A winter storm brought heavy snow to portions of the North-Central Mountains. 5 inches at Zirkel, 12 inches, 2 miles northwest of Fraser; and 10 inches at Albion and Copeland Lake.
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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.
A winter storm brought heavy snow to portions of the North-Central Mountains. Storm totals included: 13 inches at Winter Park and Arapahoe Ridge, 12.5 inches at Zirkel, 12 inches, 2 miles northwest of Fraser; and 10 inches at Albion and Copeland Lake.
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 24, 2:55 AM MST, 35 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 255 AM MST SAT JAN 24 2009 .SHORT TERM...MAIN CONCERN IS FOR HEAVY SNOW POTENTIAL ACROSS THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS TODAY AND TONIGHT AND EXTENDING THROUGH SUNDAY (SEE LONG TERM). SATELLITE PICTURES ALREADY SEEING SOME DEEPER MSTR MOVING INTO UTAH/FAR WESTERN CO ALONG WITH APPROACHING JET ACROSS CENTRAL CALIFORNIA. CROSS SECTIONS SHOW DEEPENING MOISTURE ACROSS THE MTNS THIS MORNING WHILE SW OROGRAPHIC FLOW INCREASES(25-30KT) ALONG WITH MOIST ADIABATIC LAPSE RATES BY AFTN. THIS DEEP MOISTURE WILL CONTINUE INTO TONIGHT. LOCAL SNOW MODEL RESULTED IN SOME PRETTY HEFTY SNOWFALL NUMBERS. THROUGH TONIGHT...ZONE 31 COULD HAVE UP TO 2 FT OF NEW SNOW...WITH UPWARDS OF A FOOT ACROSS ZONE 33. LESSER AMOUNTS WILL OCCUR IN ZONE 34 AND MTN VALLEYS AS THE SW FLOW NOT AS CONDUCIVE TO THE HEAVIER SNOW. HOWEVER...WITH THE JET DYNAMICS AND DECENT LAPSE RATES...SNOWFALL MAY BE ENHANCED IF SNOW BANDS END UP ACROSS SUMMIT COUNTY/MTN VALLEYS...HENCE HEAVIER SNOW MAY RESULT THERE AS WELL. SO FOR THE HIGHLIGHTS FOR NOW WILL GO WITH WINTER STORM WARNINGS IN ZONES 31..33 AND ADVISORIES IN ZONE 34 AND IN THE HIGH MOUNTAIN VALLEY ZONES. AS FOR LOWER ELEVATIONS...LOW LEVEL MOISTURE COVERS MUCH OF NORTHEAST COLORADO ATTM. THERE MAY BE SOME PARTIAL CLEARING ACROSS THE PALMER DIVIDE AND SRN PORTIONS OF THE DENVER AREA TODAY BUT DEVELOPING DENVER CYCLONE MAY KEEP THE CLOUDS IN TACT FOR MUCH OF THE DAY. HAVE ALSO LOWERED MAX TEMPS TODAY A BIT IN ANTICIPATION OF THE CYCLONE WHICH WILL KEEP THE COLDER AIR LOCKED IN OVER MUCH OF THE FRONT RANGE. ALSO ADDED SOME LOW POPS OVER THE REMAINDER OF THE PLAINS AS WITH A JET OVERHEAD YOU JUST NEVER KNOW WHEN SOME BANDED SHOWERS DEVELOP. HIGHER POPS UP TOWARDS THE WYOMING/NEBRASKA BORDERS IN CLOSER PROXIMITY TO THE JET. STRATUS SHOULD ALSO REDEVELOP IN MOST LOCALES TONIGHT WITH SOME ENHANCED UPSLOPE FLOW. .LONG TERM...WITH AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH CONTINUING TO DEVELOP OVER THE SWRN US FOR THE FIRST PART OF NEXT WEEK...NRN CO WILL STAY IN MOIST SWLY FLOW ALOFT THRU WED. THE UPPER LEVEL JET LOOKS TO ALSO STAY GENERALLY OVER NRN CO AS WELL THROUGH THIS PERIOD. THIS SETUP WILL HELP CONTINUE THE SNOWFALL OVER THE NRN MTNS WITH AREAS OF PSI PRODUCING SNOW BANDS AND ENHANCING THE SNOWFALL RATES AT TIMES. HAVE THEREFORE KEPT THE WINTER STORM WARNING AND ADVISORY FOR THE MOUNTAINS GOING UNTIL MONDAY MORNING WHEN THE JET STARTS TO WEAKEN SLIGHTLY AND SLIDE NORTH. AT LOWER ELEVATIONS...SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE WILL TRY TO BUILD INTO NERN CO WITH WEAK UPSLOPE FLOW THROUGH MON. APPEARS BEST CHANCE OF SNOW WILL BE ALONG THE CO-WY BORDER NEAR PLACEMENT OF THE UPPER LEVEL JET. SUN AFTERNOON INTO SUN NIGHT UPPER LEVEL JET SINKS A LITTLE FURTHER SOUTH WHICH MAY ALLOW FOR A BETTER CHANCE OF SNOW OVER MUCH OF NERN CO ESPECIALLY NORTH OF DENVER. TEMPS WILL GRADUALLY COOL THROUGH THE PERIOD WITH THE COLDEST READINGS ALONG THE CO-WY-NE BORDER. ON MON BOTH NAM AND GFS STILL HINT AT A DENVER CYCLONE DEVELOPING WITH BEST UPSLOPE COMPONENT NORTH OF DENVER...THUS BEST CHC OF SNOW ON MON MAY OCCUR IN THE NRN FOOTHILLS AND ALONG THE CO-WY BORDER WITH LESS OF A CHANCE FURTHER SOUTH. TEMPS WILL REMAIN BELOW NORMAL ON MON OVER NERN