A spring storm system produced heavy snow across the Elkhead and Park Mountains of northwest Colorado. SNOTEL and CDOT data indicated snowfall amounts of 9 inches to 2 feet across the area.
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The episode as NWS GJT wrote it up.
A spring storm system produced heavy snow across the Elkhead and Park Mountains of northwest Colorado. SNOTEL and CDOT data indicated snowfall amounts of 9 inches to 2 feet across the area.
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 Apr 27, 3:12 AM MST, 2 hours 48 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 412 AM MDT WED APR 27 2005 .SHORT TERM (TODAY THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT)... A RELATIVELY FLAT SHORTWAVE RIDGE MOVES OVER THE AREA TODAY. A STRONG LOW OFF THE CA COAST STRENGTHENS AND MOVES ONSHORE WHILE A COLD FRONT AND BAROCLINIC ZONE MOVE SOUTH THROUGH THE NORTHERN ROCKIES AND ALONG THE FRONT RANGE OF MT AND WY. WEST TO NW WINDS WILL INCREASE AT THE SURFACE AND ALOFT TODAY AND TONIGHT...AS WILL CLOUDS AND THE CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION. THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA WILL HAVE HIGHER PRECIP CHANCES THIS EVENING AS THE NORTHERN FRONT APPROACHES. THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE AREA WILL BE DRIER AND WILL SEE CLOUDS AND A BIT OF DYNAMIC UPLIFT FROM A WEAK SHORTWAVE LIFTING OUT OF THE CA LOW. THE TWO SYSTEMS APPEAR TO COME INTO PHASE THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT AND HAVE INCREASED CLOUDS AND AREAL COVERAGE OF PRECIPATION. HAVE KEPT THE HIGHER WINDS IN CURRENT FORECAST AS WELL. ETA MOS GUIDANCE TEMPS APPEAR REASONABLE AND HAVE NOT STRAYED MUCH FROM THEM. .LONG TERM (THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY)...CONDITIONS WILL GENERALLY BE UNSETTLED AND COOLER THAN NORMAL AS A SERIES OF HARD TO TIME PACIFIC STORM SYSTEMS MOVE ACROSS EASTERN UTAH/WESTERN COLORADO THROUGH THIS PERIOD. PREVIOUS FORECAST IN GOOD SHAPE SO WILL MAKE ONLY MINOR CHANGES. FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT...NORTHWEST FLOW BEHIND THU NIGHTS SHORTWAVE TROUGH WILL FAVOR THE NORTHERN/CENTRAL MOUNTAINS. MODELS SHOW A SECONDARY VORT DIPPING INTO THE NORTH DURING THE DAY. THIS WILL KEEP A GOOD CHANCE OF SHOWERS THROUGH AFTERNOON. BY EVENING INSTABILITY/MOISTURE DECREASE FOR DIMINISHING SHOWERS. TIMING MAY NEED TO BE ADJUSTED SO HAVE LEFT FORECAST ALONE WITH LOW CHANCE POPS MOUNTAINS...MAINLY NORTH. TEMPS WILL BE HIGHLY DEPENDENT UPON THE AMOUNT OF CLEARING OVERNIGHT. THE ETA BRINGS -6C TO -8C AT 700 MB OVER THE NORTH...HOWEVER THAT ALSO WILL BE WHERE THERE THE MOST MOISTURE WILL REMAIN. SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...MOISTURE INCREASES ON SAT AHEAD OF THE NEXT WAVE THAT WILL APPROACH SAT NIGHT...THEN MOVE ACROSS THE AREA BY SUN NIGHT. THE FLOW WILL CONTINUE TO BE RELATIVELY MOIST AND UNSTABLE THROUGH THE REST OF THE PERIOD WITH ANOTHER WAVE APPROACHING BY MIDWEEK...HOWEVER TIMING ADJUSTMENTS ARE EXPECTED. HAVE KEPT FORECAST UNSETTLED THROUGH WED. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... .CO...NONE. .UT...NONE. && CJC/EH
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 506 AM MDT WED APR 27 2005 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-281200- 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- 506 AM MDT WED APR 27 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... SCATTERED SHOWERS...WITH ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING SMALL HAIL AND WIND GUSTS TO 35 MPH...ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. WATER LEVELS WITHIN RIVERS AND STREAMS OF SOUTHWEST COLORADO AND SOUTHEAST UTAH WILL CONTINUE TO RECEDE AFTER RECENT RAIN AND SNOWFALL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY... THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT...ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL ACCOMPANY NUMEROUS RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS IN THE MOUNTAINS...AND SCATTERED RAIN SHOWERS IN THE VALLEYS. SNOWFALL IN THE MOUNTAINS MAY CAUSE HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS OVER HIGH MOUNTAIN PASSES. FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...THERE IS A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS AS A SERIES OF PACIFIC STORMS AFFECT THE AREA. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TONIGHT. HOWEVER...SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT RISES IN WATER LEVELS...AS WELL AS RAIN OR SNOWFALL AMOUNTS. CUOCO
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, April 2005
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: 5448242.