A low pressure system brought significant snowfall to the mountains of southeast Utah.
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 GJT wrote it up.
A low pressure system brought significant snowfall to the mountains of southeast Utah.
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 Dec 7, 4:05 AM MST, 9 hours 55 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 405 AM MST SUN DEC 7 2008 SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT... THE WEST COAST RIDGE IS FLATTENING AND BREAKING DOWN AS PACIFIC ENERGY ALONG 50N LATITUDE MOVES INTO SW CANADA AND THE PAC NW. A CLOSED UPPER LOW WAS LURKING OFFSHORE OF SOUTHERN CA WITH HIGHER LEVEL SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE WRAPPING INTO SRN CA/WRN AZ/SRN NV. TODAY WILL BE ANOTHER DRY AND STABLE DAY FOR ERN UT/WRN CO WITH PARTLY SUNNY SKIES AS HIGHER LEVEL CLOUDS MOVES ACROSS. HIGH TEMPS TODAY WILL BE A FEW DEGREES ABOVE SAT. TRENDED SHORT-TERM FORECAST MORE TOWARD THE 03Z SREF AND 00Z WRF AS PMDHMD DISCUSSION HAD THE GFS AS A DEEPER OUTLIER COMPARED TO OTHER MODELS. THE CLOSED LOW OFF SOUTHERNN CA MOVES INLAND TONIGHT THICKENING CLOUDS ACROSS SE UT/SW CO WITH A CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION FOR THOSE AREAS BY MON MORNING. BULK OF THIS MOISTURE OBSERVED ON SATELLITE WITH THE LOW SHOULD REMAIN TO OUR SOUTH...BUT ENOUGH WILL WORK INTO OUR FORECAST AREA TO HELP PRIME THE ATMOSPHERE FOR THE NRN SYSTEM LATER MON. BOOSTED POP GRIDS ACROSS THE S FOR LATE TONIGHT AND MON. LOW REACHES WEST TX BY MON EVE. SHORTWAVE ENERGY IN THE NORTHERN STREAM DIGS A TROUGH ACROSS THE PAC NW TONIGHT AND ERN GREAT BASIN ON MONDAY..AND IS THE MAIN FOCUS FOR OUR AREA. LOOKS A TAD SLOWER THAN BEFORE...AND BACKED OFF ON THE CHANCE OF PRECIP FOR THE CENTRAL MTNS MON MORNING AND EXTENDED HIGHER POPS THROUGH MON NIGHT. OTHERWISE...CURRENT FORECAST LOOKED ON TRACK. INITIAL COLD FRONT SWEEPS ACROSS NE UT/NW CO MON MORNING...AND ANOTHER SURGE OF COLDER AIR LATER MON AFTERNOON SHOULD DRIVE IT ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF THE AREA. BEST DYNAMICS AND COLD ADVECTION DEVELOP BETWEEN NOON AND MIDNIGHT MONDAY FOR THE BEST CHANCE OF PRECIP DURING THIS TIME. MODELS ALSO INDICATE DECENT INSTABILITY WHICH IF MATERIALIZES...THEN FORCASTED SNOW AMTS MAY BE SOMEWHAT UNDERDONE. OROGRAPHIC FLOW SPEED RATHER UNIMPRESSIVE WITH A FAIRLY QUICK SHIFT TO NNE AT MTN TOP LEVEL MON NIGHT. RAIN OR MIXED RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS WILL OCCUR ACROSS THE LOWER ELEVATIONS OF THE CENTRAL AND SOUTH ALONG AND BEHIND THE COLD FRONT MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THINKING THAT THE PROGRESSIVE NATURE OF THIS SYSTEM SHOULD PRECLUDE WARNING CRITERIA SNOWFALL...THOUGH 4-10 INCHES OF NEW SNOW ARE POSSIBLE FOR THE NRN AND CENTRAL MTNS BY TUE MORNING...AND 3-7 INCHES FOR THE SAN JUANS. SINCE I AM NOT THINKING A WATCH AT THE MOMENT...JUST A LITTLE EARLY TO ISSUE AN ADVISORY...GIVEN STILL SOME UNCERTAINTY ON TIMING/STRENGTH WITH THE GFS BEING AN OUTLIER AS MENTIONED EARLIER. .LONG TERM...TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY... MOUNTAIN SNOW WILL BE DECREASING FROM THE NORTH AS THE TROUGH