GILPIN CO TRAINED SPOTTER
0820 PM SNOW 3 W JAMESTOWN 40.12N 105.45W
10/31/2004 4.00 INCH BOULDER CO TRAINED SPOTTER
0900 PM SNOW 1 W BOULDER 40.03N 105.27W
10/31/2004 1.00 INCH BOULDER CO NWS EMPLOYEE
0912 PM SNOW CASTLE ROCK 39.38N 104.85W
10/31/2004 1.00 INCH DOUGLAS CO TRAINED SPOTTER
0919 PM SNOW 3 W GREELEY 40.42N 104.80W
10/31/2004 0.30 INCH WELD CO TRAINED SPOTTER
0925 PM SNOW 5 NW LARKSPUR 39.23N 104.96W
10/31/2004 3.10 INCH DOUGLAS CO TRAINED SPOTTER
0946 PM SNOW CENTENNIAL 39.60N 104.87W
10/31/2004 1.00 INCH ARAPAHOE CO TRAINED SPOTTER
1008 PM SNOW CASTLE ROCK 39.38N 104.85W
10/31/2004 3.00 INCH DOUGLAS CO TRAINED SPOTTER
1010 PM SNOW LITTLETON 39.59N 105.01W
10/31/2004 2.00 INCH ARAPAHOE CO TRAINED SPOTTER
1014 PM SNOW 2 N BAILEY 39.43N 105.47W
10/31/2004 2.50 INCH PARK CO TRAINED SPOTTER
1049 PM SNOW 4 SE AURORA 39.66N 104.76W
10/31/2004 4.30 INCH ARAPAHOE CO TRAINED SPOTTER
1058 PM SNOW 3 NW DENVER 39.76N 105.00W
10/31/2004 2.60 INCH DENVER CO TRAINED SPOTTER
1107 PM HEAVY SNOW 5 W LARKSPUR 39.18N 104.99W
10/31/2004 6.50 INCH DOUGLAS CO TRAINED SPOTTER
1122 PM SNOW 6 E PARKER 39.51N 104.65W
10/31/2004 3.00 INCH ELBERT CO TRAINED SPOTTER
1122 PM SNOW 4 ENE NEDERLAND 39.98N 105.44W
10/31/2004 3.58 INCH BOULDER CO TRAINED SPOTTER
&&
KTFThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy snow fell across the foothills of Jefferson and Douglas Counties, and along Monument Ridge south of Denver overnight. Storm totals included: 13 inches, 5 miles west of Larkspur, 10 inches in Roxborough State Park and 8 miles south of Sedalia, 8 inches, 5 miles east of Bergen Park, with 7 inches at Highlands Ranch.
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, November 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: 5415165, 5415166.