A strong wind gust blew a trailer in the path of two vehicles along State Highway 36, between Boulder and Lyons. The two vehicles were in the northbound lane when a wind gust blew a fifth-wheel trailer into their path, as it approached from the opposite lane.
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The episode as NWS BOU wrote it up.
A strong wind gust blew a trailer in the path of two vehicles along State Highway 36, between Boulder and Lyons. The two vehicles were in the northbound lane when a wind gust blew a fifth-wheel trailer into their path, as it approached from the opposite lane. The trailer left the road surface, and collided with the top left side of the first car, causing extensive damage. A van following the first vehicle then struck the trailer. The driver of the van suffered facial injuries.
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 27, 2:45 PM MST, 1 hour 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 245 PM MST FRI FEB 27 2009 .SHORT TERM...STRONG SUBSIDENCE IS QUICKLY SPREADING ACROSS THE CWFA THIS AFTERNOON. STRONG DOWNSLOPE WINDS HAVE DEVELOPED IN ITS WAKE ALONG THE FRONT RANGE AND CHEYENNE RIDGE AS STGR WINDS MIX DOWN TO THE SFC. WL KEEP SLGT CHC POPS GOING THROUGH ERLY EVNG OVER MAINLY WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN COUNTIES...BUT THAT MAY END SOONER THAT 00Z. IN THE MTNS...WATER VAPOR SHOWS DRYING DVLPG SO SNOW SHUD START DCRG THERE AS WELL. WL DROP THE WINTER WEATHER ADVSY WITH THE ISSUANCE OF THE AFTN ZONE PACKAGE. DRY AND STABLE CONDITIONS OVERNIGHT AND INTO SATURDAY WITH AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE BUILDING OVR THE WRN U.S. MDLS DO NOT SHOW MUCH IN THE WAY OF WINDS EITHER FOR SATURDAY WITH TEMPERATURES REBOUNDING BACK TO AROUND 50. .LONG TERM...QUIET WEATHER CONDITIONS IN STORE SUNDAY THROUGH NEXT WEEK. UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL BE OVER THE GREAT BASIN AND CENTRAL ROCKIES SUNDAY. THE RIDGE WILL SLOWLY SHIFT EAST DURING THE WEEK. FLOW ALOFT UNDER THIS RIDGE WILL BE WESTERLY THROUGH TUESDAY. AN APPROACHING SHORT WAVE WILL SHOVE THE RIDGE EASTWARD CAUSING THE FLOW ALOFT TO BACK SOUTHWESTERLY. THIS WAVE IS FORECASTED TO PUSH ACROSS THE REGION WEDNESDAY NIGHT BY BOTH THE GFS AND ECMWF. THE RIDGE WILL POP BACK UP BEHIND THE RIDGE COME THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. AS FAR AS MOISTURE GOES...MODELS INDICATE PERIODS OF INCREASED MID AND HIGH LEVEL MOISTURE WILL PASS OVER THE REGION DURING NEXT WEEK. DIFFICULT TO TIME WHEN WE WILL SEE THESE INCREASES IN MOISTURE...THUS WILL BROADBRUSH SLIGHT CHANCE POPS OVER THE MOUNTAINS FROM MONDAY ON. ANY SNOW THAT FALLS WILL BE LIGHT. HAVE HIGHER POPS ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT WHEN A SHORT WAVE BUCKLES THE RIDGE. WILL KEEP THE PLAINS DRY FOR THE ENTIRE PERIOD AS DOWNSLOPE WINDS KILL ANY CHANCE FOR PRECIPITATION. TEMPERATURES WILL BE WELL ABOVE NORMAL THROUGH OUT THIS PERIOD WITH HIGHS IN THE MID 60S SUNDAY SLOWLY INCREASING TO THE UPPER 60S AND LOWER 70S NEXT WEEK ACROSS THE PLAINS. WILL SEE COOLER TEMPERATURES THURSDAY BEHIND THE TROUGH PASSAGE. TEMPERATURE READINGS WILL INCREASE AGAIN FRIDAY AS THE RIDGE REFORMS. && .AVIATION...STG WLY WINDS WL CONTINUE THRU ERLY THIS EVNG WITH SUBSIDENCE ALF OVHD...THEN SWLY UNDER CLRG SKIES. NO MORE SNOW EXPECTED WITH VFR CONDITIONS THE REST OF THE PERIOD. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. FMC/BM
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 1038 AM MST FRI FEB 27 2009 COZ030>051-281300- 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- 1038 AM MST FRI FEB 27 2009 ......WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 5 PM MST THIS AFTERNOON... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT AN UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE ACROSS WYOMING INTO THE CENTRAL PLAINS BY TONIGHT. THIS SYSTEM WILL PRODUCE SNOW AND WIND IN THE MOUNTAINS TODAY WITH ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 3 TO 6 INCHES AND 2 TO 4 INCHES IN THE VALLEYS. OVER NORTHEAST COLORADO A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA IN THE AFTERNOON BRING GUSTY NORTH WINDS AND COLDER TEMPERATURES ALONG WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW. ACCUMULATIONS UP TO INCH WILL BE POSSIBLE IN SOME AREAS THIS AFTERNOON. BY TONIGHT THE SNOW AND WIND WILL END GRADUALLY DECREASE IN THE MOUNTAINS WITH ONLY A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SNOW IN THE EARLY EVENING HOURS OVER THE PLAINS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. COOPER/MEIER
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 strong 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: 153337.