An upper level disturbance followed by northwest flow produced significant snowfall across the mountains of northwest Colorado.
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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.
An upper level disturbance followed by northwest flow produced significant snowfall across the mountains of northwest 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 4, 3:50 AM MST, 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 350 AM MST TUE MAR 4 2008 .SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT... NEXT STORM SYSTEM ON OUR NORTHERN DOORSTEP EARLY THIS MORNING. MOISTURE APPEARS LIMITED...HOWEVER...WITH 700 MB SPECIFIC HUMIDITIES LESS THAN 3 G/KG. IT WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY BREEZY TO WINDY CONDITIONS TODAY AND THIS EVENING. SO WHILE NO HIGHLIGHTS ARE PLANNED DUE TO ANTICIPATED SNOW AMTS BEING UNDER CRITERIA...WILL MENTION AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW THIS AFTN/EVE FOR TRAVELERS OVER HIGH MTN PASSES. GREATEST SNOW ACCUMS OF 4-7 INCHES THROUGH WED EXPECTED IN THE NRN MTNS. LEAD SHORTWAVE OVER ID WILL RACE ACROSS SWRN WY BY MIDDAY. MID-LEVEL CLOUDS SPREADING SE ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA WERE ASSOCIATED WITH A 100 KT UPPER JET THAT WILL CONTINUE TO SAG SOUTHWARD THIS MORNING...AND MAY BRING SOME FLURRIES OR LIGHT SNOW TO MTN TOPS. COLD AIR ALOFT WILL BEGIN TO SPREAD S ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA THIS LATE THIS MORNING AND AFTERNOON INCREASING INSTABILITY FOR A BETTER CHANCE OF SNOW ACROSS THE N...WHERE WESTERLY MTN TOP WINDS OF 30-35 KTS WILL ALSO PROVIDE GOOD OROGRAPHIC FORCING. SFC COLD FRONT LAGS BEHIND...HOWEVER...AND DOESN/T COME THROUGH UNTIL LATER TODAY AND THIS EVENING AS A SECOND SHORTWAVE CURRENTLY NEAR WA/OR DIVES INTO THE GREAT BASIN. MODEL RUNS NO LONGER INDICATED TENDENCY FOR A MID- LEVEL CIRCULATION CLOSING OFF AND SLOWING THE TROUGH MOVEMENT...SO EXPECT IT TO PRETTY MUCH BLOW ON THROUGH. WINDS DECREASE AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT...AND ERN UT/WRN CO END UP IN GENERALLY UNSTABLE NORTHERLY FLOW WED FOR CONTINUED SNOW/SNOW SHOWERS MAINLY OVER THE MTNS. BUT WITH MOISTURE DECREASING NOT ANTICIPATING GREAT AMTS OF SNOW EVEN IN THE CONVECTIVE SHOWERS. .LONG TERM...THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY... EMBEDDED DISTURBANCES FROM THE NORTH WILL BRUSH THE NWRN MOUNTAINS OF COLORADO ON THURSDAY. THE CONTINENTAL ORIGIN OF THE MINOR SHORT WAVES AND THE LACK OF MID LEVEL COLD ADVECTION WILL INHIBIT SNOW POTENTIAL. NORTHERLY FLOW WILL KEEP TEMPS BELOW SEASONAL NORMS. BY THURSDAY NIGHT...WEST COAST RIDGE WILL BE SHIFTING OVER THE INTERIOR WEST AND PUSHING THE SHEAR AXIS EASTWARD. LIGHT NORTHERLY FLOW ON FRIDAY WILL BE REPLACED BY WESTERLY FLOW ON SATURDAY. VARIABLE AMOUNTS OF MID TO HIGH CLOUDS WILL STREAM ACROSS THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE FORECAST AREAS...BUT THE JET WILL BE OVER MONTANA AND THAT WILL LEAVE ERN UTAH AND WRN COLORADO DRY AND WARMER THROUGH THE WEEKEND. ON MONDAY...THE MAJORITY OF THE GFS ENSEMBLE MEMBERS SHOW THE RIDGE AXIS WILL SHIFT EAST OF COLORADO...RESULTING IN INCREASING MOISTURE FROM THE WEST. && .AVIATION... VFR CONDITIONS FOR MOST VALLEY AREAS WILL PERSIST TODAY AND TONIGHT. HOWEVER AREAS OF MVFR CONDITIONS WITH LOCAL IFR WILL DEVELOP ALONG A COLD FRONT THAT SAGS SOUTHWARD TODAY. COLD FRONT WILL BE MOVING INTO NE UTAH AND EXTREME NORTHWEST COLORADO THIS MORNING. BY 18Z...THE FRONT WILL BE ON A LINE FROM MOAB TO GUNNISON...THEN REACHING BLANDING (K4BL)...CORTEZ (KCEZ) AND DURANGO (KDRO) BETWEEN 00Z AND 03Z THIS EVENING. LOWER CEILINGS WITH MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS WILL OCCUR ALONG THE FRONT. IN THE POST FRONTAL AIR MASS...WINDS WILL SHIFT TO NORTHWESTERLY WITH NUMEROUS MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS WITH AREAS OF MVFR AND IFR CONDITIONS. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... .CO...NONE. .UT...NONE. SHORT TERM...JAD LONG TERM....PF AVIATION.....PF
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 544 AM MST MON MAR 3 2008 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-041245- 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- 544 AM MST MON MAR 3 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO SIGNIFICANT WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY SNOW IS LIKELY OVER THE NORTHERN...CENTRAL AND NORTHWESTERN SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS OF WESTERN COLORADO TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. NORTH FACING MOUNTAIN SLOPES MAY RECEIVE 5 TO 10 INCHES OF SNOW DURING THIS PERIOD. THE THREAT OF SNOW DIMINISHES ON THURSDAY AND MAINLY CONFINED OVER THE PASSES AND HIGH MOUNTAINS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED TODAY OR TONIGHT...BUT SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT NEW SNOWFALL AND STRONG WIND GUSTS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND JUNCTION. TGJT
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Snowfall of 6 to 12 inches occurred.
Snowfall of 5 to 6 inches occurred.
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: 82902, 82903.