Another brief period of high winds occurred in and near the foothills of Boulder and Jefferson Counties. In Nederland, the strong wind snapped a blue spruce which landed on a nearby propane tank.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 BOU wrote it up.
Another brief period of high winds occurred in and near the foothills of Boulder and Jefferson Counties. In Nederland, the strong wind snapped a blue spruce which landed on a nearby propane tank. Some roofs in the immediate area were damaged. Power lines were also downed; which left 126 residence without electricity for about 6 hours. Peak wind gusts included 90 mph at the National Wind Technology Center, and 89 mph, 6 miles northwest of Boulder.
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 31, 3:12 PM MST, 5 hours 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 312 PM MST WED DEC 31 2008 .SHORT TERM...CURRENT WINDS ACROSS PLAINS STILL LIGHT...WITH THE GUSTY WINDS CONFINED TO MOUNTAINS AND ALONG THE FOOTHILLS. CURRENT SANGESTER WIND DATA SHOWING GRADIENT FROM GJT-DEN ON THE INCREASE... SHOULD BEGIN TO SEE AN INCREASE IN WINDS ACROSS ADJACENT PLAINS. LATEST MODEL RUNS STILL SHOWING POTENTIAL FOR HIGH WINDS ALONG FOOTHILLS TONIGHT. CROSS SECTIONS INDICATE GOOD MOUNTAIN TOP STABLE LAYER AND HIGH LEVEL MOUNTAIN WAVE AROUND 06Z WITH 700-500 MB FLOW OF 65 KTS. LOCAL SANGSTER FORECAST PROGRAM INDICATING DECENT CHANCES FOR GUSTS GREATER THAN 60 KTS. HIGH WIND WARNING FOR ZONES 35 AND 36 STILL ON TRACK...WITH THE STRONGEST WINDS OCCURRING BETWEEN 05Z AND 13Z. AS FOR ADJACENT PLAINS: ZONES 38 AND 39...UPGRADED THE WATCH A WARNING EARLIER TODAY AS 12Z MODELS SHOWED A DECENT CHANCE FOR THE STRONG WINDS TO SPREAD ACROSS AREA. NOW THE 18Z RUNS HAVE KEPT THE STRONGEST WINDS OVER THE FOOTHILLS. STILL SOME CHANCE FOR THE STRONG WINDS GIVEN THE INCREASE IN THE GRADIENT...THOUGH IT MAY END UP BEING CONFINED TO AREAS NEAR THE FOOTHILLS. WILL CONTINUE WITH THE WARNING AND SEE WHAT TRANSPIRES. MODELS THEN SHOW GRADIENT WEAKENING AFTER 15Z...WITH THE STRONGEST WINDS AT MOUNTAIN TOP. SHOULD SEE WINDS DECREASE AS A RESULT. CURRENT FORECAST SHOWS THIS TREND...AND LOOKS REASONABLE. BUT CONCERN IS THE INCREASING GRADIENT AFTER 21Z WITH AN INCREASE IN WINDS AGAIN. MAY NEED TO INCREASE THE WINDS A BIT ALONG FOOTHILLS. AS FOR PRECIP CHANCES AND TEMPERATURES...SOME INCREASE IN MOISTURE OVERNIGHT...BUT WITH MOUNTAIN TO STABLE LAYER IN PLACE TONIGHT...MAY BE DIFFICULT TO GET ANY SNOW GOING. OROGRAPHICS IMPROVE DURING THE DAY THURSDAY. BUT LAPSE RATES REMAIN LOW WITH ONLY MINOR QG ASCENT. THEREFORE NOT IMPRESSED WITH MOUNTAIN SNOW POTENTIAL AND LOWERED POPS FOR ZONES 33 AND 34 TO CHANCE. DID KEEP THE LIKELY POPS FOR ZONE 31 DURING THE AFTERNOON AS THIS AREA SEEMS TO HAVE THE BEST OROGRAPHIC FLOW. PLAINS TO REMAIN DRY THROUGH THURSDAY...AS MOISTURE WILL BE ABOVE 700 MB. LOOKING AT TEMPERATURES: MINS TONIGHT TO BE WARMER IN WINDY