Damaging Wind in Colorado, July 12, 2006

Name: Damaging Wind in Colorado, July 12, 2006
Start: 2006-07-12T15:43
End: 2006-07-12T15:53
Location: Colorado

July 12, 2006 · NWS GJT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Wind speeds estimated at 55 to 60 mph snapped large limbs from trees and blew some down the street. Marble size hail also accompanied the storm.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS GJT wrote it up.

Wind speeds estimated at 55 to 60 mph snapped large limbs from trees and blew some down the street. Marble size hail also accompanied the storm.

What forecasters said that day

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 Jul 12, 1:33 PM MST, 2 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 12, 1:33 PM MST, 2 hours 10 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
233 PM MDT WED JUL 12 2006

.SHORT TERM (TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY)...
WESTERN U.S. RIDGE WILL BE GAINING STRENGTH OVER THE NEXT 48 HOURS
WITH THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY DIMINISHING WITH DRIER WESTERLY FLOW
SETTING UP OVER THE FORECAST AREA. OUTSIDE OF DIURNALLY DRIVEN
STORMS OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN...EXPECT THE NEXT 48 HOURS TO REMAIN
FAIRLY DRY. STORMS THIS EVENING WILL QUICKLY DISSIPATE BY SUNSET
WITH THE LOSS OF AFTERNOON HEATING. TEMPS WILL BE CLIMBING WITH 2
TO 4 DEGREES OF WARMING EACH AFTERNOON THROUGH FRIDAY...EVENTUALLY
CLIMBING TOWARD THE CENTURY MARK OVER THE LOWER VALLEYS AS H7 TEMPS
APPROACH +20 C.

.LONG-TERM (FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY)...
MID-LEVEL RIDGE THE PROMINENT FEATURE THIS PERIOD...ALTHOUGH ECWMF
AND GFS SHOW IT BEGINNING TO WEAKEN BY WED AS MODELS BRING PAC TROUGH
INTO B.C./PAC NW. 500 MB HEIGHTS PEAK THIS WEEKEND AT 5980-5990M FOR
ABOVE NORMAL TEMPS. RELATIVELY WEAK FLOW ALOFT AND AT THE SURFACE
EXPECTED...AND SURFACE WINDS SHOULD BE THE TYPICAL DIURNAL SLOPE-
VALLEY PATTERN THIS WEEKEND.

EACH SUCCESSIVE GFS MODEL RUN SEEMS TO BE DRIER...AND PREV SHIFT
BEGAN KNOCKING THE CHANCE OF PRECIP DOWN SAT-MON. WITH 500 MB RIDGE
AXIS PROJECTED TO STRETCH E-W ACROSS UT/CO...PATTERN NOT FAVORABLE
FOR RETURN OF ANY MONSOONAL MOISTURE AND RELATIVELY STABLE
CONDITIONS UNDER THE RIDGE...DESPITE HOT TEMPS...LIKELY TO LIMIT ANY
STORM DEVELOPMENT TO JUST ISOLATED OVER THE MTNS SAT-SUN. COULD SEE
SEE A SLOW CREEP OF MOISTURE INTO THE 4-CORNERS AREA BY MON...
HOWEVER...FROM ANY CONVECTION IN MORE MOIST EASTERLY FLOW ACROSS
AZ/NM. AS RIDGE WEAKENS TUE-WED...MAY ALSO SEE BETTER MOISTURE WORK
IN FROM THE WEST. HENCE...THE GRADUAL INCREASE IN THE CHANCE OF
PRECIP FOR TUE-WED CURRENTLY IN THE GRIDS SEEMS PLAUSIBLE AND WILL
NOT CHANGE IT.

&&

.GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
.CO...NONE.
.UT...NONE.

&&

JDC/JAD

The radar

The Grand Junction radar (KGJX), 94 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:44 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Garfield

When: July 12, 3:43 PM MST to 3:53 PM MST
Where: Garfield County, Glenwood Spgs
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.550, -107.317

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Colorado in 2006 Every state in 2006 This day in weather history Warnings in Colorado, July 2006

Sources

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: 5524234.