Strong winds in Estes Park caused a roof under construction at the YMCA of the Rockies to collapse. The wind caught the end section of the roof truss, and in a domino effect, blew it into the second and thirds trusses, on down the line of the roof.
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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 in Estes Park caused a roof under construction at the YMCA of the Rockies to collapse. The wind caught the end section of the roof truss, and in a domino effect, blew it into the second and thirds trusses, on down the line of the roof.
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 Dec 25, 3:30 AM MST, 10 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 330 AM MST WED DEC 25 2008 .SHORT TERM...A SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL BE OVER THE CENTRAL ROCKIES TODAY AND TONIGHT AHEAD OF AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH MOVING ACROSS THE WESTERN U.S. THIS WILL BRING ANOTHER ROUND OF SNOW TO THE MOUNTAINS...WITH THE HEAVIEST AMOUNTS BEING OVER THE WESTERN PARTS OF THE STATE. MOISTURE WILL INCREASE DURING THE DAY TODAY WITH LAPSE RATES AROUND 6 C/KM. THIS WILL LEAD TO SNOW FORMING OVER THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO THIS MORNING. BY THIS EVENING LAPSE RATES WILL BE 7-8 C/KM AND MOISTURE WILL DEEPEN. THIS WILL LEAD TO WIDESPREAD SNOW OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND SOME LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS IN THE VALLEYS. HIGHEST SNOW AMOUNTS WILL BE ON WEST AND SOUTHWEST FACING SLOPES WHERE THE OROGRAPHIC LIFT WILL BE THE GREATEST. SNOW AMOUNTS THROUGH TONIGHT WILL BE 4 TO 9 INCHES OVER THE MOUNTAINS WITH LESSER AMOUNTS IN THE VALLEYS. WINDS WILL ALSO BE GUSTY BECAUSE OF A 120+ JET OVERHEAD. WILL LIKELY SEE SOME GUSTS TO AT LEAST 60 MPH ABOVE TIMBERLINE AND THROUGH MOUNTAIN PASSES. WILL ISSUE A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW THAT WILL START AT 5 PM TODAY AND RUN THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON. FOR THE PLAINS...DOWNSLOPE WINDS UNDER THIS PATTERN WILL BRING MILD TEMPERATURES AND DRY CONDITIONS TODAY. HIGHS WILL BE ABOUT 5 TO 10 DEGREES HIGHER THAN YESTERDAY AS WARMER AIR MOVES OVER THE AREA. THE COOLEST LOCATION WILL BE AROUND THE GREELEY AREA WHERE THE COLD AIR WILL BE DIFFICULT TO COMPLETELY SCOUR OUT. .LONG TERM...THE 700 MB TROUGH MOVES ACROSS THE STATE IN TWO PULSES...WITH THE FIRST PULSE ALONG WITH THE STRONGEST COLD ADVECTION MOVING ONTO THE PLAINS FRIDAY MORNING...THEN THE SECOND PIECE WITH THE UPPER TROUGH FRIDAY EVENING. MODELS DISAGREE ON SOME DETAILS...AS NAM HAS SOME QG FORCING FRIDAY NIGHT WITH MAIN TROUGH...GFS HAS NONE. NAM ALSO HANGS ONTO SOME MOISTURE FRIDAY EVENING...WHILE GFS USHERS IN STRONG DRYING. WILL LEAN TOWARDS NAM AND KEEP SOME POPS FRIDAY NIGHT. THE MOUNTAINS WILL HAVE AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF SNOW...WITH BEST SNOW ACCUMULATIONS CONTINUING FRIDAY...AND LOWER ACCUMULATIONS THROUGH THE NIGHT FRIDAY NIGHT. THE SNOW ADVISORY FOR THE MOUNTAINS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL 5PM FRIDAY. ASIDE FROM THE COOLING AND SOME WINDS ON THE PLAINS FRIDAY...NOT MUCH UPSLOPE COMPONENT OR SNOW IS EXPECTED ACCORDING TO ALL MODELS...AND LOWERED POPS A BIT ON THE EASTERN PLAINS. WITH THE COOLING HAVE LOWERED MAX TEMPS BOTH FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. LOOKING AHEAD...PATTERN BECOMES VERY ZONAL NEXT WEEK AND TROUGHS WILL BE MOVING ACROSS NORTHERN ROCKIES. THIS WILL USHER IN A WARMER REGIME ALTHOUGH IT WILL BE BREEZY AT TIMES OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS. THE MOUNTAINS LOOK DRY SUNDAY AND MONDAY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW BEGINNING TUESDAY. .AVIATION...VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS. LIGHT DRAINAGE WINDS WILL PERSIST THROUGH MID MORNING. THEN LIGHT AND VARIABLE WINDS WILL BE IN STORE THROUGH THE REST OF THE DAY. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO 5 PM THURSDAY THROUGH 5 PM FRIDAY. (ZONES 31...33...AND 34.) MEIER/RTG
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 1120 AM MST THU DEC 25 2008 COZ030>051-261300- 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- 1120 AM MST THU DEC 25 2008 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY NORTH CENTRAL MOUNTAINS OF COLORADO TONIGHT AND FRIDAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL BRING SNOW AND STRONG WINDS TO THE MOUNTAINS TODAY AND TONIGHT. SNOW WILL REDEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON.. INCREASING IN INTENSITY AND BECOMING WIDESPREAD THIS EVENING. WINDS WILL ALSO INCREASE WITH GUSTS UP TO 60 MPH ABOVE TIMBERLINE CAUSING BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. ACROSS PARK COUNTY AND THE FOOTHILLS OF JEFFERSON COUNTY...GUSTS COULD REACH 50 MPH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW WILL CONTINUE IN THE MOUNTAINS FRIDAY BUT GRADUALLY DECREASE IN INTENSITY DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 TO 14 INCHES CAN BE EXPECTED BY FRIDAY EVENING. IN THE LOWER ELEVATIONS...A COLD FRONT WILL BRING COLDER TEMPERATURES AND JUST A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS. LITTLE IF ANY ACCUMULATION IS EXPECTED. MAINLY DRY AND WARMER WEATHER WILL THEN PREVAIL FOR SUNDAY THROUGH THE FIRST PART OF NEXT WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. D-L/BARJENBRUCH
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, December 2008
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: 146178.