A strong upper level jet stream over northern Colorado, coupled with a passing weather disturbance, brought a one-two punch of heavy snow and strong winds to areas in and near the Front Range. In the North Central Mountains, a peak wind gust to 106 mph was recorded atop Berthoud Pass.
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The episode as NWS BOU wrote it up.
A strong upper level jet stream over northern Colorado, coupled with a passing weather disturbance, brought a one-two punch of heavy snow and strong winds to areas in and near the Front Range. In the North Central Mountains, a peak wind gust to 106 mph was recorded atop Berthoud Pass. U.S. Highway 40 was closed temporarily at Berthoud Pass, and between Kremmling and Steamboat Springs, due to an increased avalanche danger. One avalanche knocked a state highway vehicle off the road near Berthoud Pass. At Winter Park, the ski area was forced to shut down when strong winds toppled several trees. Elsewhere, two sections of Interstate 70 were closed including a 60-mile stretch from east of Vail to west of Evergreen. U.S. Highway 6 over Loveland Pass, and U.S. Highway 285, over Kenosha Pass, were also closed. The American Red Cross set up temporary shelters in Granby, Fraser and Silverthorne for stranded travelers. Storm totals in the high country ranged from 7 to 18 inches.|Very intense winds also developed in the Front Range Foothills, Urban Corridor and Northeast Plains. At the National Wind Technology Center, the peak wind gust topped out at 101 mph. In and near the Front Range Foothills, the wind stirred up intense ground blizzards which resulted in several road closures. State Highway 93, between Golden and Boulder was closed for much of the day. In addition, State Highways 72 and 128, from Indiana St. and McCaslin Blvd. respectively, were closed due to near zero visibilities in blowing and drifting snow. East of Interstate 25, peak wind gusts to around 60 mph were recorded. At Denver International Airport, blowing debris cracked the front and side windshields of 14 airplanes within a three hour period. In all, three airlines were impacted in the incident.
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 Feb 15, 2:55 PM MST, 9 hours 5 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 255 PM MST THU FEB 15 2007 .SHORT TERM...SOME LIGHT SNOW OCCURRING ACROSS HIGHER MOUNTAINS AT THIS TIME...MAINLY ALONG CONTINENTAL DIVIDE. NOT ALL THAT WIDESPREAD AS I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE. A BIT OF WIND ACROSS HIGHER ELEVATIONS WITH A FEW GUSTS TO 60 MPH BEING REPORTED. MOISTURE AND WIND TO INCREASE TONIGHT AS 120 KT JET MAX SLIDES CLOSER TO AREA. MODELS DIFFER ON AMOUNT OF MOISTURE OVER MOUNTAINS DURING PERIOD...BUT OROGRAPHICS CERTAINLY IMPROVE AS 7H WINDS INCREASE TO AROUND 40 KTS OVERNIGHT. LOCAL SNOW MODEL WITH CONSERVATIVE NUMBERS INDICATE 6 TO 12 INCHES THROUGH FRIDAY. QG VERTICAL VELOCITY PROGS SHOW DESCENT DURING THE PERIOD WITH MEAGER LAPSE RATES...BOTH HINDERING ADDITION SNOW AMOUNTS. THOUGH NUMBERS FALL A BIT SHORT OF WARNING CRITERIA... FEEL THERE WILL BE CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW TO WARRANT THE WARNING VERSUS SNOW/BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY. SUBSIDENCE AND DEVELOPING MOUNTAIN TOP INVERSION MORE FAVORABLE FOR MOUNTAIN WAVE ALONG FOOTHILLS TONIGHT. CROSS MOUNTAIN FLOW INCREASES TO 40-45KTS BY 12Z FRIDAY AND 50 KTS BY 18Z FRIDAY. SANGSTER HIGH WIND FORECAST PROGRAM FROM EACH MODEL INDICATING WARNING FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO AROUND NOON FRIDAY. LOOKING LIKE HIGH WIND WARNING STILL WARRANTED FOR FOOTHILLS AND FRONT RANGE. BORA EXPECTED TO OCCUR ACROSS PLAINS FRIDAY BEHIND FRONT/SHORTWAVE. LOOKS LIKE BEST TIMEFRAME TO OCCUR AFTER 18Z WHEN 850 MB WINDS INCREASE TO 30-40 KTS. DOWNWARD MOTION SHOULD AID IN FORCING STRONGER 700 MB TO SURFACE. WILL ISSUE HIGH WIND WATCH FOR REST OF PLAINS NORTH OF INTERSTATE 70 BEGINNING AT 18Z FRIDAY. THIS WATCH WILL EXTEND THROUGH 06Z SATURDAY. DESPITE SUBSIDENCE...MODELS PAINT SOME PRECIP ACROSS PLAINS. WITH STRONG JET IN VICINITY...SOME PRECIP COULD BE GENERATED. WILL KEEP THE LOW POPS THERE. .LONG TERM...THE STRONG 130KT JET CORE WILL SHIFTING EAST ACROSS CO FRI NITE AND EARLY SAT WITH VERY STRONG SUBSIDENCE MOVING ACROSS NERN CO. GIVEN THE MODERATE INSTABILITY AND DOWNSLOPE FLOW...WILL CONTINUE THE HIGH WIND WATCH THRU MIDNIGHT FRIDAY ACROSS PTNS OF THE NERN PLAINS. WILL ALSO KEEP WINTER STORM WARNING THRU FRI EVENING OVR NRN MTNS. STILL STRONG 40KT WINDS AT MTN TOP AND STEEP LAPSE RATES WILL KEEP SOME SNOW