A rock slide occurred just south of the McClure Pass summit and blocked Colorado State Highway 133. The total rock deposit on the highway was estimated at about 1000 tons.
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The episode as NWS GJT wrote it up.
A rock slide occurred just south of the McClure Pass summit and blocked Colorado State Highway 133. The total rock deposit on the highway was estimated at about 1000 tons. At least four of the largest boulders were about 20 feet in diameter. A 150 foot section of guard rail and some road surface were damaged.
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 24, 2:14 PM MST, 1 hour 46 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 314 PM MDT MON APR 24 2006 .SHORT TERM (TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY)... AN UPPER LOW CENTERED OVER NORTHEAST UTAH THIS AFTERNOON WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE EAST-NORTHEAST THROUGH THIS EVENING WHILE WEAKENING. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED MAINLY NORTH OF INTERSTATE 70 WITH ISOLATED SHOWERS TO THE SOUTH. OTHER THAN SOME GUSTY WINDS...WEAK INSTABILITY AND LOW CAPE WILL KEEP THE STORMS TAME. RELATIVELY DRY CONDITIONS AT LOWEST LAYERS OF THE ATMOSPHERE WILL KEEP PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS LIGHT WITH JUST SOME SPRINKLES OR A COUPLE HUNDREDTHS OF AN INCH AND GUSTY WINDS UNDER MOST OF THE SHOWERS SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 70. SOME OF THE HIGHER TERRAIN TO THE NORTH MAY LOCALLY PICK UP A TENTH OR TWO THROUGH TONIGHT....ESPECIALLY NEAR THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DIMINISH IN AREAL COVERAGE OVERNIGHT AS THE LOW MOVES AWAY AND THE BOUNDARY LAYER STABILIZED...ALTHOUGH EXPECT THERE WILL BE ISOLATED SHOWERS ACROSS THE NORTH WHERE REMNANTS OF A SURFACE BOUNDARY WILL RESIDE. KEPT LOW POPS ACROSS THE NORTH TUESDAY DUE TO SOME LINGERING MOISTURE AND WEAK POSITIVE VORTICITY PROGGED TO MOVE ACROSS THE AREA. OTHERWISE DRY CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL TUESDAY WITH TEMPERATURES TRENDING UP. DRY CONDITIONS TUESDAY NIGHT WITH A SHORTWAVE RIDGE MOVING OVERHEAD. WARMING TREND TO CONTINUE ON WEDNESDAY AS A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVES TO JUST OFF THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST ADVECTING WARMER AIR OVER EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO. SOME MID AND HIGH CLOUDS WILL BE SPREADING OVER THE AREA WEDNESDAY IN DIFFLUENT FLOW ALOFT WHILE THE NOSE OF AN UPPER JET APPROACHES THE FOUR CORNERS. LINDQUIST .LONG-TERM (WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY)...UPPER LOW CURRENTLY INTENSIFYING OFF THE CALIFORNIA COAST WILL BE THE MOST SIGNIFICANT FEATURE IMPACTING THE EXTENDED PORTION OF THE FORECAST. THERE IS STILL QUITE A BIT OF INCONSISTENCY BETWEEN MODEL SOLUTIONS WITH THE TIMING AND PLACEMENT OF THE UPPER LOW CENTER AS IT PROGRESSES EASTWARD. THIS LEADS TO LOW CONFIDENCE WITH THE FORECAST FROM THURSDAY ONWARD. GFS AND EURO KEEP THE SYSTEM FAR ENOUGH TO OUR WEST...OVER EXTREME SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ON THURSDAY TO JUSTIFY A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN FORECAST POPS. 12Z NAM RUN WAS MUCH FASTER BRINGING THE SYSTEM EAST AND HAD SPREAD A LOT OF QPF OVER THE FORECAST AREA ON THURSDAY. THE FASTER MOVEMENT WAS MOST LIKELY DUE TO ITS INTENSIFICATION OF A TROUGH DIGGING INTO MONTANA AND WYOMING...WHICH THE OTHER MODELS DID NOT DO. SO...REMOVED POPS FROM ALL BUT THE HIGHER TERRAIN OVER WEST CENTRAL COLORADO WHERE MID-LEVEL LAPSE RATES AND MOISTURE LOOK HIGH ENOUGH FOR ISOLATED AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP. BEYOND THAT...FAVORED SOMETHING IN BETWEEN THE GFS AND EURO. SYSTEM WILL TRACK ACROSS ARIZONA AND NEW MEXICO THROUGH MONDAY...STALLING A LITTLE AS A BROAD LOW BUILDS OVER THE EASTERN U.S. BEST CHANCE FOR PRECIP WILL BE FRIDAY THROUGH SATURDAY AS A PLUME OF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE SURGES NORTHWARD OUT OF THE GULF OF MEXICO AND WRAPS AROUND THE NORTHERN PORTION OF THE UPPER LOW. THIS PLUME OF MOISTURE IS CURRENTLY PROGGED BY BOTH THE GFS AND EURO TO STREAM OVER THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA. IF THIS SCENARIO PANS OUT...POPS WILL LIKELY HAVE TO BE BUMPED WAY UP FROM THE LOW CHANCE VALUES CURRENTLY IN THE GRIDS/FORECAST. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... .CO...NONE. .UT...NONE. && TAL/HLO
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 545 AM MDT MON APR 24 2006 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-251200- 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- 545 AM MDT MON APR 24 2006 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL GENERATE STRONG WINDS WITH LITTLE RAIN ACROSS THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE REGION...MAINLY OVER HIGHER TERRAIN. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY THERE IS A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH SNOW ACROSS THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED TODAY OR TONIGHT. NL
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 debris flow. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, April 2006
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: 5503122.