Strong wind gusts ahead of a cold front, knocked down some trees and power lines in Boulder. More than 3,400 Xcel customers in the Universty Hill area were without power for about one hour.
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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 BOU wrote it up.
Strong wind gusts ahead of a cold front, knocked down some trees and power lines in Boulder. More than 3,400 Xcel customers in the Universty Hill area were without power for about one hour. The outage occurred when a blown down tree fell on a power line. Another large tree was blown down near Boulder High School. Peak wind reports included 68 mph at the NCAR Mesa Lab, and 60 mph in Boulder.
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 Denver/Boulder, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 17, 3:40 AM MST, 5 hours 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 340 AM MST TUE FEB 17 2009 .SHORT TERM...PRONOUNCED UPPER LEVEL LEAD WAVE ACROSS NEVADA AND WESTERN UTAH ATTM WITH MOISTURE AND PRECIP STREAMING INTO WESTERN CO. SNOW WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE NORTH CENTRAL MOUNTAINS THRU THE EARLY MORNING HOURS WITH MODEST UPWARD FORCING WITH THIS WAVE. BY THIS AFTERNOON THE WAVE HAS ALREADY LIFTED NORTHWARD INTO WYOMING WITH LARGE SCALE SUBSIDENCE WHICH LEADS INTO THIS EVENING. MTN TOP LEVEL FLOW WILL BE FROM THE SW AHD OF THE TROF AND THIS WILL FAVOR ZONE 31...WHERE ADVISORY HAS ALREADY BEEN ISSUED. 700MB FLOW SHIFTS MORE WESTERLY THIS AFTERNOON AND TNT WITH GOOD OROGRAPHICS KICKING IN THRU TNT. THE MSTR DEPTH SHALLOWS OUT A BIT TNT BUT WONDERING IF THE MODELS ARE STILL OVERDOING THE MSTR THIS AFTN/TNT GIVEN THE DRYING ACROSS SRN GREAT BASIN ATTM. GIVEN SOME REDUCTION IN MSTR IS LIKELY...WILL NOT ISSUE ANY HILITES FOR THE REST OF THE MTNS. IF IN FACT MSTR DEPTH REMAINS CONSTANT WITH THE STRONG WEST WINDS...THEN HILITES MAY BE NEEDED FOR REST OF THE NORTH CENTRAL MTNS. AS FOR THE LOWER ELEVATIONS...WITH THE SUBSIDENCE AND MID LVL COOLING MOVING ACROSS THE PLAINS THIS AFTN...THE WINDS WILL BE INCREASING OVER THE FOOTHILLS AND PLAINS. GOOD MIXING IN THE LOW LVLS WILL ALLOW SOME WINDS TO GUST IN THE 25-40KT RANGE ACROSS THE FRONT RANGE. CROSS SECTIONS SHOW CROSS BARRIER FLOW INCREASING THIS EVENING TO 50-60KT AND SOME WEAK MTN TOP STABILITY. DOES NOT LOOK LIKE A WIDESPREAD HI WIND EVENT BUT WILL HAVE SOME GUSTS UP AROUND 60KT OR SO IN THE FOOTHILLS/HIR MTNS. THE FLOW ALOFT BECOMES NORTHWEST OVERNIGHT TNT AS SOME MOISTURE BEGINS TO STREAM INTO FAR NORTHEAST COLORADO. WITH THE DOWNSLOPE FLOW AND LACK OF ASCENT NOT VERY ENTHUSED ABOUT PRECIP CHANCES OVER THE PLAINS. WILL LEAVE THE LOW POPS OVER THE FAR NERN CORNER WITH THE BETTER CHANCES OUT THERE. .LONG TERM....SHOULD SEE SNOWFALL CONTINUING IN THE NORTH-CENTRAL MTNS...NOTABLY IN THE GORE AND PARK RANGES/ZONE 31...THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT. A SNOW ADVISORY IS ALREADY IN EFFECT FOR MTN ZONE 31 UNTIL 00Z/THURSDAY. MAY SEE ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATION BEYOND THE ADVISORY PD BUT MODELS SHOW A QUICK DROP OFF IN SNOW ACCUMULATION RATES WEDNESDAY EVENING WITH COLD ADVECTION WINDING DOWN. MODELS INDICATE AN ADDITIONAL 2-5 INCHES OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS BY EVENING. HOWEVER GENERATED SNOW AMOUNTS ABOUT A THIRD LOWER THAN THESE USING OUR LOCAL OROGRAPHIC SNOW MODEL. SINCE ITS AT THE END OF THE EVENT WILL HANG ONTO THE ADVISORY FOR NOW. OTHERWISE OPERATIONAL MODELS IN REASONABLY GOOD AGREEMENT OUT THRU SATURDAY. OVERALL TREND IS FOR GRADUAL WARMING AND DRYING WITH LARGE SCALE RIDGING OVER THE WESTERN CONUS THROUGH FRIDAY. WILL STILL SEE MINOR INTERRUPTIONS IN THIS WARMING TREND MAINLY FOR AREAS EAST OF THE MTNS ON WEDNESDAY AND LATE ON FRIDAY WITH PASSAGE OF A PAIR OF WEAK COLD FRONTS. MODELS SHOW THE TAIL END OF A WEAK COLD FRONT BRUSHING NERN COLORADO WEDNESDAY MORNING. POST-FRONTAL FLOW EAST OF THE MTNS GOES UPSLOPE BRIEFLY WITH QG VERTICAL VELOCITY FIELDS INDICATING WEAK ASCENT UP THROUGH 600MB OVER THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF THE STATE LATE MORNING AND AFTERNOON. WILL HANG ONTO THE LOW POPS ALREADY IN THE FCST FOR THE PLAINS...WITH ANY CHANCE FOR MEASURABLE PCPN ALBEIT MINIMAL OUT NEAR THE NORTHEAST CORNER. SEE LITTLE IMPACT FROM THIS FRONTAL SYSTEM