An intense surface pressure gradient resulted in SW winds gusting to 45-63 mph across portions of eastern Colorado and western Kansas.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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 GLD wrote it up.
An intense surface pressure gradient resulted in SW winds gusting to 45-63 mph across portions of eastern Colorado and western Kansas.
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 Goodland, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 28, 10:52 AM MST, 38 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
1052 AM MST MON JAN 28 2008
.AVIATION...LATEST METARS JUST TO THE SOUTH OF KGLD INDICATE
SOUTHWEST WIND AT 30+ KT MIXING DOWN TO THE SURFACE. EXPECT SAME
WIND SPEEDS AT KGLD AND KMCK THIS AFTERNOON AHEAD OF THE COLD
FRONT TONIGHT. NORTHWEST WIND WILL INCREASE TO 30+ KTS TONIGHT
WITH FRONTAL PASSAGE (AROUND 08-09Z) AND CONTINUE THROUGH 18Z TUE.
MID CLOUD WILL INCREASE BEHIND THE FRONT WITH SOME SCATTERED LOWER
CLOUDS AT KMCK. HOWEVER THE ENTIRE TAF PERIOD SHOULD REMAIN VFR AT
BOTH SITES.
&&
.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 348 AM MST MON JAN 28 2008/
.DISCUSSION...A RED FLAG WARNING AND A WIND ADVISORY WILL BE IN
EFFECT ACROSS THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA TODAY.
SHORT TERM FORECAST CONCERNS REVOLVE AROUND THE DRY...WARM...AND
WINDY CONDITIONS EXPECTED TODAY AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT EXPECTED
TO MOVE ACROSS THE TRI-STATE REGION THIS EVENING. AFTER THAT THE
FORECAST CHALLENGE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF PRECIPITATION WEDNESDAY
NIGHT AND THURSDAY.
CLOUD COVER AND SOUTHWEST WINDS HAVE KEPT TEMPERATURES ACROSS MUCH
OF THE TRI-STATE REGION UNSEASONABLY WARM DURING THE EARLY MORNING
HOURS. WITH THE ATMOSPHERE STILL REASONABLY MIXED THIS
MORNING...IT SHOULD NOT BE DIFFICULT FOR IT TO MIX TO A GREATER
DEPTH BY MID DAY...BRINGING THE STRONGER WEST TO SOUTHWEST WINDS
ALOFT DOWN TO THE SURFACE. WINDS OF 30 MPH OR GREATER WILL BE
COMMON ACROSS ROUGHLY THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA THIS
AFTERNOON. ALONG WITH THESE WINDS...EXPECT SOME DOWNSLOPE DRYING
WITH DEWPOINTS IN THE SINGLE DIGITS AND RELATIVE HUMIDITIES
AROUND 20 PERCENT. AS A RESULT...HAVE SPATIALLY EXPANDED AND
UPGRADED THE FIRE HIGHLIGHT TO A RED FLAG WARNING ALONG WITH
ADDING GRAHAM COUNTY TO THE WIND ADVISORY.
EXPECT WINDS TO DIE DOWN RAPIDLY AROUND 23Z AS SUNSET APPROACHES
WITH A WIND SHIFT AND AN INCREASE IN SPEEDS AGAIN BETWEEN 06-08Z
AS THE COLD FRONT BEGINS TO SWEEP ACROSS THE REGION. WITH THE
QUICK MOVEMENT OF THE OPEN TROUGH ALOFT AND THE DRY AIRMASS...HAVE
ONLY MENTIONED FLURRIES BETWEEN 06Z AND 12Z JUST IN CASE ONE OR
TWO FLAKES MANAGE TO GET SQUEEZED OUT.
