Strong northwest winds gusting to 58 mph occurred over northern Lincoln County. The combination of strong winds and very dry conditions caused areas of blowing dust and dirt to create brownout conditions.
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 BOU wrote it up.
Strong northwest winds gusting to 58 mph occurred over northern Lincoln County. The combination of strong winds and very dry conditions caused areas of blowing dust and dirt to create brownout conditions. As a result, visibilities were restricted to near zero along sections of Interstate 70. Along the interstate near Genoa, eight passenger cars and six tractor-trailer trucks were involved in a collision. Two people were killed and at least 6 others were injured, one seriously. The multi-vehicle collison forced the closure of the interstate for several hours.
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 Jan 19, 3:30 AM MST, 8 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 330 AM MST MON JAN 19 2009 .SHORT TERM...LITTLE CHANGE IN THE OVERALL PATTERN WITH AN AMPLIFIED AND STATIONARY UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OVER THE WRN UNITED STATES. AS A RESULT A STRONG NORTHERLY FLOW ALOFT IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE OVER THE NERN PLAINS OF COLORADO. ASIDE FM A SLIGHT MODERATION IN TEMPERATURES...CONDITIONS WILL REMAIN IN A RATHER STEADY STATE WITH PERSISTENT WINDY CONDITIONS IN THE AFTN AND EVNG. COLD AMS WL REMAIN TRAPPED IN THE VALLEYS OF JACKSON AND GRAND COUNTIES SO WL STICK TO TEMPERATURES SIMILAR TO SUNDAY IN THOSE AREAS. .LONG TERM...A LARGE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL BE CENTERED OVER THE WESTERN U.S. TO START OFF THIS PERIOD TUESDAY. THE RIDGE WILL PROGRESS EAST TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY AS IT SLOWLY WEAKENS. THIS WILL KEEP TEMPERATURES WARM FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR WITH DRY CONDITIONS. A WEAK WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL BE OVER THE REGION THURSDAY WITH A WEAK DISTURBANCE OVER THE SOUTHWEST U.S. MOST OF THE WARM AIR WILL REMAIN IN PLACE THURSDAY. AN INCREASE IN MID AND HIGH CLOUDS WILL LIMIT THE HEATING THURSDAY KEEPING READINGS SLIGHTLY COOLER THAN WEDNESDAYS HIGHS. AS THE SYSTEM OVER THE SOUTHWEST U.S MOVES EAST OVER THE CENTRAL ROCKIES...IT WILL BRING COOLER AIR AND MOISTURE FRIDAY. WILL KEEP POPS IN THE MOUNTAINS AND LOW POPS ACROSS THE PLAINS FOR THIS DISTURBANCE. FOR SATURDAY...MODELS ARE SHOWING A TROUGH ALONG THE WEST COAST. THIS WILL INDUCE A RIDGE AHEAD OF IT OVER THE CENTRAL ROCKIES AND WILL LOWER POPS SATURDAY AND INCREASE TEMPERATURES A FEW DEGREES. WILL LEAVE SOME LOW POPS IN THE MOUNTAINS FOR THE UNCERTAINTY WITH THIS PATTERN. MODELS DISAGREE WHAT HAPPENS WITH THE TROUGH ON SUNDAY. THE ECMWF WANTS TO LIFT IT ACROSS THE ROCKIES...WHILE THE GFS DIGS IT SOUTH ALONG THE WEST COAST. WILL LEAVE THE CURRENT FORECAST OF SEASONAL TEMPERATURES AND LOW POPS FOR THIS PATTERN UNTIL THINGS BECOME MORE CLEAR. && .AVIATION...VFR CONDITIONS THROUGH THE PERIOD. WEAK SWLY WINDS WILL INCREASE AND SWITCH TO NWLY DURING THE AFTN AND EVNG...THEN RETURN BACK TO DRAINAGE LATE TONIGHT. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. COOPER/MEIER
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 1044 AM MST MON JAN 19 2009 COZ030>051-201300- 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- 1044 AM MST MON JAN 19 2009 ...RED FLAG WARNING FOR THE NORTHEASTERN PLAINS OF COLORADO UNTIL 5 PM MST TODAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS WILL INCREASE ACROSS THE PLAINS OF COLORADO THIS AFTERNOON. SPEEDS OF 20 TO 35 MPH AND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED...STRONGEST NEAR THE NEBRASKA AND KANSAS BORDERS. THESE WINDS COMBINED WITH LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITIES WITH SNOW-FREE VEGETATION HAS PROMPTED A RED FLAG WARNING TO BE ISSUED FOR THE NORTHEASTERN PLAINS. ALL OUTDOOR BURNING SHOULD BE AVOIDED. THE WIND WILL DECREASE LATER THIS EVENING. ASIDE FROM SOME COLD AIR TRAPPED IN VALLEYS OF GRAND AND JACKSON COUNTIES...A DRY AND UNSEASONABLY WARM AIRMASS WILL BE IN PLACE OVER THE REGION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. KRIEDERMAN/BARJENBRUCH
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Wind, N & Ne Elbert County Below 6000 Feet / N Lincoln County | 2009-01-19 | 68 | Female | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Indirect |
| High Wind, N & Ne Elbert County Below 6000 Feet / N Lincoln County | 2009-01-19 | 37 | Male | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Indirect |
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, January 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: 150246.