ON THE I-25 URBAN CORRIDOR OTHER THAN TO COOL TEMPS A FEW DEGS AND TO INCREASE CLOUD CVR DURING THE DAY. DEEP LAYER NORTHWESTERLY FLOW OVER THE REGION WILL DROP THE TAIL END OF YET ANOTHER COLD FRONT THRU THE AREA LATE ON FRIDAY...BUT THIS ONE LOOKS WEAKER THAN ITS PREDECESSOR. SO FOR NOW WILL KEEP THINGS DRY FRIDAY/FRIDAY NIGHT...EVEN IN THE HIGH COUNTRY WITH MID AND UPPER LEVELS CONTINUING TO DRY AND WARM. FOR SATURDAY THROUGH MONDAY...UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OVER THE GREAT BASIN ON FRIDAY SHIFTS EASTWARD OVER THE ROCKY MTN REGION DURING THE PERIOD. THIS WILL RESULT IN DRY CONDITIONS WITH ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES AREAWIDE. && .AVIATION...VFR CIGS AND VSBYS EXPECTED THROUGH THE NEXT 24 HOURS. NORMAL DIURNAL WIND PATTERNS OF S-SW WILL CONTINUE THRU MID MORNING THEN INCREASE AND SHIFT MORE WESTERLY BY AFTERNOON. EXPECT GUSTS UP AROUND 30KT DEN/APA AND A BIT HIGHER AT BJC. WINDS WILL DECREASE TO UNDER 20KT TNT AT DEN/APA BUT CONTINUE AT BJC WITH STRONG DOWNSLOPE FLOW ALONG THE FRONT RANGE. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 6 AM TODAY THROUGH 5 PM WEDNESDAY FOR ZONE 31. ENTREKIN/BAKER
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 455 AM MST TUE FEB 17 2009 COZ030>051-171800- JACKSON COUNTY BELOW 9000 FEET-WEST JACKSON AND WEST GRAND COUNTIES ABOVE 9000 FEET-GRAND AND SUMMIT COUNTIES BELOW 9000 FEET-SOUTH AND EAST JACKSON/LARIMER/NORTH AND NORTHEAST GRAND/ NORTHWEST BOULDER COUNTIES ABOVE 9000 FEET-SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST GRAND/WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST BOULDER/GILPIN/CLEAR CREEK/ SUMMIT/NORTH AND WEST PARK COUNTIES ABOVE 9000 FEET-LARIMER AND BOULDER COUNTIES BETWEEN 6000 AND 9000 FEET-JEFFERSON AND WEST DOUGLAS COUNTIES ABOVE 6000 FEET/GILPIN/CLEAR CREEK/NORTHEAST PARK COUNTIES BELOW 9000 FEET-CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PARK COUNTY-LARIMER COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/NORTHWEST WELD COUNTY-BOULDER AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES BELOW 6000 FEET/WEST BROOMFIELD COUNTY-NORTH DOUGLAS COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/DENVER/WEST ADAMS AND ARAPAHOE COUNTIES/ EAST BROOMFIELD COUNTY-ELBERT/CENTRAL AND EAST DOUGLAS COUNTIES ABOVE 6000 FEET-NORTHEAST WELD COUNTY-CENTRAL AND SOUTH WELD COUNTY-MORGAN COUNTY-CENTRAL AND EAST ADAMS AND ARAPAHOE COUNTIES- NORTH AND NORTHEAST ELBERT COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/NORTH LINCOLN COUNTY-SOUTHEAST ELBERT COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/SOUTH LINCOLN COUNTY-LOGAN COUNTY-WASHINGTON COUNTY-SEDGWICK COUNTY-PHILLIPS COUNTY- 455 AM MST TUE FEB 17 2009 ...SNOW ADVISORY CONTINUES FOR THE GORE AND PARK RANGES IN JACKSON AND GRAND COUNTIES TODAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SNOW SHOWERS WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE NORTH CENTRAL MOUNTAINS THIS MORNING AND CONTINUE THROUGH TONIGHT. ACCUMLATIONS WILL RANGE FROM TO 4 TO 12 INCHES...HIGHEST AMOUNTS ON HIGHER...WEST FACING SLOPES AND AROUND THE RABBIT EARS PASS AREA. GUSTY WEST WINDS WILL ALSO INCREASE TODAY OVER THE MOUNTAIN PASSES AND FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS WITH SPEEDS OF 20 TO 30 MPH AND GUSTS UP TO 60 MPH THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. ACROSS LOWER ELEVATIONS...WEST WINDS WILL ALSO INCREASE BY AFTERNOON WITH SPEEDS OF 20 TO 35 MPH EXPECTED. THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN OR SNOW SHOWERS LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT ACROSS THE FAR NORTHEAST PLAINS OF COLORADO. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY SNOW WILL CONTINUE TO FALL IN THE HIGH COUNTRY ON WEDNESDAY WITH SEVERAL INCHES OF ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATION IN THE GORE AND PARK RANGES BY WEDNESDAY EVENING. IN AREAS EAST OF THE MOUNTAINS THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW ON WEDNESDAY FOLLOWING THE PASSAGE OF WEAK COLD FRONT. IT WILL ALSO BE WINDY IN THE MOUNTAINS AND ON THE PLAINS WEDNESDAY WITH GUSTS APPROACHING 50 MPH IN THE FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. ENTREKIN/BAKER
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, February 2009
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: 153266.