A fast moving storm system brought moderate to heavy snowfall and gusty winds to the mountains of northeast 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 fast moving storm system brought moderate to heavy snowfall and gusty winds to the mountains of northeast 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 Jan 10, 4:29 AM MST, 2 hours 31 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 429 AM MST THU JAN 10 2008 .UPDATE...ADDED DENSE FOG ADVISORY FOR CO ZONES 2 AND 6 WHERE WIDESPREAD FOG HAS FORMED IN RESPONSE TO NEAR SURFACE SATURATION RESULTING FROM SNOWFALL YESTERDAY. && .SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT... TWO MAIN CONCERNS FOR EARLY TODAY. THE FIRST IS THE LINGERING SNOW REPORTED BY 3MW AND TEX. BOTH THESE SITES...AS WELL AS THE NORTHERN SLOPES OF THE GRAND MESA...ARE FAVORED IN THIS NORTHWEST FLOW SO COULD CONTINUE TO SEE SNOW INTO THE FIRST PERIOD. HOWEVER FEEL THAT SNOW WILL RAPIDLY BECOME MORE LOCALIZED SO HAVE DECIDED NOT TO KEEP THE SNOW HILITES GOING BEYOND ISSUANCE TIME. AND HAVE KEPT POPS LOW DUE TO THE LOCALIZED AREAL COVERAGE. SNOW SHOULD CONTINUE TO DECREASE IN THESE LOCALIZED MOUNTAIN AREAS THROUGH THE MORNING. THE OTHER CONCERN IS THE DENSE FOG THAT HAS BEEN REPORTED AT GJT AND CAG. THIS FOG IS IN RESPONSE TO THE COOLING SURFACE TEMPS AND AMPLE MOISTURE NEAR THE SURFACE AFTER YESTERDAYS SNOWFALL. THE FOG SHOULD THIN OUT BY MID-MORNING...THEREFORE WILL KEEP THE DENSE FOG ADVISORY FOR ZONES 2 AND 6 UNTIL 9 AM MST. SO FAR HAVE NOT HAD OTHER SITES REPORT DENSE FOG...BUT DID INCLUDE AREAS OF FOG IN THE FORECAST FOR MOST VALLEYS. TEMPS WILL REMAIN ON THE COLD SIDE TODAY WITH THE FRESH SNOW OVER MOST OF THE AREA. OTHERWISE TODAY WILL BE RELATIVELY QUIET AS WARM ADVECTION CLOUDS BEGIN TO MOVE OVER THE AREA BY THIS AFTERNOON AHEAD OF THE NEXT SHORTWAVE. THIS WAVE WILL BRING THE NEXT CHANCE OF SNOWFALL TO THE AREA BEGINNING OVER THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS THIS AFTERNOON. SNOWFALL WILL REMAIN LIGHT IN THE WARM SECTOR THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT. THE CHANCE FOR SNOW WILL SPREAD THIS EVENING...BUT THIS SYSTEM WILL AFFECT MAINLY THE NORTHERN HALF. THE BEST SNOW WILL COME ON FRIDAY AS THE SHORTWAVE MOVES OVER THE AREA. HOWEVER THIS SYSTEM WILL BE A QUICK SHOT...SO FEEL ACCUMULATIONS WILL GENERALLY BE BELOW ADVISORY AMOUNTS. THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS WILL NOT SEE MUCH ACTIVITY UNTIL LATE TONIGHT AND FRI AS THE TROUGH MOVES OVERHEAD. TEMPS WILL BE A LITTLE MORE MODERATE TONIGHT AND FRI. ACTIVITY WILL QUICKLY DIMINISH FRI NIGHT AS THE SHORTWAVE EXITS AND THE NEXT IMPULSE IN THE NORTHWEST FLOW MOVES INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. .LONG TERM...SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY... GFS AND ECMWF IN GOOD AGREEMENT IN THE MIDDLE PERIODS EARLY THIS MORNING AND IN LINE WITH GOING FORECAST. BOTH SHOWED A SERIES OF WEAKER SHORTWAVE PASSING THROUGH THE AREA SATURDAY AND SUNDAY BRINGING SNOW SHOWERS TO THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS MAINLY. FLAT RIDGE SETS UP MONDAY FOR AT LEAST ONE DAY OF DRY WEATHER ACROSS THE CWFA. CONFIDENCE