A fast moving Pacific storm system produced several inches of snowfall across the northern mountains of western Colorado.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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 GJT wrote it up.
A fast moving Pacific storm system produced several inches of snowfall across the northern mountains of western Colorado.
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 20, 1:59 AM MST, 8 hours 1 minute earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
259 AM MDT THU MAR 20 2008
.SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY...
COLD FRONT CURRENTLY WORKING ITS WAY SOUTHWARD...BUT A LITTLE SLOWER
THAN MODELS ADVERTIZED EARLIER. CURRENT SATELLITE AND RADAR NOT TO
IMPRESSIVE BUT GOING ADVISORY LOOKS LIKE IT WILL STILL WORK OUT AS
SECONDARY DISTURBANCE MOVES INTO THE AREA THIS EVENING. LATEST NAM12
CONTINUES TO SHOW QPF BULLSEYE OVER THE NRN SAN JUANS. THIS WELL
REFLECTED IN CURRENT GRIDS. OTHERWISE THE FLOW ALOFT BECOMES WESTERLY
TONIGHT AS BAROCLINIC BAND CONTINUES TO SAG SOUTHWARD TO REACH OUR
SOUTHERN BORDER AROUND MIDNIGHT. JET WEAKENS A LITTLE AND SAGS
SOUTHWARD DURING THE NIGHT...BUT NOT PARTICULARLY FAVORABLE FOR UPPER
LEVEL LIFT. GFS A LITTLE MORE GENEROUS WITH QPF TONIGHT...WHILE NAM12
ENDS ALL PCPN BY 12Z. SORT OF BLENDED THE TWO AND GENERALLY LOWERED
QPF AND SNOW AMOUNTS. AT THE LAST MINUTE I HAVE DECIDED TO DROP ZONE
10 FROM THE ADVISORY AS SNOW HAS BEEN LATE TO START AND DURATION
WILL NOT BE LONG ENOUGH TO GET ADVISORY AMOUNTS.
THE FLOW ALOFT WILL BE FROM THE WEST-NORTHWEST FRIDAY WITH AN
EMBEDDED WAVE PROGGED TO PASS NEAR THE NORTHERN PORTION OF THE CWA BY
EARLY AFTERNOON. AS A RESULT SNOW SHOWERS WILL REDEVELOP OVER THE
NORTHERN AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS NEAR THE DIVIDE. THESE SHOWERS
SHOULD TAPER OFF AFTER SUNSET AS FORCING AND DIURNAL HEATING
DISSIPATES. IN THE MEAN TIME HIGH PRESSURE BEGINS TO BUILD ALONG
THE WEST COAST. THIS WILL CONTINUE THE AMPLIFIED NW FLOW ALOFT
THROUGH SATURDAY BUT A SHORT WAVE IS EXPECTED THE BRUSH THE
NORTHEASTERN PART OF THE CWA SATURDAY EVENING. MOISTURE LOOKS
RATHER SPARSE AT THIS TIME BUT REINFORCING SHOT OF COOLER AIR WILL
DESTABILIZE THE ATMOSPHERE LEADING TO A CHANCE OF SHOWERS OVER THE
MTNS FROM VAIL PASS NORTHWARD TO STEAMBOAT SPRINGS TO INCLUDE THE
FLAT TOPS.
TEMPS WILL BE A LITTLE COOLER TONIGHT AS SKIES START TO CLEAR BY
SUNRISE FRIDAY...BUT REBOUND TO NEAR NORMAL ALL BUT NORTHWESTERN
AND GUNNISON VALLEYS FRIDAY AFTERNOON. COLD ADVECTION WITH SATURDAYS
WAVE WILL KEEP TEMPS A LITTLE BELOW NORMAL MOST LOCATIONS.
.LONG TERM...SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY...
FINAL COLD PUSH SAT NIGHT WITH A LINGERING CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS
NEAR THE DIVIDE. HIGH PRESSURE TAKES OVER SUN AS AN UPPER RIDGE
BUILDS OVER THE GREAT BASIN FOR MOSTLY SUNNY SKIES SUN. RIDGE
FLATTENS MONDAY...HOWEVER...AS FAST WESTERLY FLOW PUNCHES ACROSS
THE PAC NW ANDS NRN ROCKIES. THIS WILL ALLOW TEMPS TO WARM MON-TUE AS
FLOW ALOFT BECOMES MORE SWLY. LAPSE RATES INCREASE TUE...AND WITH
DAYTIME HEATING MAY GET SOME DIURNAL SHOWERS OVER THE MTNS TUE AFTN.
GFS AND ECWMF THEN DIFFER FOR MIDWEEK. GFS BRINGS A FAIRLY
SIGNIFICANT LEAD SHORTWAVE ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA ABOUT WED NIGHT-
THU. THE ECMWF IN CONTRAST KEEPS FAST WESTERLY FLOW JUST NORTH AND
DELAYS THE TROUGH UNTIL LATE IN THE WEEK. WITH LOW CONFIDENCE...WILL
GO WITH JUST A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS FOR THE MTNS AND NW CO
PLATEAU WED-THU.
&&
.AVIATION...
WIDESPREAD MVFR CIGS AND VSBYS WILL BE THE RULE OVER THE MOUNTAINS
OF WESTERN COLORADO TONIGHT WITH AREAS OF IFR CONDITIONS AND MOUNTAIN
OBSCURATIONS. CONDITIONS WILL GRADUALLY IMPROVE FROM THE WEST BY
EARLY FRIDAY MORNING.
&&
.GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
.CO...SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY CONTINUES UNTIL MIDNIGHT TONIGHT
FOR THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS...ZONES 4/13.
.UT...NONE.
SHORT TERM...MC
LONG TERM....JAD
AVIATION.....MCHAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 545 AM MDT THU MAR 20 2008 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-211200- 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- 545 AM MDT THU MAR 20 2008 ...SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY FOR THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS OF WESTERN COLORADO THROUGH MIDNIGHT TONIGHT... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT PERIODS OF SNOW WILL FALL ACROSS THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS OF WESTERN COLORADO TODAY...WITH ISOLATED RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS EXPECTED ELSEWHERE. IN ADDITION...ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL FORM OVER THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND LINGER INTO THE EARLY EVENING HOURS. SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS FROM 5 TO 12 INCHES WILL OCCUR OVER THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS...WITH LIGHTER AMOUNTS EXPECTED ELSEWHERE. HEAVY BURSTS OF SNOW WILL OCCUR WITH THUNDERSTORMS. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS LATEST WINTER STORMS...PLEASE VISIT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION WEBSITE AT HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/GJT .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS ARE POSSIBLE IN THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS OF COLORADO FRIDAY AND SATURDAY...BEFORE DRY AND WARMER CONDITIONS ARRIVE FOR EARLY NEXT WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED TODAY OR TONIGHT. TGJT
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Snowfall of 5 to 6 inches occurred while frequent wind gusts of 25 to 40 mph caused blowing and drifting snow.
Snowfall of 5 to 7 inches occurred while frequent wind gusts of 20 to 40 mph caused blowing and drifting snow.
Snowfall of 5 to 7 inches occurred while frequent wind gusts of 20 to 40 mph caused blowing and drifting snow. Interstate 70 was closed several times due to multiple vehicle accidents.
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: 83566, 83568, 83567.