AXIS MOVES EAST. QVECTOR THRU THE 500 MB TO 300 MB LAYER SHOW STRONG DIVERGENCE...SO OROGRAPHICS WILL BE THE ONLY LIFTING MECHANISM AVAILABLE TO GENERATE ADDITIONAL SNOWFALL. WINDS ALOFT BECOME NORTHERLY AND THIS IS NOT AN IDEAL FOR MOST MOUNTAIN SLOPES. SNOW SHOWERS WILL LINGER OVER THE MOUNTAIN TOPS AND RIDGES THROUGH THE DAY...OTHERWISE EXPECT A GRADUAL CLEARING TREND FROM THE NORTH. HIGH PRESSURE STABILIZES THE AIR MASS TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY WITH A STRONG SUBSIDENCE INVERSION...TYPICAL FOR DECEMBER. THE GFS PAINTS SOME OROGRAPHIC PCPN OVER THE PARK AND GORE RANGES IN NORTHWEST FLOW ON WEDNESDAY...WHEREAS THE SREF KEEPS THINGS DRY. HIGH STATIC STABILITY LIMITS PCPN POTENTIAL BUT KEPT SLIGHT CHANCE POPS IN GRIDDED DATA FOR THE PARK AND GORE RANGES TO ACCOUNT FOR WEAK DISTURBANCES EMBEDDED IN NORTHWEST FLOW. A FAST MOVING WAVE BRUSHES NW COLORADO ON THURSDAY FOR A BETTER CHANCE OF SNOW FOR THE NWRN COLORADO MOUNTAINS. FRIDAY AND SATURDAY COULD BE TRANSITION DAYS TO A MAJOR HEMISPHERIC PATTERN CHANGE. THE GFS AND ECMWF CARVES OUT A DEEP COLD TROUGH OVER THE WRN CONUS FOR NEXT WEEKEND. TOO EARLY TO SAY HOW THIS EVOLVES...ESPECIALLY DURING THE TRANSITION PERIOD. NORTHWEST FLOW SHOULD PERSIST INTO FRIDAY AND OROGRAPHIC LIGHT SNOW MAY LINGER OVER THE PARK/GORE RANGES...BUT WINDS ALOFT MAY BACK AROUND TO SOUTHWEST BY SATURDAY. TYPICALLY THIS MEANS WARMER AND MOSTLY DRY WEATHER... BUT THE ECMWF SHOWS A DEVELOPING BAROCLINIC BAND ALONG THE WYOMING BORDER WITH INCREASING WESTERLY FLOW. CHOSE NOT TO FIGHT THE OVERALL TREND AND RAISED MOUNTAIN POPS TO INDICATE AN INCREASING THREAT OF SNOW. WINTER MAY BE KNOCKING AT THE DOOR. && .AVIATION... VFR CONDITIONS TODAY AND TONIGHT WITH VARYING AMOUNTS OF MID TO HIGH CLOUDS IN A DRY NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT. LIGHT SURFACE WINDS TO PREVAIL. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... .CO...NONE. .UT...NONE. SHORT TERM.....JAD LONG TERM......PF AVIATION.......TGJT
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 517 AM MST SUN DEC 7 2008 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-081245- 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- 517 AM MST SUN DEC 7 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED TODAY. THERE IS A CHANCE OF SNOW FOR THE SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY... A FAST MOVING STORM WILL BRING SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS TO THE MOUNTAINS OF WESTERN COLORADO MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT. THIS WILL CAUSE TRAVEL SLOWDOWNS OVER MOUNTAIN PASSES ON HIGHWAY 40 AND INTERSTATE 70 LATE MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING...AND TO A LESSER EXTENT ON HIGHWAY 550. LOWER ELEVATIONS OF NORTHWEST COLORADO MAY RECEIVE AN INCH OF SNOW AS WELL. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED TODAY OR TONIGHT. JAD
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Snowfall of 5 to 8 inches occurred.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Utah in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Utah, December 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: 138127.