A moist and stable air mass resulted in dense fog in the Upper Gunnison River Valley.
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The episode as NWS GJT wrote it up.
A moist and stable air mass resulted in dense fog in the Upper Gunnison River Valley.
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 Grand Junction, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 12, 3:12 AM MST, 2 hours 43 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 412 AM MDT WED MAR 12 2008 .SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT... A NW FLOW ALOFT WITH AN EMBEDDED WEAK SHORT WAVE LOOKS LIKE IT WILL BRING LIMITED PRECIP MAINLY TO THE NRN MTNS THIS AFTERNOON...AND CONTINUE INTO THE EARLY EVENING HOURS. MOISTURE AND FORCING LIMITED SO MTN ACCUMULATIONS SHOULD GENERALLY BE LESS THAN AN INCH. THE NOSE OF 80 KT JET MOVES INTO THE REGION TONIGHT AFTER 00Z PROVIDING SOME ENHANCED LIFT BUT THE BULK OF THE MOISTURE IS ALREADY GONE. HEIGHTS FALL THURSDAY AND THE FLOW ALOFT BACKS TO A MORE WESTERLY DIRECTION. A 100KT JET SEGMENT MOVES INTO THE WESTERN PART OF OF THE CWA BY AFTERNOON WITH EMBEDDED VORT CENTERS WHICH WILL PROVIDE ADDITIONAL DYNAMICAL LIFT. MOISTURE ALSO INCREASES WITH SPECIFIC HUMIDITIES REACHING 4G/KG. MADE SOME SLIGHT ADJUSTMENTS TO THE POP GRIDS TO REFLECT LATEST TIMING/INTENSITY. COLD FRONT LOOKS LIKE IT WILL PASS GJT AROUND 06-09Z EARLY FRI MORNING. FRONT WILL BE ASSOCIATED WITH BEST OVERALL FORCING AND EXPECT BURSTS OF HEAVIER PRECIPITATION. DURATION OF THIS EVENT COUPLED WITH GOOD MSTR AND INSTABILITY WILL PROBABLY LEAD TO WINTER HIGHLIGHTS...WITH THE NRN AND CNTRL MTNS FAVORED. RIGHT NOW SNOW AMOUNTS IN FAVORED LOCATIONS MAY REACH 8-12 INCHES. .LONG TERM...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY... GFS AND ECMWF IN GENERALLY GOOD AGREEMENT DURING THE EXTENDED PERIOD. FRIDAY SHOULD BE THE LAST DAY OF UNSETTLED WESTERLY FLOW AND THEN A RIDGE BUILDS IN SAT. THE FLOW ALOFT BECOMES SOUTHWESTERLY THRU SUNDAY AHEAD OF A LARGE SPLIT TROUGH COMPLEX ALONG THE WEST COAST. THE MODELS CARRY PLENTY OF MOISTURE INTO THE AREA FROM THE SW AS THE WESTERN TROUGH MOVES INTO THE GREAT BASIN AND SW U.S. IT LOOKS LIKE THE MAIN ENERGY REMAINS SOUTH OF THE 4 CORNERS...BUT A SIGNIFICANT DEFORMATION ZONE LATE SAT NGT THRU SUN NIGHT. AS THE DEFORMATION ZONE MOVES EAST OF THE AREA SUN NIGHT...IT APPEARS A TROWAL WILL TRAVEL OVER THE FORECAST AREA MONDAY. HAVE KEPT CLOUDS AND POPS RELATIVELY HIGH. THE FLOW TURNS TO THE NW AND DRIES OUT TUE AND WED. && .AVIATION... VFR CONDITIONS TO PREVAIL TODAY AND TONIGHT. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... .CO...NONE. .UT...NONE. SHORT TERM...MC LONG TERM....CJC AVIATION.....CJC
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 424 AM MDT WED MAR 12 2008 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-131100- ANIMAS RIVER BASIN-ARCHES/GRAND FLAT-CANYONLANDS/NATURAL BRIDGES- CENTRAL COLORADO RIVER BASIN- CENTRAL GUNNISON AND UNCOMPAHGRE RIVER BASIN- CENTRAL YAMPA RIVER BASIN-DEBEQUE TO SILT CORRIDOR- EASTERN UINTA BASIN-EASTERN UINTA MOUNTAINS- ELKHEAD AND PARK MOUNTAINS-FLAT TOPS- FOUR CORNERS/UPPER DOLORES RIVER- GORE AND ELK MOUNTAINS/CENTRAL MOUNTAINS-GRAND AND BATTLEMENT MESAS- GRAND VALLEY-LA SAL AND ABAJO MOUNTAINS-LOWER YAMPA RIVER BASIN- NORTHWEST SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS-PARADOX VALLEY/LOWER DOLORES RIVER- ROAN AND TAVAPUTS PLATEAUS-SAN JUAN RIVER BASIN-SOUTHEAST UTAH- SOUTHWEST SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS-TAVAPUTS PLATEAU- UNCOMPAHGRE PLATEAU AND DALLAS DIVIDE-UPPER GUNNISON RIVER VALLEY- UPPER YAMPA RIVER BASIN-WEST ELK AND SAWATCH MOUNTAINS- 424 AM MDT WED MAR 12 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ISOLATED SNOW SHOWERS WILL OCCUR TODAY MAINLY OVER THE NORTHERN COLORADO MOUNTAINS. NO SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY A CHANCE OF SIGNIFICANT HIGH ELEVATION SNOW...WITH MIXED RAIN AND SNOW ACROSS LOW ELEVATIONS...AS EXPECTED THURSDAY THROUGH FRIDAY... AND AGAIN SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED TODAY OR TONIGHT. MC/CJC
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 dense fog. Local standard time, as filed.
Fog reduced visibility to 1/4 mile or less.
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, March 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: 83246.