A vigorous spring storm system brought heavy snow to much of the central and southern mountain areas of western Colorado.
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 GJT wrote it up.
A vigorous spring storm system brought heavy snow to much of the central and southern mountain areas 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 7, 2:03 PM MST, 9 hours 57 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 303 PM MDT SAT APR 7 2007 .SHORT TERM (TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY)... LARGE SCALE PATTERN CONSISTS OF A DEEP TROUGH EAST OF THE ROCKIES. MEANWHILE AN UPPER RIDGE RESIDES OVER THE GREAT BASIN AND NORTHERN ROCKIES WITH NORTHWEST FLOW OVER EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO. AT THE SURFACE A STATIONARY FRONT EXTENDS ALONG THE WY/CO BORDER THEN RUNS SOUTH GENERALLY ALONG THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE. GOES SOUNDER DATA SHOWING MARGINAL INSTABILITY OVER THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON. LOW LEVEL MOISTURE IS SUFFICIENT ENOUGH FOR SURFACE HEATING AND CONVERGENCE OVER THE HIGH TERRAIN TO TRIGGER SOME AFTERNOON SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...MAINLY OVER THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS. A COCORAHS SPOTTER REPORTED PEA SIZE HAIL IN LA PLATA COUNTY SHORTLY AFTER NOON WITH ABOUT A TENTH OF AN INCH OF RAIN. LACK OF DYNAMIC SUPPORT WILL KEEP THUNDERSTORMS FAIRLY SHORT LIVED WITH ONLY SMALL HAIL AND SOME MODERATE GUSTS OF WIND. WEAK DISTURBANCES EMBEDDED IN NORTHWEST FLOW WILL KEEP ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS TOWARD THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE TONIGHT. A SHORTWAVE TROUGH CURRENTLY OVER NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AND OREGON WILL BREAK THROUGH THE UPPER RIDGE AND REACH CENTRAL UTAH SUNDAY AFTERNOON. INCREASING CLOUDS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF MORE SHOWERS WILL OCCUR AS THE SYSTEM APPROACHES. DAYTIME HEATING AND SOME DYNAMIC SUPPORT WITH THIS SYSTEM WILL YIELD SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SUNDAY AFTERNOON INTO SUNDAY EVENING...WITH AREAS ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE ROAN/TAVAPUTS PLATEAU AND INTERSTATE 70 BEING FAVORED FOR PRECIPITATION. THE STORM ENVIRONMENT SHOULD SUPPORT A LITTLE MORE ORGANIZED CONVECTION SUNDAY BUT SEVERE POTENTIAL LOOKS LIMITED AND EXPECT SMALL HAIL AND A FEW MODERATELY STRONG WIND GUSTS. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS IN THE MOUNTAINS SHOULD BE HIGHLY VARIABLE AND GENERALLY LIMITED TO 1 TO 2 INCHES LOCALLY DUE TO THE CONVECTIVE NATURE. POPS ON THE DECREASE SUNDAY NIGHT AS THE SHORTWAVE TROUGH MOVES SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE FOUR CORNERS AREA AND DRIER WEST NORTHWEST FLOW FOLLOWS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE MONDAY ESPECIALLY FOR THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS AS A COLD FRONT AND STRONG UPPER JET MOVE ACROSS THE NORTHERN GREAT BASIN TOWARD THE FORECAST AREA. KEPT TEMPERATURES IN LINE WITH GUIDANCE...GENERALLY WITHIN A FEW DEGREES OF SEASONAL NORMALS FOR SUNDAY...THEN A SLIGHT UPWARD TREND ON MONDAY. LINDQUIST .LONG TERM (MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY)... A CHANGE TO WETTER AND COOLER WEATHER EXPECTED IN THESE PERIODS AS PATTERN SHOWS PROGRESSIVE NATURE. THERE IS A POSSIBILITY OF BELOW FREEZING MORNING TEMPERATURES IN THE LOWER VALLEYS TOWARD THE END OF THE PERIOD...SO THOSE WITH SENSITIVE OUTDOOR PLANTS AND TREES SHOULD CLOSELY MONITOR. (MONDAY NIGHT)...SHORT WAVE AND CENTER OF STORM ENERGY OVER SOUTHERN IDAHO IS FORECAST TO DROP SOUTHWARD INTO NORTHERN COLORADO. NORTHERLY MOIST AND UNSTABLE FLOW WILL CONTINUE TO BRING PRECIPITATION TO THIS AREA...AND HAVE INCREASED POPS FOR THE MOUNTAIN AREAS. (TUESDAY-TUESDAY NIGHT)...SHORTWAVE ENERGY CONTINUES TO MOVE THROUGH A NORTHWEST FLOW ACROSS WESTERN COLORADO. WILL CONTINUE TO KEEP SCT POPS...ESPECIALLY NEAR THE DIVIDE. SOME CLEARING OVERNIGHT AS THE ENERGY PUSHES EAST OF THE AREA. (WEDNESDAY-WEDNESDAY NIGHT)...SHORTWAVE RIDGE BUILDS OVERHEAD... THOUGH SUFFICIENT SURFACE HEATING AND MOISTURE MAY PRODUCE SOME INSTABILITY SHOWERS. MOSTLY DRY ELSEWHERE...AND LOOKS TO BE THE DRIEST DAY OF THE PERIOD. (THURSDAY-SATURDAY)...A HEFTIER TROUGH IS FORECAST TO DIG INTO THE GREAT BASIN...PUSHING THE RIDGE EASTWARD AND SETTING UP A STRONG SOUTHWEST FLOW OVER THE CWFA. WARMER TEMPERATURES AHEAD OF THE TROUGH...FOLLOWED BY MUCH COOLER AIR AFTER THE TROUGH PASSAGE THURSDAY NIGHT. GUSTY SOUTHWEST WINDS ARE LIKELY ON THURSDAY... FOLLOWED BY A SHIFT TO THE NORTHWEST OVERNIGHT. SCATTERED RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS CAN BE EXPECTED THROUGH THE PERIOD WITH FREEZING MORNING TEMPERATURES POSSIBLE IN AREA VALLEYS FRIDAY AND SATURDAY MORNINGS. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... .CO...NONE. .UT...NONE. TAL/BA
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 545 AM MDT SAT APR 7 2007 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-081145- 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 SAT APR 7 2007 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP OVER THE SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS AND ADJACENT HIGH VALLEYS OF SOUTHWEST COLORADO THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. SNOW LEVELS WILL BE ABOVE 9000 FEET AND NO SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED. DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND SOME SMALL HAIL WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THE THUNDERSTORMS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY THERE IS A CHANCE OF VALLEY RAIN SHOWERS AND MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS THROUGH MONDAY EVENING. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS. ANOTHER CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW WILL MOVE IN LATE NEXT WEEK AS A STRONG COLD FRONT MOVES INTO THE REGION. THIS SYSTEM WILL BRING IN ANOTHER SHOT OF COLD AIR...WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF FREEZING TEMPERATURES RETURNING TO SOME OF THE LOWER VALLEYS OF WESTERN COLORADO AND EASTERN UTAH BY THE END OF NEXT WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED TODAY OR TONIGHT. JDC
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 winter weather, 1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Snowfall amounts of 12 to 21 inches blanketed the area while frequent wind gusts of 20 to 30 mph caused blowing and drifting snow. A wind gust of 60 mph was measured at Putney Mountain.
Widespread snowfall of 5 to 10 inches occurred.|
Widespread snowfall of 7 to 12 inches occurred with about a third of the area receiving 12 to 15 inches.
Widespread snowfall of 5 to 12 inches occurred.|
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: 27617, 27620, 27618, 27619.