Strong winds along with some snow allowed for blizzard conditions to develop over the Palmer Divide, south of Denver. Elsewhere there was generally a mix of rain and snow but the wind remained strong.
Every event with a place to put it; 5 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.
Strong winds along with some snow allowed for blizzard conditions to develop over the Palmer Divide, south of Denver. Elsewhere there was generally a mix of rain and snow but the wind remained strong. Peak wind gusts included: 65 mph (57 kts) at Crook and 4 miles east of Haxtun, 60 mph (52 kts) at Cedar Pt. with 58 mph (50 kts) reported at Limon and 7 miles south-southwest of Karval.
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 Apr 7, 3:30 AM MST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER COLORADO
430 AM MDT FRI APR 7 2006
.SHORT TERM DISCUSSION...A HODGE PODGE OF WEATHER OCCURRING IN AND
AROUND NERN COLORADO DURING THE PRE-DAWN HOURS. DEEP CYCLONIC
CIRCULATION AROUND LOW PRESS CENTER IN S-CENTRAL NEBRASKA WRAPPING
STRONG N/NELY WINDS AND MOISTURE BACK INTO NERN CO AT THIS HOUR.
TEMPS HAVE FINALLY COOLED DOWN ENOUGH TO TURN RAIN OVER TO SNOW IN
SERN WY...WRN NE AND EXTREME NERN CO WITH MODERATE SNOW PAST HOUR AT
SYDNEY. WINDS ANOTHER ISSUE. HIGH WINDS HAVE YET TO MATERIALIZE ON
THE PLAINS. PROBABLY BECAUSE OF STRONG VERTICAL SHEAR IN WIND
PROFILE OVER THE AREA AT THE MOMENT. HOWEVER...MODEL WIND FIELDS
SHOW WINDS AT THE SFC AND ALOFT COMING INTO ALIGNMENT NEXT FEW
HOURS...SO SHOULD SEE SFC WINDS GOING MORE NLY WITH SPEEDS REACHING
HIGH WIND CRITERIA IN MANY AREAS COVERED BY THE HIGH WIND AND
BLIZZARD WARNINGS. AS FOR THE BLIZZARD WARNING...CONFIDENCE NOT AS
HIGH LARGELY BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF COLD AIR ASSOCIATED WITH THIS
STORM SYSTEM. BELIEVE MUCH OF THE SNOW THAT FALLS ON THE PLAINS NEXT
4-6 HOURS WILL MELT ON A WARM GROUND. HOWEVER...30 TO 40 MPH WINDS
AND GUSTS TO AROUND 60 MPH SHOULD BE SUFFICIENT TO BLOW AND DRIFT
EVEN THE WETTEST OF SNOW IN OPEN RURAL AREAS. NOW APPEARS EASTERN
ADAMS...EASTERN ARAPAHOE...EASTERN ELBERT AND NORTHERN LINCOLN
COUNTIES IS BEST POSITION TO SEE BLIZZARD CONDITIONS THIS MORNING.
RAIN AND SNOW NOW SHOULD CHANGE OVER TO ALL SNOW IN THESE AREAS BY
AROUND 8 AM MDT. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ON THE PLAINS BY MIDDAY
GENERALLY LESS THAN 3 INCHES...EXCEPT IN THE ABOVE MENTIONED
COUNTIES WHERE 3 TO 5 INCHES OF WET SNOW A PRETTY GOOD BET.
IN THE MTNS...SNOWFALL CONTINUES TO INCREASE AND SPREAD SOUTH AS
MOISTURE AND STRONG WINDS WRAP BACK INTO THE STATE FROM WY. ANOTHER
3 TO 6 INCHES OF SNOW LIKELY BY AFTERNOON WITH HIGHER AMOUNTS ON
NORTH FACING SLOPES.
BY THE AFTERNOON...NAM AND GFS SHOW FCST AREA COMING UNDER DOWNWARD
QG VERTICAL MOTION AND DRYING AS THE UPR LOW PULLS AWAY. BY TONIGHT
SKIES GO CLEAR TO PARTLY CLOUDY WITH FREEZING TEMPS EXPECTED ACROSS
THE ENTIRE FORECAST AREA.
.LONG TERM DISCUSSION...UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL BE OVER THE CENTRAL
AND SOUTHERN ROCKIES THROUGH A GOOD PORTION OF THE FORECAST PERIOD.
THERE IS ONE EMBEDDED SHORT WAVE ON TRACK TO GRAZE COLORADO SOMETIME
MONDAY AND THEN ANOTHER POTENTIAL WEAK WAVE TUESDAY.
THE MAIN THREAT FROM THESE EMBEDDED SHORT WAVES WILL BE INCREASING
SURFACE WINDS AND FIRE DANGER ON THE PLAINS...AND JUST A SLIGHT
CHANCE OF PRECIP MAINLY IN THE MOUNTAINS. TEMPERATURES WILL BE
RETURNING TO WELL ABOVE NORMAL READINGS BY SUNDAY AS 700 MB TEMPS
PROGGED NEAR 8C. THIS COULD GET A FEW SPOTS ON THE PLAINS NEAR 80F.