AREAS ALONG FOOTHILLS. OTHERWISE...GUIDANCE VALUES LOOKING ON TRACK. AS FOR HIGHS...CURRENT GUIDANCE SHOWS MAX TEMPS HIGHS IN THE 50S ACROSS PLAINS. THIS LOOKING REASONABLE GIVEN THE THICKNESS PROGS. OVERALL...CURRENT TEMPERATURE GRIDS STILL LOOKING ON TRACK. MADE SOME MINOR ADJUSTMENTS TO MINS OVER FAR EASTERN PLAINS. PERIODS OF POTENTIAL HIGH WIND PUNCTUATED BY A PERIOD OF SNOWFALL ARE THE FEATURES OF THIS FORECAST PACKAGE. INITIALLY... THURSDAY NIGHT LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER UPPER JET APPROACHING THE STATE AND SETTING UP A POSSIBLE HIGH WIND EPISODE OVER THE FOOTHILLS AND ADJACENT PLAINS. IF THURSDAY NIGHTS WIND EPISODE WERE THE ONLY ONE ON THE RADAR THEN I WOULD HAVE CONSIDERED A HIGH WIND WATCH. BUT SINCE THERE IS ALREADY A HIGH WIND WARNING FOR TONIGHT...WILL NOT CONFUSE THE ISSUE WITH ANOTHER HIGHLIGHT AT THIS TIME. THE MODEL WIND FIELDS SHOW A PERIOD OF STRONG WINDS AT 700 MB AROUND 00Z AND 06Z WITH CROSS SECTIONS SHOWING A MODERATE MOUNTAIN WAVE IN THE POTENTIAL TEMPERATURE FIELDS. HOWEVER...THE NOSE OF THE UPPER JET IS GOING TO BE QUICKLY MOVING NORTHEAST OF COLORADO WHICH WILL BRING THE HIGH WIND THREAT DOWN...DUE TO THE VERTICAL SHEAR PROFILE BECOMING LESS FAVORABLE. ONCE WE GET PAST TONIGHTS EVENT...WE CAN FOCUS ON DETAILS OF THE NEXT EPISODE. FROM FRIDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SATURDAY...THE FLOW ALOFT WILL BE TRANSITIONING TO SOUTHWESTERLY AS AN UPPER TROUGH DEVELOPS OVER THE NORTHERN ROCKIES. BY SATURDAY AFTERNOON...MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH THE TROUGH SHOULD BE OVER THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS AND PRODUCING SNOWFALL. A COLD FRONT IS ALSO EXPECTED TO DROP OUT OF THE NORTHERN PLAINS AND PASS OVER NORTHEAST COLORADO DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS. UPSLOPE FLOW BEHIND THE FRONT AND DYNAMICS ALOFT WITH THE TROUGH COULD BE ENOUGH TO PRODUCE SOME SNOW ON THE PLAINS SATURDAY NIGHT. THE GFS AND ECMWF HANDLE THIS TROUGH SIMILARLY THROUGH 18Z SATURDAY...BUT THEN THE ECMWF HOLDS BACK AND DEVELOPS A SOUTHWESTERN U.S. TROUGH WHILE THE GFS BECOMES MORE PROGRESSIVE WITH LESS AMPLITUDE IN THE FLOW PATTERN. BY MONDAY...IT SEEMS THAT THE TWO MODELS COME BACK TOGETHER WITH THE UPPER TROUGH EJECTING ACROSS THE SOUTHERN GREAT PLAINS. FOR COLORADO...MORE NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT LOOKS TO BE ON TAP WITH ANOTHER HIGH WIND SETUP ON TUESDAY. ALL THIS RESULTS IN MILD TO WARM...ALBEIT A LITTLE BREEZY... CONDITIONS ON THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. THEN MUCH COOLER OVER THE WEEKEND...ESPECIALLY SUNDAY...WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS AND EVENTUALLY ON THE PLAINS. EARLY NEXT WEEK WILL THEN BE A RETURN OF SEASONAL TEMPERATURES...BUT ALSO MORE WIND. ALL IN ALL...AN ACTIVE START TO 2009. HAPPY NEW YEAR. && .AVIATION...VFR CIGS AND VSBYS TO CONTINUE FOR DENVER AREA THROUGH THURSDAY. GUSTY WESTERLY WINDS TO DEVELOP ACROSS AREA AFTER 00Z. HIGH WIND WARNING IN EFFECT FOR THE WESTERN SUBURBS OF DENVER FROM 00Z/THURSDAY UNTIL 15Z THURSDAY. STRONGEST WINDS TO OCCUR BETWEEN 06Z AND 13Z THURSDAY...WITH SOME GUSTS AROUND 60 KTS. W-SWLY WIND GUSTS OF 20-25KTS STILL POSSIBLE AT DIA TOWARDS MORNING. WINDS TO DECREASE BY 18Z. