Another fast moving Pacific storm system brought strong winds and more snow to portions of the high country. Additional snowfall was generally on the light side with accumulations ranging from 2 to 4 inches.
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 BOU wrote it up.
Another fast moving Pacific storm system brought strong winds and more snow to portions of the high country. Additional snowfall was generally on the light side with accumulations ranging from 2 to 4 inches. Strong winds caused most of the problem with extensive blowing and drifting snow. Peak wind gusts included: 105 mph atop Niwot Ridge, 83 mph at Mines Peak, and 63 mph at Pickle Gulch.
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 Jan 29, 4:00 AM MST, 10 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 400 AM MST TUE JAN 29 2008 .SHORT TERM...UPPER TROUGH JUST PASSED OVER THE FRONT RANGE AS SHOWN BY PLATTEVILLE PROFILER DATA. SPEED MAX IN THE JET APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN AHEAD OF THE TROUGH AXIS AND SPEEDS ARE NOW DECREASING. LOW LEVEL GRADIENTS ALSO DECREASING...THOUGH COLD ADVECTION IS AIDING MIXING KEEPING THE WINDS FROM DROPPING OFF ALTOGETHER. I SUSPECT WE WILL SEE A SIMILAR BALANCE THROUGH THE MORNING...WITH SOME DECREASE IN THE SURFACE WINDS THIS AFTERNOON. IT APPEARED THERE WAS A BRIEF WINDOW OF AMPLIFIED MOUNTAIN WAVE ACTIVITY FROM ABOUT MIDNIGHT TO 2 AM WITH A GUST TO 105 MPH ABOVE TIMBERLINE ON NIWOT RIDGE AND A COUPLE GUSTS TO 70 MPH IN THE BOULDER/JEFFERSON COUNTY FOOTHILLS... BUT THESE WERE ANOMALIES AND CURRENT FORECAST OF 50-60 MPH GUSTS THIS MORNING MAY EVEN BE TOO MUCH AS ALL FACTORS APPEAR TO POINT TO A DECREASE THIS MORNING. MAIN CHANGE WITH THIS PACKAGE IS TO THE TIMING OF THE RETURN OF SNOW TO THE MOUNTAINS. THERE IS A RIBBON OF MOISTURE IN THE WARM ADVECTION RACING QUICKLY ACROSS NORTHERN UTAH...AND IT WILL LIKELY ARRIVE IN OUR MOUNTAINS BY THIS EVENING. ATMOSPHERE WILL BE FAIRLY STABLE BY THEN BUT STILL WITH DECENT WEST WINDS...SO HIGHER POPS ARE IN ORDER. FORECAST TEMPS SEEMED A BIT HIGH COMPARED WITH FORECAST SOUNDINGS...SHAVED A COUPLE OF DEGREES OFF. .LONG TERM...WEST-SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT IS PROGGED WEDNESDAY. MODELS HAVE THE NEXT UPPER TROUGH MOVE ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA WEDNESDAY EVENING TO EARLY THURSDAY MORNING. ON THURSDAY STRONG NORTH-NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT IS THE RULE. DURING THURSDAY NIGHT THE FLOW ALOFT BECOMES WESTERLY. THE UPWARD VERTICAL VELOCITY WITH THIS NEXT TROUGH LOOKS FAIRLY STRONG DURING THE DAY WEDNESDAY ON BOTH MODELS. AFTER 06Z THURSDAY...ITS ALL DOWNWARD MOTION FOR THE FORECAST AREA. THIS CONTINUES INTO EARLY THURSDAY EVENING. THE MODELS ARE BACK TO SHOWING UPSLOPE/NEAR UPSLOPE FLOW IN THE BOUNDARY LAYER FOR THE PLAINS LATE WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH ABOUT MIDNIGHT. AFTER THAT MUCH OF THE FORECAST AREA EAST OF THE DIVIDE HAS DOWNSLOPING FLOW IN THE BOUNDARY LAYER THROUGH THURSDAY. FOR MOISTURE...MODELS SHOW IT DEEP OVER THE MOUNTAINS FROM 12Z WEDNESDAY TO 06Z THURSDAY...THEN IT DECREASES SUBSTANTIALLY. FOR THE PLAINS ...WEDNESDAY IS FAIRLY DRY INTO THE EARLY AFTERNOON...THEN BOTH MODELS SHOW DECENT MOISTURE IN MOST AREAS...EVEN THE FOOTHILLS AND IMMEDIATE PLAINS. THE WINDOW FOR PLAINS MOISTURE IS MAYBE 9 HOURS ON THE GFS...LESS THAN 6 HOURS ON THE NAM. THE PLAINS DRY OUT PRETTY WELL BY THURSDAY MORNING. ON THURSDAY...THERE IS A BIT OF MOISTURE IN THE MOUNTAINS ONLY. BY THURSDAY NIGHT...MOISTURE INCREASES ONCE AGAIN IN THE MOUNTAINS...EVEN SOME IN THE UPPER LEVELS FOR THE PLAINS. THE QPF FIELDS SHOW SOME MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION