Dense Fog, Southeast Utah
- When
- December 13, 11:30 PM MST to December 14, 11:00 AM MST
- Where
- Southeast Utah forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 37.626, -109.805 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Dense Fog in Utah, December 13 to 14, 2004
Weather spotters indicated visibilities reduced to 1/4 mile or less south of Blanding.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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
- 1
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.
Weather spotters indicated visibilities reduced to 1/4 mile or less south of Blanding.
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 Dec 13, 3:10 PM MST, 8 hours 20 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Dec 13, 3:10 PM MST, 8 hours 20 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 310 PM MST MON DEC 13 2004 .SHORT TERM (TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY)... A SHEARED DISTURBANCE CENTERED OVER SW WYOMING GENERATING CLOUDS OVER THE NORTHEAST PORTION OF OUR FORECAST AREA. STEAMBOAT WEB CAM SHOWS WIDESPREAD ALTOCUMULUS BUT WITH SOME BREAKS IN THE OVERCAST. NO INDICATIONS OF ANY WEATHER WITH THESE CLOUDS AS THEY PASS OVER THE PARK RANGE. ELSEWHERE...MOSTLY SUNNY CONDITIONS PREVAIL EXCEPT FOR DISSIPATING STRATOCUMULUS OVER A PORTION OF SOUTHEAST UTAH (MEXICAN HAT AND BLUFF AREA). DISTURBANCE OVER NW COLORADO WILL WEAKEN AND SHIFT EASTWARD OVERNIGHT. SATELLITE IR ALREADY SHOWING WARMING CLOUD TOPS...AND THIS IS EVIDENT AS AREAL COVERAGE OF THESE CLOUDS HAVE BEEN GRADUALLY SHRINKING DURING THE EARLY AFTERNOON. ANOTHER PROGRESSIVE DISTURBANCE IS CROSSING UTAH THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. NOT MUCH CLOUD ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SECONDARY FEATURE AND BY MORNING IT WILL BE EAST OF US. EXCEPT FOR SOME PERSISTENT LOW CLOUDS (OVER PARTS OF SE UTAH) AND PATCHY FOG ALONG RIVERS...THE DAY WILL BE MOSTLY CLEAR TO START THE DAY. DISORGANIZED PACIFIC NORTHWEST SYSTEM WEAKENS AS IT MOVES THROUGH THE LONG WAVE RIDGE. CLOUDS WILL BE ON THE INCREASE OVER THE NORTHERN ZONES DURING THE AFTERNOON...BUT WEAK QG ASCENT DOES NOT ARRIVE UNTIL EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING. NOT MUCH MOISTURE WITH THIS SYSTEM AS IT REACHES THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST COAST...AND THERE WILL BE CONSIDERABLY LESS MOISTURE AS THE SYSTEM AND WEAK SURFACE FRONT REACHES NW COLORADO WEDNESDAY MORNING. THERE IS ENOUGH COLD ADVECTION TO LOWER STATIC STABILITY JUST ENOUGH FOR SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS OVER THE HIGHER VALLEYS OF NW COLORADO AND ADJACENT MOUNTAINS. SOME MODEL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE ETA AND GFS MODEL... AND THE ETA SOLUTION WOULD RESULT IN A SLIGHTER HIGHER CHANCE OF SNOW AS JET MAXIMA WOULD BE CLOSER TO WRN COLORADO THAN THE GFS IDEA. BUT THE ETA MODEL IS THE ODD MAN WITH THE EURO MODELS SUPPORTING THE GFS IDEA OF CLOSED LOW SETTING UP OVER THE DESERT SOUTHWEST. SO THE DRIER GFS IS PREFERRED FOR THIS FORECAST PACKAGE. LITTLE POP ADJUSTMENT WAS NEEDED FROM EARLIER GRIDS SINCE THE HIGHEST VALUES WERE ONLY IN THE LOW CHANCE RANGE. .LONG TERM (WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY)... WEDNESDAY-THURSDAY...SYSTEM DIGGING SE OUT OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST WILL APPROACH THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN BY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. THE 12-18Z RUNS ARE IN CLOSER AGREEMENT THOUGH THE GFS CONTINUES TO SHOW A STRONGER TENDENCY TOWARDS SPLITTING...AND THE EC/UK AGREE WITH THIS. NO MATTER THE SOLUTION...THIS LOOKS LIKE A QUICK SHOT OF SNOW MAINLY WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND QUICKLY ENDING THURSDAY AS THE FLOW VEERS TO UNFAVORABLE N-NE. HAVE INCREASED MAINLY CO MTN POPS FOR WEDNESDAY NIGHT BUT KEPT ACCUMULATIONS LESS THAN 3 INCHES. THEN FRIDAY AND BEYOND...A STRONG REX BLOCK SETS UP ALONG THE WEST COAST KEEPING THE REGION IN A DRY NW FLOW. SOME DISTURBANCES PROGGED TO PASS EARLY NEXT WEEK...BUT LOW CONFIDENCE THEY WILL MAKE IT THIS FAR SOUTHWEST. ABOVE FREEZING AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES IN THE MOUNTAINS AND STRONGLY INVERTED VALLEYS TO CONTINUE. RAMEY && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... .CO...NONE. .UT...NONE. && PF/JOE
Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 13, 5:59 AM MST, 17 hours 31 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 559 AM MST MON DEC 13 2004 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-141230- 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- 559 AM MST MON DEC 13 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN COLORADO AND EASTERN UTAH. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED TODAY OR TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY... AREAS OF FOG WILL DEVELOP TONIGHT OVER THE LOWER VALLEYS OF WESTERN COLORADO AND EASTERN UTAH. THE POTENTIAL FOR SNOW WILL EXIST WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY AS A STORM SYSTEM CROSSES THE AREA FROM THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. A COLD FRONT WILL BRING COLDER TEMPERATURES TO THE REGION THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TONIGHT. DJN
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 dense fog. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Dense Fog
- Fog reducing visibility to a quarter mile or less, filed where it caused accidents or disruption.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Winter Storm in Ohio, December 13 to 14, 2004
- Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, December 13 to 14, 2004
- High Surf in Hawaii, December 13 to 15, 2004
- Heavy Snow in New York, December 13 to 15, 2004
- Heavy Snow in West Virginia, December 13 to 14, 2004
- High Wind in Oregon, December 13, 2004
- Winter Storm in Michigan, December 13 to 14, 2004
- Winter Storm in Indiana, December 13 to 14, 2004
More
Every storm in Utah in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Utah, December 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: 5431165.