In Boulder, high winds reportedly broke windows and caused roof damage. Power outages left approximately 10,000 people without electricity.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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 BOU wrote it up.
In Boulder, high winds reportedly broke windows and caused roof damage. Power outages left approximately 10,000 people without electricity. In the Golden area, along C-470, Interstate 70 and the McIntyre Parkway, seven tractor trailers were blown over by strong cross-winds. Strong winds were also reported in northeast Weld County. Peak wind gusts included: 98 mph (85 kts), 2 miles southeast of Eldorado Springs, 90 mph (78 kts) at the National Center of Atmospheric Research (NCAR), 85 mph (74 kts), 4 miles north of Evergreen, 83 mph (72 kts) at Jeffco Airport in Broomfield, 80 mph (70 kts), 2 miles east-southeast of Golden, 76 mph (66 kts), 1 mile north of Longmont, and 58 mph (50 kts), 21 miles north of New Raymer.
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 Dec 5, 3:50 AM MST, 2 hours 52 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 350 AM MST MON DEC 5 2005 .SHORT TERM...TDA-TNGT...STG NWLY FLO ALF WITH SEVERAL EMBEDDED SHT WVS IN UPR FLO WILL EVENTUALLY CARVE OUT AN UPR TROF OVR NRN RCKYS BY END OF PRD. ASSOCD SFC LO PRES CNTR OVR MT WILL SLIDE S IN LEE OF RCKYS IN ADV OF SYS. THIS WILL STRENGTHEN CROSS MTN SFC PRES GRADIENT AND TOGETHER WITH STG WNDS ALF PRODUCE HI WNDS ALG FRONT RANGE MTNS AND ERN FTHLLS TDA BFR DCRSG TNGT. STG Q-G OMEGA SUBSIDENCE THRU PRD. WILL KEEP HI WND WRNG FOR ONGOING ZNS. MDLS INDICATE WNDS IN MTNS AND ERN FTHLLS MAY BE AS STG TNGT AS TDA AND WRNG THERE MAY NEED TO BE EXTENDED INTO TNGT. MOIST NWLY FLO ALF WILL INCRS OROGRAPHIC SNW IN MTNS THRU TDA AND TNGT...BUT WK WARMING ALF WILL SUMWHAT LIMIT NEW SNW ACCUMS. NEEDLESS TO SAY THERE WILL BE AREAS OF BLWG SNW MTNS. DUE TO SLIGHT WARMG ALF AND DWNSLP FLO TEMPS WILL WARM SUM OVR YSTRDY. WILL MAKE ONLY SML ADJSTMNTS TO MOS TEMP GDNC VALUES. .LONG TERM DISCUSSION...FOR TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY...GFS AND NAM ARE IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT...BRINGING A COLD UPPER TROF OVER ERN MT AND DAKOTAS AT 12Z TUESDAY INTO NERN COLORADO BY WEDNESDAY. FRONTAL BOUNDARY IS PROGGED TO MOVE INTO THE NE PLAINS TUESDAY MORNING. SPATIAL CROSS-SECTIONS AND INTERACTIVE SOUNDINGS SHOW ENELY UPSLOPE WINDS DEEPENING TO AROUND 700 MB BY THE AFTN. DEEPEST UPSLOPE IS PROGGED TO OCCUR TUESDAY AFTN/EVENING. MDLS SHOW UPWARD QG OMEGA TUESDAY AFTN AND TUESDAY NIGHT...WITH SUBSIDENCE DEVELOPING FOLLOWING THE PASSAGE OF THE UPPER TROF AXIS AROUND 18Z WEDNESDAY. GUIDANCE ABOUT 10 DEGREES COLDER THAN MAX TEMPERATURES ON WEDNESDAY SO WILL ADJUST ACCORDINGLY. BEST MID LVL INSTBY WILL OCCUR OVER WRN COLORADO TUESDAY AS 120+ KT UPPER JET DRIVES FM CNTRL IDAHO... THROUGH THE FOUR CORNERS REGION. OROGRAPHIC COMPONENT DECREASES SIGNICANTLY TUESDAY NIGHT AS UPPER TROF SLIDES INTO THE STATE. SNOWFALL TOTALS LOOK LIKE THEY WILL REMAIN BELOW HIGHLIGHT CRITERIA AT THIS TIME AS AGAIN ALL THE INGREDIENTS NEVER QUITE PHASE WITH ONE ANOTHER. VERY COLD ARCTIC AMS DOES NOT FAVOR THE PRODUCTION HEAVY SNOWFALL. WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY...TREND FOR DCRG POPS STILL LOOKS ON TRACK. SPATIAL CROSS-SECTIONS FM BOTH MDLS SHOW AMS DRYING OUT SIGNIFICANTLY BY THURSDAY. THE LATEST GFS SHOWS A SECONDARY UPPER TROF IS PROGGED MAKE ITS WAY DOWN THE EAST SIDE OF AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE BLDG OVER THE WEST....DROP OUT OF MONTANA AND SLIDE SW THROUGH ERN UT/WRN COLORADO LATE THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY...BUT MSTR ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SYSTEM REMAIN IN THE VICNITY OF THE UPPER LOW...WITH NERN CO IN A WEAK DEFORMATION ZONE. OTHER GFS ENSEMBLES LIKE THE ECMWF KEEP THIS FEATURE EVENING FURTHER TO THE WEST. UPPER RIDGE WILL CONTINUE BUILD OVER THE WEST BY WEEKS END...WITH WARMING TREND DEVELOPING. WL KEEP THE REMAINDER OF THE FCST DRY FOR NOW. THIS ALREADY REFLECTED IN THE GRIDS SO NO MAJOR CHANGES THERE. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...HI WND WRNG TDA MTNS...ERN FTHLLS...WRN URBAN CORRIDOR AND S PARK...ZNS 31..33..34..35..36.. 37..38..39. && GARD/COOPER
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 508 AM MST MON DEC 05 2005 COZ030>051-051800- 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- 508 AM MST MON DEC 05 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SNOW AND HIGH WINDS TODAY WILL PRODUCE GROUND BLIZZARD CONDITIONS AT TIMES ON THE HIGH MOUNTAIN PASSES INCLUDING INTERSTATE 70 WEST OF DENVER. SNOW ALONG WITH STRONG WINDS AND AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW WILL PERSIST IN THE MOUNTAINS OVERNIGHT. A HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT TODAY FOR THE COLORADO NORTH CENTRAL MOUNTAINS...ADJACENT EASTERN FOOTHILLS...WESTERN URBAN CORRIDOR AND SOUTH PARK. WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS WILL BE SUSTAINED AT SPEEDS OF 30 TO 60 MPH WITH GUSTS AS HIGH AS 90 MPH. THE WINDS WILL DECREASE THIS EVENING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY THE NEXT SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO BRING ADDITIONAL SNOWFALL TO THE MOUNTAINS TUESDAY AFTERNOON INTO WEDNESDAY. AS A RESULT SEVERAL INCHES OF ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATION CAN BE EXPECTED. ON THE PLAINS ...AN ARCTIC COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA TUESDAY BRINGING UNSEASONABLY COLD TEMPERATURES AND LIGHT SNOWFALL. DRIER AND WARMER WEATHER IS EXPECTED TO RETURN TO THE REGION THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. GARD/COOPER
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 high wind. 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: 5482649, 5482650, 5482651, 5482652.