SLIGHT COOLING THEN SHOWN MONDAY AND TUESDAY WITH A BIT OF COLD
ADVECTION ADVERTISED BEHIND SHORT WAVES...BUT ABOVE NORMAL
TEMPERATURES STILL EXPECTED. FARTHER OUT...SEE LITTLE HOPE FOR
SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION AS NEXT UPPER LOW DESTINED TO RESIDE OF
THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST THROUGH NEXT THURSDAY.
&&
.BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...BLIZZARD WARNING FOR THE
NORTHEAST PLAINS OF COLORADO UNTIL NOON MDT TODAY...ZONES 42..
44..48..49..50 AND 51.
BLIZZARD WARNING FOR THE EAST CENTRAL PLAINS OF COLORADO UNTIL 2
PM MDT THIS AFTERNOON...ZONES 41..45 AND 46.
HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL NOON MDT TODAY FOR CENTRAL WELD COUNTY...
ZONE 43.
HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL 2 PM MDT THIS AFTERNOON FOR SOUTHERN
LINCOLN COUNTY...ZONE 47.
SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY NORTHERN MOUNTAINS UNTIL NOON
TODAY...ZONES 31..33..AND 34.
&&
BAKER/BARJENBRUCHHAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 1053 AM MDT THU APR 06 2006 COZ030>051-071200- 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- 1053 AM MDT THU APR 06 2006 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. ...HIGH WIND WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF THE NORTHEAST PLAINS OF COLORADO LATE TONIGHT THROUGH EARLY FRIDAY AFTERNOON... ...SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY FOR THE NORTH CENTRAL MOUNTAINS THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH EARLY FRIDAY MORNING... .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS IN THE MOUNTAINS THIS MORNING WILL INCREASE THIS AFTERNOON. AS THE NEXT STORM WILL BRINGS STRONG WINDS TO MUCH OF THE FORECAST AREA. WIDESPREAD SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ARE EXPECTED IN THE MOUNTAINS OVERNIGHT. ACCUMULATIONS SHOULD BE UP TO 8 INCHES AT MOST. WINDS GUSTS TO 65 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH BLOWING SNOW. NORTHWEST TO NORTH WINDS GUSTING TO 60 ARE EXPECTED ON THE PLAINS TONIGHT. SOME PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED OVER THE PLAINS TONIGHT. IT WILL LIKELY BE COLD ENOUGH FOR IT TO BE SNOW. SNOWFALL ALONG WITH THE STRONG WINDS WILL PRODUCE BLIZZARD CONDITIONS OF THE NORTHEAST PLAINS OF COLORADO. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY STRONG NORTH WINDS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE NORTHEAST PLAINS OF COLORADO THROUGH EARLY AFTERNOON FRIDAY. SUSTAINED SPEEDS OF 30 TO 45 MPH WITH GUSTS AROUND 65 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED IN AREAS EAST OF A LINE FROM CHEYENNE WYOMING TO GREELEY...BENNETT...AND KIOWA. THE STRONG WINDS MAY COMBINE WITH A BRIEF PERIOD OF MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOWFALL DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS TO PRODUCE POSSIBLE BLIZZARD CONDITIONS...ESPECIALLY OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS FROM THE PALMER DIVIDE EAST AND NORTHEAST TOWARD LIMON AND AKRON. THE WINDS WILL SUBSIDE SIGNIFICANTLY LATE FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EARLY FRIDAY EVENING. IN THE MOUNTAINS...SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW WILL GRADUALLY DIMINISH DURING THE LATE MORNING HOURS FRIDAY. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS IN THE MOUNTAINS ARE EXPECTED TO RANGE BETWEEN 6 AND 12 INCHES. A STRONG SPRING STORM SYSTEM DEVELOPING OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS WILL PRODUCE THE WINDY CONDITIONS AND SNOWFALL. RESIDENTS OF NORTHEAST COLORADO AND PERSONS PLANNING TRAVEL ACROSS THE REGION LATE TONIGHT OR FRIDAY MORNING SHOULD STAY TUNED TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FOR THE LATEST FORECASTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS CONCERNING THIS SPRING STORM SYSTEM. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
501 AM MDT FRI APR 07 2006
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0239 AM NON-TSTM WND GST LIMON 39.27N 103.69W
04/07/2006 M58 MPH LINCOLN CO ASOS
0415 AM NON-TSTM WND GST 4 E HOLYOKE 40.58N 102.23W
04/07/2006 M65 MPH PHILLIPS CO TRAINED SPOTTER
MODERATE SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW WITH 1/4 MILE VISIBILITY
&&
JKThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 high wind, 1 blizzard. 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: 5503252, 5503253, 5503254, 5503255, 5503256.