A spring storm system produced significant snowfall across the central and northern mountains of western Colorado.
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 GJT wrote it up.
A spring storm system produced significant snowfall across the central and northern mountains of western Colorado.
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 9, 2:10 PM MST, 9 hours 50 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 310 PM MDT MON APR 9 2007 .SHORT TERM (TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY)... DRIER AND MORE STABLE CONDITIONS ACROSS THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON WITH A FEW ISOLATED SHOWERS MANAGING TO DEVELOP UNDER A WEAK INVERSION NEAR 550 MB PER SOUNDING DATA. ATTENTION TURNS TO FAST MOVING ZONAL FLOW ENCROACHING ON THE AREA...AND A COLD FRONT WHICH EXTENDS ALONG THE WY AND ID BORDER SOUTHWEST INTO NV. THIS FRONT WILL MOVE INTO NORTHEAST UTAH BEFORE SUNSET AND THEN TO ABOUT KGJT NEAR MIDNIGHT AND CONTINUE TO MOVE SOUTH AND EAST OVERNIGHT WHILE BECOMING MORE EAST TO WEST ORIENTED. A STRONG 300MB JET WILL NOSE INTO THE AREA OVERNIGHT AS WELL PROVIDING LARGE SCALE ASCENT TO GO ALONG WITH OROGRAPHIC FORCING. NOT A GREAT SUPPLY OF MOISTURE WITH THIS FRONT BUT COMBINED WITH RESIDUAL LOW LEVEL MOISTURE SNOWFALL AMOUNTS IN THE 2-6 INCH RANGE EXPECTED ACROSS THE CENTRAL AND NORTHERN MOUNTAINS THROUGH TUESDAY WITH 1-3 INCHES ACROSS THE SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS. COLD AIR ADVECTION TAPERS OFF BY TUESDAY EVENING SO POPS TRENDING DOWN WITH ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS EXPECTED TUESDAY NIGHT. WARM AIR ADVECTION ON TAP FOR WEDNESDAY AS THE FLOW BACKS MORE TO THE SOUTHWEST AHEAD OF ANOTHER SHORTWAVE TROUGH. DAYTIME HEATING AND FORCING WITH THIS SYSTEM WILL PRODUCE SOME SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE AREA WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. DAYTIME HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL BE ABOUT 8 TO 12 DEGREES COOLER ON TUESDAY ACROSS LOWER ELEVATIONS GENERALLY ALONG AND NORTH OF INTERSTATE 70. FURTHER SOUTH LOWER ELEVATIONS WILL COOL AROUND 5 DEGREES EXCEPT PERSISTENCE TO 1 OR 2 DEGREES COOLER FOR THE FOUR CORNERS AREA. GUIDANCE DIVERGES CONSIDERABLY ON WEDNESDAY SO MADE LITTLE CHANGE TO PREVIOUS TEMP FORECAST SHOWING A SLIGHT UPWARD TREND. SOME AREAS OF THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN LOWER ELEVATIONS MAY REACH FREEZING TUESDAY NIGHT. LINDQUIST .LONG TERM (WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY)... A RETURN TO MORE WINTER-LIKE CONDITIONS WILL BE THE WORDS FOR THIS PERIOD. ACTIVE PROGRESSIVE PATTERN IN STORE FOR THESE PERIODS ADDING TO THE BELOW AVERAGE MOUNTAIN SNOWPACK. WINTER HIGHLIGHTS WILL POSSIBLY BE NEEDED WEDNESDAY NIGHT-THURSDAY NIGHT. ALSO SUB-FREEZING TEMPERATURES MAY THREATEN THE FRUIT-GROWING VALLEYS WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY MORNINGS...BUT THE BIGGEST THREAT OF DAMAGING TEMPERATURES WILL BE SATURDAY MORNING. THOSE WITH SENSITIVE OUTDOOR PLANTS SHOULD BE PREPARED TO TAKE ACTION DURING THESE MORNINGS. MODELS HAVE MUCH BETTER RUN-TO-RUN CONSISTENCY THAN DURING THE PREVIOUS FEW DAYS. A SHORT WAVE AHEAD OF A DIGGING TROUGH OVER THE GREAT BASIN WILL BRING PRECIPITATION TO MUCH OF THE AREA ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT. BY THURSDAY MORNING A CLOSED LOW IS FORECAST TO DEVELOP IN THE BASE OF THE TROUGH AND MOVE EASTWARD ACROSS NORTHERN NEW MEXICO. SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL IS POSSIBLE OVER THE CENTRAL...AND ESPECIALLY SOUTHERN...COLORADO MOUNTAINS. THIS TR0UGH AND ASSOCIATED LOW LOOKS TO MOVE EAST OF THE AREA ON FRIDAY. HOWEVER...A MOIST AND UNSTABLE NORTHERLY FLOW IN ITS WAKE WILL LIKELY CONTINUE TO PRODUCE SNOW SHOWERS AT THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS. MUCH COLDER AIR WILL FILTER INTO THE CWFA AFTER THE PASSAGE OF THIS SYSTEM. 