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...HIGH WIND WARNING FOR THE FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS AND ADJACENT HIGH PLAINS TONIGHT THRU 15Z THURSDAY FOR...ZONES 35..36...38 AND 39. D-L/KDRBY
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 1133 AM MST WED DEC 31 2008 COZ030>051-011300- 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- 1133 AM MST WED DEC 31 2008 ...HIGH WIND WARNING FOR THE FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS AND ADJACENT PLAINS FROM 6PM MST THIS EVENING TO 8 AM MST THURSDAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT STRONG WESTERLY WINDS WILL REDEVELOP ALONG THE FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS THIS EVENING...CONTINUING OVERNIGHT. SPEEDS OF 25 TO 40 MPH WILL BE COMMON WITH GUSTS AS HIGH AS 80 MPH. THE STRONGEST WINDS WILL OCCUR AFTER MIDNIGHT. THE WESTERLY WINDS WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE ADJACENT PLAINS IN JEFFERSON...BOULDER...BROOMFIELD AND LARIMER COUNTIES DURING THE EVENING. SPEEDS OF 30 TO 40 MPH WILL PREVAIL...WITH SOME GUSTS AS HIGH AS 75 MPH. THE STRONGEST WINDS WILL OCCUR AFTER MIDNIGHT... CONFINED MAINLY TO AREAS NEAR THE FOOTHILLS. PERSONS IN AND NEAR THE FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS SHOULD PREPARE FOR LOCALIZE POWER OUTAGES...CONSIDERABLE BLOWING DUST AND GRAVEL...AND FLYING DEBRIS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY PERIODS OF GUSTY WINDS WILL CONTINUE IN THE MOUNTAINS...FOOTHILLS AND ADJACENT PLAINS THROUGH THE END OF THIS WEEK. OVER THE WEEKEND...INCREASING MOISTURE AND A PASSING WEATHER DISTURBANCE WILL PRODUCE ACCUMULATING SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS. COOLER TEMPERATURES AND A CHANCE OF SNOW WILL ALSO SPREAD OVER THE PLAINS ON SUNDAY. AS STRONG NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT CONTINUES OVER COLORADO EARLY NEXT WEEK...THE THREAT OF ADDITIONAL GUSTY WINDS OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS WILL ALSO CONTINUE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. D-L/DANKERS
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
822 PM MST WED DEC 31 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0745 PM NON-TSTM WND GST 9 S BOULDER 39.90N 105.25W
12/31/2008 M78.00 MPH JEFFERSON CO MESONET
NATIONAL WIND TECHNOLOGY CENTER
0745 PM NON-TSTM WND GST 6 NW BOULDER 40.09N 105.33W
12/31/2008 M78.00 MPH BOULDER CO MESONET
&&
JKThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 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: 146186, 146187.