EXPECT THE BETTER CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION WEDNESDAY NIGHT/EARLY
THURSDAY MORNING AS THE NEXT SIGNIFICANT UPPER TROUGH MOVES EAST
OF THE ROCKIES. THIS TROUGH DIVES FURTHER SOUTH INTO THE CENTRAL
AND SOUTHERN ROCKIES WITH A SURFACE LOW DEVELOPING IN THE VICINITY
OF THE PANHANDLE REGION. THE OVERALL PATTERN IS STILL VERY
PROGRESSIVE WITH A SERIES OF TROUGHS CONTINUING TO ENTER THE
PACIFIC NORTHWEST...SO HAVE KEPT QPF AMOUNTS MINIMAL AND HAVE
LIMITED PRECIPITATION TO WEDNESDAY NIGHT.
A GRADUAL WARM-UP WITH DRY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED LATE NEXT WEEK
AND INTO THE WEEKEND.
&&
.AVIATION...LIGHT SOUTHWEST WINDS INCREASING AFTER SUNRISE THIS
MORNING. POINT SOUNDINGS SUGGEST A DEEPLY MIXED BOUNDARY LAYER
MONDAY AFTERNOON WHILE TIME/HEIGHT CROSS-SECTIONS OF WIND/MIXING
LAYER HEIGHT SUPPORT SOUTHWEST WINDS IN EXCESS OF 35 KNOTS
SHIFTING TO THE NORTHWEST MONDAY EVENING AND REMAINING NEAR 35
KNOTS. ALTHOUGH MID CLOUDS ARE EXPECTED TO LOWER LATE IN THE
PERIOD WITH APPROACHING SHORT WAVE TROUGH...CEILINGS ARE EXPECTED
TO REMAIN VFR THROUGH THE TAF PERIOD.
&&
&&
.GLD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
KS...RED FLAG WARNING UNTIL 5 PM MST /6 PM CST/ THIS AFTERNOON FOR
KSZ013>016-027>029-041-042.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 5 PM MST /6 PM CST/ THIS AFTERNOON FOR
KSZ013>016-027>029-041-042.
NE...NONE.
CO...RED FLAG WARNING UNTIL 5 PM MST THIS AFTERNOON FOR COZ253-254.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 5 PM MST THIS AFTERNOON FOR COZ091-092.
&&
LOCKHART/05/FSHAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS 520 AM MST MON JAN 28 2008 COZ090>092-KSZ001>004-013>016-027>029-041-042-NEZ079>081-291645- YUMA-KIT CARSON-CHEYENNE CO-CHEYENNE KS-RAWLINS-DECATUR-NORTON- SHERMAN-THOMAS-SHERIDAN-GRAHAM-WALLACE-LOGAN-GOVE-GREELEY-WICHITA- DUNDY-HITCHCOCK-RED WILLOW- 520 AM MST MON JAN 28 2008 /620 AM CST MON JAN 28 2008/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EXTREME SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA...NORTHWEST KANSAS AND EAST CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL INCREASE TODAY BETWEEN 25 AND 35 MPH WITH GUSTS NEAR 45 MPH. THIS HAS PROMPTED A WIND ADVISORY TO BE ISSUED FOR A PORTION OF THE TRI-STATE REGION. CONDITIONS WILL BE DRY WITH RELATIVE HUMIDITIES AROUND 20 PERCENT ACROSS PORTIONS OF WESTERN KANSAS AND EASTERN COLORADO. THESE DRY AND WINDY CONDITIONS WILL PRODUCE AN EXTREME FIRE DANGER TODAY. WIND SPEEDS WILL DECREASE AND RELATIVE HUMIDITIES WILL INCREASE AS SUNSET APPROACHES. EXTREME FIRE DANGER MEANS THAT FIRES START QUICKLY...SPREAD FURIOUSLY AND BURN INTENSELY. ALL FIRES ARE POTENTIALLY SERIOUS. ALL OUTDOOR BURNING SHOULD BE AVOIDED IN AREAS WITH EXTREME FIRE DANGER. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY THERE IS A CHANCE OF LIGHT SNOW WEDNESDAY NIGHT AS A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVES EAST OF THE ROCKIES AND ACROSS THE HIGH PLAINS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A cooperative observer's weather station measured a wind gust of 63 mph from the southwest at 11:30 am MST. Other reports in the area showed winds gusting to 45-55 mph during the late morning and early afternoon hours.
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, January 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: 67779.