FOR MUCH OF THE FORECAST AREA ON WEDNESDAY. THE SNOW MODEL YIELDED UP TO 6 INCHES FROM 12Z WEDNESDAY TO 06Z THURSDAY. OVERALL...THESE LATEST MODEL RUNS SHOW WEDNESDAYS UPPER TROUGH TO PRODUCE MORE PRECIPITATION THEN YESTERDAYS 00Z RUNS INDICATED. ONE WOULD HOPE THEY GET BETTER AS WE GET CLOSER. SO FOR POPS...WILL GO 80%S IN THE HIGH MOUNTAINS WEDNESDAY DAY AND EVENING. SNOW AMOUNTS COULD BE A BIT HIGHER THAN THE SNOW MODEL INDICATED WITH THE UPWARD SYNOPTIC SCALE ENERGY CONSIDERED. STILL NO HIGHLIGHTS RIGHT NOW. FOR THE PLAINS...WILL UP POPS TO 30%S FROM LATER AFTERNOON WEDNESDAY INTO LATE EVENING. IF THE FUTURE RUNS KEEP SHOWING THE UPSLOPE AND ASSOCIATED MOISTURE...IT SHOULD SNOW A BIT OVER THE PLAINS...BUT 30%S FOR NOW. TEMPERATURES-WISE...WEDNESDAYS HIGHS MAYBE 1 C WARMER THAN TODAYS...IT WILL BE CLOSE. THURSDAYS HIGHS WARM 1-2 C FROM WEDNESDAYS. FOR THE LATER DAYS...FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY ...MODELS HAVE A BROAD UPPER TROUGH AND STRONG ZONAL FLOW ALOFT FOR FRIDAY/FRIDAY NIGHT ...THEN WEST TO SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT INTO SUNDAY. THEN A BETTER LOOKING TROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY. WONT CHANCE MUCH FROM PREVIOUS SHIFT. && .AVIATION...VFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED THROUGH TONIGHT. THERE IS A 20 PERCENT CHANCE THAT WEST WINDS WILL GUST ABOVE 20 KNOTS DURING THE LATE MORNING AND AFTERNOON HOURS. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. GIMMESTAD/RJK
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 1105 AM MST TUE JAN 29 2008 COZ030>051-301300- 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- 1105 AM MST TUE JAN 29 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT STRONG WINDS WILL SLOWLY DECREASE IN MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS DURING THE DAY. WIND GUSTS UP TO 60 MPH WILL REMAIN POSSIBLE THROUGH EARLY AFTERNOON IN THE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS. BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW WILL LINGER THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. OPEN AREAS WITH GUSTY WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO SEE VISIBILITY REDUCED TO LESS THAN A QUARTER AT TIMES. GUSTY WINDS ACROSS THE PLAINS WILL SLOWLY DIMINISH DURING THE AFTERNOON. SNOW WILL RETURN TO THE MOUNTAINS TONIGHT AS THE NEXT SYSTEM HITS THE ROCKIES. AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW WILL ONCE AGAIN REDUCE VISIBILITIES AT TIMES. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY SNOW WILL CONTINUE TO FALL IN THE MOUNTAINS WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF 5 TO 9 INCH TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS BY THURSDAY MORNING. THERE WILL ALSO BE A CHANCE OF SNOW ON THE PLAINS OF NORTHEAST COLORADO WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING...ALTHOUGH ANY ACCUMULATION SHOULD BE LIGHT AND SPOTTY IN COVERAGE. SNOW WILL AGAIN DEVELOP IN THE MOUNTAINS AND HIGH VALLEYS THURSDAY NIGHT AND CONTINUE INTERMITTENTLY THROUGH THE WEEKEND...WITH THE BEST CHANCE FOR ACCUMULATING SNOWFALL SATURDAY THROUGH EARLY SUNDAY. STRONG NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL TRANSPORT A SERIES OF FAST MOVING PACIFIC STORM SYSTEMS ACROSS THE STATE DURING THE PERIOD. STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS MAY ALSO ACCOMPANY THE SNOWFALL RESULTING IN PERIODS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW...ESPECIALLY OVER THE HIGH MOUNTAIN PASSES. .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 winter weather. 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, 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: 75298.