700MB TEMPERATURES WILL FALL INTO THE -8 TO -10 C RANGE ON FRIDAY. THIS WILL RESULT IN MUCH COOLER TEMPERATURES...ESPECIALLY ON SATURDAY AS SKIES CLEAR. FREEZING MORNING TEMPERATURES A GOOD BET...EVEN IN THE LOWEST VALLEYS. DRY AND A LITTLE WARMER ON SUNDAY AS A LARGE...BUT BRIEF...RIDGE IS FORECAST TO MOVE OVER THE AREA. THIS WILL BE REPLACED BY A LARGER LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM THAT IS CURRENTLY FORECAST TO MOVE INTO NORTHERN ARIZONA BY LATE MONDAY. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... .CO...NONE. .UT...NONE. TAL/BA
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 938 AM MDT MON APR 9 2007 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-101145- 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- 938 AM MDT MON APR 9 2007 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS WILL OCCUR ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS... MAINLY ABOVE 8500 FEET. LITTLE OR NO ACCUMULATION IS EXPECTED TODAY. SNOW SHOWERS WILL INCREASE IN AREAL COVERAGE ACROSS THE CENTRAL AND NORTHERN MOUNTAINS OF WESTERN COLORADO TONIGHT WITH ACCUMULATIONS AROUND 1 INCH POSSIBLE. ELSEWHERE...ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE IN THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING HOURS. DANGEROUS LIGHTNING WILL ACCOMPANY THE THUNDERSTORMS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY THERE IS A CHANCE OF VALLEY RAIN SHOWERS AND MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS ON TUESDAY WITH ISOLATED AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS. A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL BRING ANOTHER CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW WEDNESDAY NIGHT...THURSDAY...AND FRIDAY. SIGNIFICANT SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE IN THE MOUNTAINS. ALSO...THERE WILL BE THE POSSIBILITY OF FREEZING TEMPERATURES RETURNING TO SOME OF THE LOWER VALLEYS OF WESTERN COLORADO AND EASTERN UTAH BY THE END OF THE WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED TODAY OR TONIGHT. HOWEVER... SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO PHONE IN ANY REPORTS OF SIGNIFICANT RAIN OR SNOWFALL AMOUNTS.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Widespread snowfall of 5 to 9 inches occurred. Frequent wind gusts of 30 to 40 mph caused blowing and drifting of snow. A wind gust of 61 mph was measured at Storm Peak Laboratory.
Widespread snowfall of 5 to 9 inches occurred with a local amount of 14 inches at Vail Ski Area. Frequent wind gusts of 30 to 40 mph caused blowing and drifting of snow. A wind gust of 53 mph was measured at the Crown RAWS.
Widespread snowfall of 6 to 13 inches occurred. Frequent wind gusts of 30 to 40 mph caused blowing and drifting of snow. A wind gust of 60 mph ws measured at the Storm King RAWS.
Widespread snowfall of 5 to 7 inches occurred. Frequent wind gusts of 30 to 40 mph caused blowing and drifting of snow.
Widespread snowfall of 5 to 10 inches occurred. Frequent wind gusts of 30 to 50 mph caused blowing and drifting of snow. A gust of 81 mph was measured at Salida Mountain.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2007Every state in 2007This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, April 2007
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: 27622, 27623, 27624, 27625, 27626.