CO AS SHALLOW COLD AIRMASS REMAINS IN PLACE. STRONG UPPER LEVEL JET AND MOIST SW FLOW REMAINS OVER THE REGION THROUGH THU. WHERE AND HOW MUCH SNOW WILL FALL WILL DEPEND ON THE PLACEMENT OF THE JET. SO ONCE AGAIN COULD SEE SOME ENHANCEMENT OF PCPN IN SOME PLACES IN THE MTNS DUE TO PSI. WED AND THU THE SWRN UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL MOVE SLOWLY FROM SRN CA INTO CENTRAL AZ WEAKENING INTO A TROUGH. THIS WILL KEEP A CHANCE OF POPS OVER OVER MTNS OF CO THROUGH WED. A LEE TROUGH LOOKS TO DEVELOP TUE AND WED BRINGING THE WARMEST TEMPS CLOSER TO THE FOOTHILLS AND PALMER DIVIDE AS SHALLOW LAYER OF COLD AIR MAY STILL HAVE A HARD TIME ERODING THE NERN PLAINS ALONG THE CO-WY-NE BORDER. && .AVIATION...IFR/MVFR CIGS ACROSS MUCH OF THE PLAINS WILL DISSIPATE LATER THIS MORNING...BUT WITH DENVER CYCLONE IN PLACE...LOCALES ALONG THE FRONT RANGE MAY STAY SOCKED IN FOR A GOOD PART OF THE DAY. CANT RULE OUT SOME PASSING SNOW SHOWERS THRU THE PERIOD...ESP TNT WITH WEAK UPSLOPE FLOW AND JET OVERHEAD. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR NORTHERN MOUNTAINS..ZONES 31..33 FOR TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT. .WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SUMMIT COUNTY AND VALLEYS OF JACKSON AND GRAND COUNTIES COUNTIES...ZONES 30..32..34..FOR TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT. ENTREKIN/KRIEDERMAN
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 1101 AM MST FRI JAN 23 2009 COZ030>051-241300- 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- 1101 AM MST FRI JAN 23 2009 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY CONTINUES IN WESTERN JACKSON AND WESTERN GRAND COUNTIES... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A WEAK WEATHER SYSTEM MOVING OVER THE MOUNTAINS THIS MORNING HAS BEEN PRODUCING SNOWFALL IN THE NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO MOUNTAINS... PRIMARILY NORTH OF THE I-70 CORRIDOR. THIS SNOW WILL BEGIN TAPERING OFF THROUGH THE AFTERNOON HOURS. ON THE NORTHEAST COLORADO PLAINS...COLD AIR MOVING INTO THE REGION FROM THE NORTH HAS DROPPED TEMPERATURES ON THE PLAINS INTO THE UPPER TEENS TO MID 20S. SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS HAVE ALSO DEVELOPED ON THE FAR NORTHEAST PLAINS. OVER THE URBAN CORRIDOR...WESTERLY WINDS COMING OVER THE MOUNTAINS HAVE PRODUCED A DRYING EFFECT THAT HAS KEPT PRECIPITATION FROM DEVELOPING. THE MAIN PART OF THE PASSING WEATHER DISTURBANCE ALOFT WILL BE MOVING OUT OF COLORADO THIS AFTERNOON...ALLOWING AREAS OF SNOWFALL OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND NORTHEAST PLAINS TO GRADUALLY DECREASE. MOUNTAIN AREAS COULD SEE UP TO AN ADDITIONAL 3 INCHES OF SNOWFALL THIS AFTERNOON. ANY SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ON THE NORTHEAST PLAINS SHOULD BE LESS THAN AN INCH. DRY WEATHER IS EXPECTED OVER THE FORECAST AREA TONIGHT WITH TEMPERATURES IN THE TEENS ACROSS THE PLAINS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY OCCASIONAL SNOW WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS FROM SATURDAY THROUGH MONDAY WITH MODERATE ACCUMULATIONS POSSIBLE. GUSTY WESTERLY WINDS OVER THE MOUNTAIN PASSES WILL CREATE SOME BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. ACROSS LOWER ELEVATIONS...THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF SNOW NEAR THE WYOMING BORDER SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY...THEN ANOTHER CHANCE OF SNOW ACROSS ALL OF NORTHEAST COLORADO FROM LATE SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY ALONG WITH COLDER TEMPERATURES. DRIER AND WARMER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO RETURN AROUND THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. DANKERS/RPK
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 winter storm. 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, 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: 150248, 150249.