One to two feet of snow with locally higher amounts accumulated across the mountains of northwest Colorado as a moist westerly flow streamed across the area. Wind gusts of 20 to 32 mph caused areas of blowing and drifting of snow.
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.
One to two feet of snow with locally higher amounts accumulated across the mountains of northwest Colorado as a moist westerly flow streamed across the area. Wind gusts of 20 to 32 mph caused areas of blowing and drifting of snow.
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 17, 3:03 AM MST, 6 hours 57 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 303 AM MST SAT DEC 17 2005 .SHORT TERM (TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT)...A FAIRLY STRONG SHORTWAVE IS ROTATING AROUND UPPER LOW OVER THE GREAT LAKES. THIS FEATURE BECOMES SEMI-STATIONARY OVER WY TODAY AS IT WEAKENS AND SHEARS SUNDAY IN RESPONSE TO DEFORMATION ZONE OVER THE PACIFIC NW. A NORTHWESTERLY 80KT JET ALIGNED FROM NW UTAH INTO NCNTRL TEXAS WILL PROVIDE SOME U/A SUPPORT FOR THIS SYSTEM TODAY. CLD SHIELD ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SHORT WAVE MOVING INTO NW COLORADO AT THIS TIME WITH COOLING CLD TOPS. SLC AND RIW RADARS ALSO PICKING UP SOME WEAK RETURNS. EXPECT PCPN TO DEVELOP LATER THIS MORNING OVER THE NRN MTNS...THEN BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD AND SPREAD A LITTLE SOUTHWARD BY THIS AFTERNOON. MSTR AND FORCING DECREASE AS ONE MOVES SOUTHWARD SO HEAVIEST PCPN WILL BE OVER THE NORTH. EVEN OVER THE NORTH MSTR WILL STILL BE THE LIMITING FACTOR...THUS LIMITING SNOW AMOUNTS IN THE FAVORED LOCATIONS ONLY TO 3-6 INCHES. PRECIP SHOULD TAPER OFF SUNDAY AS WAVE BECOMES MORE SHEARED ALTHOUGH LIGHT SNOW WILL CONTINUE OVER THE MTNS. SNOWFALL MAY PICK UP A LITTLE SUNDAY NIGHT AS PACIFIC MOISTURE BEGINS TO WORK ITS WAY THRU WEST COAST RIDGE. MADE ONLY MINOR CHANGES TO POP AND TEMP GRIDS. MET GUIDANCE FOR GJT SUNDAY SHOWS 40 AND THAT MAY BE POSSIBLE...BUT FOR NOW LIKE UPPER 30S. .LONG TERM (MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY)... NORTHWEST WINDS ALOFT SHOULD CONTINUE THROUGH WEDNESDAY...BUT THE MODELS ARE DECREASING THE AVAILABLE MOISTURE. MON AND TUE THE LAST OF A SERIES OF LITTLE VORT MAXES IS PROGGED TO PASS OVER THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE AREA. SHORT-TERM AND MIDRANGE MODELS ARE ALL DECREASING THE LOW AND MID-LEVEL MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS FEATURE...WITH THE GFS BEING WETTEST. WITH THE RIDGE BUILDING OVER THE GREAT BASIN AND GENERALLY WEAK WARM ADVECTION...HAVE LOWERED POPS THROUGH WEDNESDAY AND DECREASING SNOW ACCUMS FOR THE EASTERN UINTA MTS. FOR THUR THROUGH SAT...THE MODELS ARE IN FLUX. THE LATEST VERSIONS ARE MUCH DRIER WITH A SHARP RIDGE AND WARM ADVECTION THROUGH THE PERIOD. HAVE DECREASED CLOUDS AND POPS SUBSTANTIALLY AND WARMED UP TEMPERTURES. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... .CO...NONE. .UT...NONE. && MC/CJC
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 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, December 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: 5480070, 5480071.