BEGINNING TO INCREASE AS RUN TO RUN AND MDL CONSISTENCY GROWS EARLY NEXT WEEK. THE NEXT WEATHER SYSTEM APPROACHES FROM THE NW MONDAY NIGHT WITH THE EC AND GFS COMING BACK INTO DECENT ALIGNMENT. THIS SYSTEM TRACKS THROUGH THE CWA TUESDAY AND APPEARS COLD BUT WITH LIMITED MOISTURE. THE PARENT TROF OVER THE UPPER GRT PLAINS DEEPENS WEDNESDAY AND ALLOWS A POLAR FRONT TO DROP INTO NORTHERN COLORADO. CURRENT GFS SHOWS THE COLDEST AIR OF THE SEASON ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SYSTEM WITH H5 TEMPS AROUND -34C AND H7 TEMP -22C. FRONT WILL LIKELY BRING A BURST OF UPSLOPE SNOW TO THE NRN AND CNTRL MTNS SO BROUGHT POPS UP A LITTLE. TEMPS WILL BEGIN THIS EXTENDED PERIOD NEAR NORMAL THEN DROP TO POSSIBLY WELL BELOW NORMAL BY MID-WEEK. && .AVIATION... VALLEY FOG WILL CREATE WIDESPREAD IFR CONDITIONS WITH AREAS OF LIFR CEILINGS AND VISIBILITY THROUGH MID MORNING. ELSEWHERE...EXPECT WIDELY SCATTERED MVFR CEILINGS AND VISIBILITY IN SNOW SHOWERS OVER THE MOUNTAINS. MVFR CEILINGS WILL INCREASE IN AREAL COVERAGE TONIGHT AS SNOW SHOWERS INCREASE. ADDITIONALLY...EXPECT SOME FOG TO REFORM OVERNIGHT...WITH AREAS OF MVFR CEILINGS AND VISIBILITY WITH POCKETS OF IFR CONDITIONS. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... .CO...DENSE FOG ADVISORY UNTIL 9 AM THIS MORNING FOR ZONES 2 AND 6. .UT...NONE. SHORT TERM...EH LONG TERM....NL/MC AVIATION.....NL
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 545 AM MST THU JAN 10 2008 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-111300- 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 MST THU JAN 10 2008 ...DENSE FOG ADVISORY FOR THE GRAND VALLEY AND THE CENTRAL YAMPA RIVER BASIN THIS MORNING... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT AREAS OF FOG...LOCALLY DENSE...WILL CONTINUE IN THE THE VALLEY AREAS EARLY THIS MORNING. VISIBILITY AT TIMES WILL DROP BELOW A QUARTER MILE IN THE GRAND VALLEY AND ALONG THE YAMPA RIVER NEAR CRAIG. ALSO THE CHANCE FOR SNOWFALL WILL PERSIST ON NORTH TO NORTHWEST FACING SLOPES OF THE HIGH COLORADO MOUNTAINS TODAY. THE CHANCE SNOW WILL SPREAD TONIGHT AFFECTING MAINLY THE NORTH AS THE NEXT WINTER STORM APPROACHES THE AREA. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE VALLEY FOG OR THIS NEW WINTER STORM APPROACHING THE AREA...PLEASE VISIT THE GRAND JUNCTION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEB SITE AT HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/GJT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY SNOW WILL INCREASE ON FRIDAY AS THE LATEST FAST MOVING STORM MOVES OVER THE AREA. THE CHANCE FOR SNOW WILL LINGER OVER THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS FRIDAY NIGHT...BEFORE DIMINISHING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED THROUGH TONIGHT. HOWEVER... SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO PHONE IN REPORTS OF SNOW ACCUMULATIONS IN EXCESS OF 3 INCHES. TGJT
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Snowfall of 5 to 12 inches occurred with wind gusts of 20 to 40 mph causing blowing and drifting snow.
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, 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: 74364.