PILING UP THRU THE EVENING. HIGH AMPLITUDE RIDGE ALOFT WILL BEGIN TO BUILD ACROSS THE REGION ON SATURDAY AS WINDS WILL DECREASE IN THE MTNS WITH A DRY AIRMASS IN PLACE. AS THE RIDGE SLIDES EASTWARD ON SUNDAY AN INCREASE IN MSTR EXPECTED FROM THE SOUTHWEST AS AN UPPER LOW DEVELOPS OFF THE CA COAST. INCREASING SOUTHWEST FLOW LATE SUNDAY BUT NOT CONDUCIVE TO A LOT OF MTN SHOWERS FOR THE NRN MTNS. THE UPPER LEVEL TROF PUSHES ACROSS CO LATE MONDAY AND TUE WITH A BETTER CHANCE OF SNOW FOR THE MTNS. ADDED SLIGHT POPS TO THE PLAINS AS WELL WITH A FRONTAL PASSAGE MON NITE. STILL LOW CONFIDENCE AS MODELS STILL HAVING A HARD TIME DISTRIBUTING ENERGY BETWEEN NRN/SRN BRANCHES. SHOULD GET DRIER AND WARMER AGAIN TOWARDS MIDDLE OF THE WEEK WITH WEAK RIDGING ALOFT MOVING INTO THE REGION. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...HIGH WIND WARNING LATE TNT AND FRI FOR ZNS..35..36..38..39. ...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR NRN MTNS FOR LATE TNT THRU FRI EVENING..ZNS 31..33>34. ...HIGH WIND WATCH FOR PTNS OF NERN PLAINS FOR FRI AFTN THRU FRI EVENING..ZNS 40..42>45..48>51. && D-L/ENTREKIN
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 1106 AM MST THU FEB 15 2007 COZ030>051-161300- 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- 1106 AM MST THU FEB 15 2007 ...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR MOUNTAINS LATE TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY EVENING... ...HIGH WIND WARNING FOOTHILLS AND ADJACENT PLAINS LATE TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT AREAS OF LIGHT SNOW WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS THIS AFTERNOON WITH ACCUMULATIONS LESS THAN 3 INCHES EXPECTED. GUSTY WINDS WILL PERSIST ABOVE TIMBERLINE AND ON THE HIGHER EAST SLOPES OF THE FRONT RANGE...WITH WIND GUSTS AS HIGH AS 60 MPH. THE SNOW AND WIND WILL BECOME WIDESPREAD OVERNIGHT. WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 75 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED ALONG THE FOOTHILLS AND ADJACENT PLAINS LATE TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY WIDESPREAD SNOW AND AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW WILL CONTINUE IN THE MOUNTAINS THROUGH FRIDAY EVENING...THEN DECREASING OVERNIGHT. THE HEAVIEST SNOW WILL OCCUR ON FRIDAY AFTERNOON WHEN AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE MOVES ACROSS COLORADO. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS BY LATE FRIDAY EVENING OF 7 TO 14 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE. IN ADDITION TO THE SNOW...STRONG WINDS...UP TO 80 MPH...WILL PRODUCE WHITE-OUT CONDITIONS IN SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW OVER THE HIGH MOUNTAIN PASSES. STRONG WINDS WILL ALSO CONTINUE IN AND NEAR THE FRONT RANGE EASTERN FOOTHILLS THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON. STRONG WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS AT SUSTAINED SPEEDS OF 30 TO 50 MPH WITH POSSIBLE GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 75 MPH ARE POSSIBLE. THE GUSTY WINDS ALONG WITH THE NEW SNOW ON THE GROUND WILL PRODUCE AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW AND NEAR ZERO VISIBILITIES AT TIMES OVER EXPOSED LOCATIONS. WARMER AND DRIER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED THIS WEEKEND AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS ACROSS THE REGION. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. D-L/SWE
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
8 high wind, 2 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Storm totals included: 18 inches Arapahoe Ski Area, 15 inches at Bear Lake State Park, 14 inches at Breckenridge Ski Area, 8.5 inches at Loveland Pass. |Peak wind gusts included: 106 mph atop Berthoud Pass, 88 mph at Niwot Ridge Saddle, 77 mph at Gunsight RAWS, and 69 mph at Loveland Pass.
In the Front Range Foothills, peak wind gusts included 92 mph at Carter Lake, and 86 mph at Georgetown. Elsewhere, peak gusts ranged from 65 to 75 mph.
Along Urban Corridor sustained winds from 40 to 50 mph were recorded. Denver International Airport measured a sustained wind of 41 mph. Peak wind gusts included: 101 mph at the National Wind Technology Center, 92 mph, 7 miles northwest of Berthoud, 81 mph in southwest Boulder, 67 mph at Longmont and 56 mph at Denver International Airport.
Peak wind gusts included 62 mph at Greeley, 60 mph, 20 miles northwest of Crook and at Limon.
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, February 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: 9979, 9980, 9981, 9982, 9983, 9984, 9985, 9986, 9987, 9989.