An avalanche partially buried a skier on Berthoud Pass. The skier suffered minor injuries.
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The episode as NWS BOU wrote it up.
An avalanche partially buried a skier on Berthoud Pass. The skier suffered minor injuries.
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 5, 4:06 AM MST, 6 hours 54 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 406 AM MST FRI DEC 5 2008 .SHORT TERM...A NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL BE OVER THE CENTRAL ROCKIES TODAY AND TONIGHT. AT THE SURFACE...A LOW PRESSURE TROF WILL MOVE ACROSS EASTERN COLORADO TODAY AND WESTERN KANSAS TONIGHT. THIS WILL CAUSE WINDS TO BECOME WESTERLY OVER THE EASTERN HALF OF THE STATE. COULD SEE SOME WINDS GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND THROUGH THE FOOTHILLS. WITH THESE WINDS...EXPECT TO SEE SOME BLOWING SNOW. THE WEST WINDS WILL SCOUR OUT THE COOLER AIR AND TEMPERATURES WILL CLIMB INTO THE 30S TODAY WITH SOME 40S WEST OF I-25. THESE WINDS WILL HAVE A HARD TIME MIXING DOWN IN THE GREELEY AREA AND THUS TEMPERATURES WILL BE COOLER HERE. HIGH CLOUDS WILL INCREASE THIS EVENING AS UPPER LEVEL MOISTURE IN THE NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT MOVES SOUTH. GUSTY WINDS WILL PERSIST THROUGH MOST OF THE NIGHT IN THE FOOTHILLS. .LONG TERM...A BLEND OF THE NAM...GFS AND ECMWF CONTINUES TO INDICATE A RETURN DRIER AND WARMER CONDITIONS FOR THE FORECAST AREA THROUGH SUNDAY AS HEIGHTS SLOWLY RISE AND NWLY FLOW ALOFT WEAKENS WITH THE UPPER RIDGE OVER THE INTERMOUNTAIN REGION SLIPPING SOUTHEASTWARD. LOOKING FOR MAX TEMPERATURES TO BE SOME 5-8F ABOVE AVERAGE OVER THE WEEKEND WITH THE WARMEST READINGS LIKELY FOUND UP ALONG THE FRONT RANGE ON SUNDAY...BUT ONLY A DEG OR TWO ABOVE THOSE ON SATURDAY. WARMUP ON THE PLAINS AIDED BY DOWNSLOPE ADIABATIC COMPRESSION AS MEAN SFC-600MB FLOW REMAINS W-NWLY FOR MOST OF THE PERIOD. COULD ACTUALLY GET PRETTY GUSTY OVER AND IMMEDIATELY NEAR THE FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS...ESPLY UP NEAR THE WYOMING BORDER SAT AFTERNOON AND EVENING. COULD SEE GUSTS IN THE 30-45MPH RANGE IN THE AREA BEFORE SPEEDS EASE OVERNIGHT. THE INCREASE IN WINDS IN RESPONSE TO PRESSURE FALLS IN ADVANCE OF A RELATIVELY STRONG COLD FRONT SLIDING SWRD THRU ERN WYOMING AND WRN NEBRASKA LATE SUNDAY NIGHT. MODELS SHOW THIS FRONTAL BOUNDARY BACKING INTO NERN COLORADO SOMETIME MONDAY MORNING. GFS INDICATES FROPA AT DENVER SEVERAL HOURS BEFORE THE NAM. IN ANY CASE...FCST SOUNDINGS AND MODEL CROSS SECTIONS SHOW A FAIRLY RAPID INCREASE IN LOW/MID-LEVEL MOISTURE FOLLOWING FRONTAL PASSAGE...WITH CLOUD BASES LOWERING THROUGHOUT THE DAY. ALL THIS OCCURRING AS AN UPPER LEVEL SHORT WAVE TROUGH RACES IN FROM THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. MODEL QG VERTICAL VELOCITY FIELDS INDICATE THE STRONGEST DEEP LAYER LIFT OVER NORTHEAST COLORADO AROUND 00Z/TUESDAY. MODELS AT THAT TIME ALSO INDICATE 15-25KT NELY SFC-700MB WINDS UP AGAINST THE FRONT RANGE IN RESPONSE TO A CLOSED 700-500MB LOW WHICH THE GFS AND ECMWF SHOW FORMING OVER WRN KANSAS. FOR THIS AND OTHER REASONS...HAVE RAISED POPS AT LEAST 10 PCT FOR THE MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING WITH THE GFS INDICATING SEVERAL INCHES OF SNOW ACROSS PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST COLORADO BY MORNING. TIMING AND TRACKING DIFFERENCES IN THE MODELS PREVENT ME FROM GOING WITH LIKELY POPS ON THE PLAINS AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER SHOULD THIS MODEL TREND CONTINUE...COULD SEE AT LEAST A WINTER WEATHER ADVSY ISSUED AT SOME POINT FOR THE PLAINS. MAY ALSO SEE DECENT ACCUMULATIONS AND GUSTY WINDS IN THE HIGH COUNTRY AS THE UPPER TROUGH PASSES. BY TUESDAY...MODELS SHOW THIS SYSTEM EXITING THE AREA WITH STRONG DRYING AND SUBSIDENCE IN ITS WAKE. EVEN WITH CLEARING SKIES... BLUSTERY NLY WINDS AND ONGOING COLD AIR ADVECTION WILL PRODUCE ANOTHER DAY OF BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES ON TUESDAY. BY WEDNESDAY...RIDGING OUT WEST CAUSES HEIGHTS ND TEMPERATURES TO RISE OVER THE REGION. SHOULD SEE DAYTIME TEMPERATURES SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL ON WEDNESDAY WITH A FAIR AMOUNT OF SUNSHINE. THURSDAY AND BEYOND...MADE NO CHANGES TO THE ONGOING FORECAST. .AVIATION...VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL THROUGH THE NEXT 24 HOURS OVER THE KDEN AND KAPA AREA. SOME LOW CLOUDS AND FOG WILL REMAIN OVER KBJC AND KGXY THROUGH ABOUT 15Z. FROM 15Z ON...VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL THROUGH OUT NORTHEAST COLORADO. SOUTHWEST WINDS OF 5 TO 10 KNOTS WILL PERSIST FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. MEIER/BAKER
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 455 AM MST FRI DEC 05 2008 COZ030>051-051800- 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- 455 AM MST FRI DEC 05 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL BRING GUSTY WINDS TO THE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS TODAY AND TONIGHT. WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE. AREAS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW ARE LIKELY OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS...ESPECIALLY DURING THE DAY TODAY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY SNOW WILL RETURN TO THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTHERN COLORADO SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT AS THE NEXT PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM TRACKS ACROSS THE REGION. LOWER ELEVATIONS MAY ALSO SEE A MIX OF RAIN AND SNOW MONDAY MORNING...BEFORE CHANGING OVER TO ALL SNOW LATE IN THE DAY AND CONTINUING OVERNIGHT. THIS NEXT STORM SYSTEM COULD DEPOSIT SEVERAL INCHES OF SNOW NOT ONLY IN THE MOUNTAINS BUT ALSO THE PLAINS OF NORTHEAST COLORADO. STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS MAY ALSO PRODUCE AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW. DRY AND WARMER CONDITIONS SHOULD RETURN BY MID-WEEK...ALTHOUGH THE PASSAGE OF ANOTHER WEAK STORM SYSTEM ON THURSDAY MAY PRODUCE ANOTHER ROUND OF SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS AND A SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW ON THE PLAINS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. MEIER/BAKER
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 avalanche. 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: 139593.