High winds developed in and near the foothills of Boulder, Jefferson and Larimer Counties. Peak wind gusts included: 101 mph at Eldora Ski Resort, 100 mph, 6 miles northwest of Boulder; 84 mph at the NCAR Mesa Lab, 82 mph at Pinewood Lake, 79 mph; 5 miles northwest of Boulder, and 75 mph at the National Wind Technology Center.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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.
High winds developed in and near the foothills of Boulder, Jefferson and Larimer Counties. Peak wind gusts included: 101 mph at Eldora Ski Resort, 100 mph, 6 miles northwest of Boulder; 84 mph at the NCAR Mesa Lab, 82 mph at Pinewood Lake, 79 mph; 5 miles northwest of Boulder, and 75 mph at the National Wind Technology Center. In Nederland, a wind turbine recently installed was damaged by the high wind.
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 27, 3:35 PM MST, 7 hours 35 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 335 PM MST TUE JAN 27 2009 .SHORT TERM...QUIETER DAY THAN YESTERDAY WITH THE MAIN CONCERN THE AMOUNT OF WIND FOR TONIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY IN AND NEAR THE FOOTHILLS. FORECASTS HAVE HAD SOME WINDS AND THESE HAVE FINALLY DEVELOPED THIS AFTERNOON AND ALONG WITH ALL THE NEW FALLEN SNOW WENT AND HOISTED A WINTER WEATHER ADVIORY FOR BLOWING SNOW IN AND NEAR THE FOOTHILLS. THE STRONGEST OF THE WINDS LOOK TO BE IN LARIMER COUNTY WITH THIS SET UP AND BLOWING SNOW EXTENDING OUT TO INTERSTATE 25 NEAR THE WYOMING BORDER COULD BE A PROBLEM. AT THIS THE POTENTIAL GUSTS LOOK TO BE BELOW HIGH WIND CRITERIA AND HAVE HELD OFF ON ANY WATCH OR WARNING FOR WINDS. COULD GET CLOSEST IN PORTIONS OF LARIMER COUNTY WITH THE SOMEWHAT MORE NNW GEOSTROPHIC FLOW INITIALLY. OVERALL THE BEST PERIOD FOR THE STRONGEST WINDS APPEARS TO BE LATER TONIGHT THROUGH 12Z TOMORROW. ASIDE FROM THE WINDS THE OTHER ISSUE IS INCREASING SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS WITH A WAVE AND JET APPROACHING FROM THE NW. COULD END UP NEEDING AN ADVISORY FOR SNOW IN THE HIGH COUNTRY BUT AGAIN THINGS APPEARED TO BE BELOW LIMITS AT THIS TIME. ON THE PLAINS KEPT IT DRY AS THE CHANCE FOR ANYTHING WITH A BIT OF A SURGE AND THE APPROACHING JET WAS MORE FOR WEDNESDAY NIGHT. .LONG TERM...A LARGE UPPER TROUGH OVER THE EASTERN HALF OF THE UNITED STATES WILL KEEP THE FORECAST AREA IN STRONG WEST- NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT WEDNESDAY NIGHT. IT MOVES EASTWARD ON THURSDAY WITH THE STRONG NORTHERLY FLOW ALOFT OVER THE FORECAST AREA WELL INTO THURSDAY NIGHT. THERE IS A WEST-NORTHWESTERLY JET MAX OVER THE SOUTHERN FORECAST AREA THURSDAY EVENING...THEN A NORTHERLY JET MAX SLIDING ACROSS ALL THE FORECAST AREA FROM WEST TO EAST THURSDAY AFTERNOON INTO THURSDAY EVENING. BY FRIDAY...UPPER RIDGING MOVES IN FROM THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES WITH MUCH WEAKER NORTHERLY FLOW ALOFT FOR US. THE QG VERTICAL VELOCITY FIELDS KEEP THE FORECAST AREA IN DOWNWARD SYNOPTIC SCALE MOTION WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY. THE LOW LEVEL PRESSURE GRADIENT POINTS TO DOWNSLOPING BOUNDARY LAYER FLOW FOR THE FORECAST AREA THROUGH MOST OF THE PERIODS. FOR MOISTURE...IT IS PRETTY DEEP OVER THE MOUNTAINS WEDNESDAY NIGHT. BY THURSDAY MIDDAY...IT DECREASES...WITH JUST A BIT LINGERING OVER THE LOWER LEVELS THROUGH MUCH OF THURSDAY NIGHT. FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT ARE PRETTY DRY IN THE MOUNTAINS. OVER THE PLAINS...THERE IS SOME MOISTURE...ESPECIALLY OVER THE EASTERN TWO-THIRDS WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO EARLY THURSDAY AFTERNOON. BY THURSDAY AFTERNOON...JUST SOME MID AND UPPER LEVEL MOISTURE REMAINS OVER THE PLAINS. IT IS DRY OVER THE PLAINS THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT. THE QPF FIELDS LOOK SIMILAR TO YESTERDAY'S 12Z RUNS ...WITH SOME MEASURABLE SNOW OVER THE MOUNTAINS WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO FRIDAY MORNING...THE BEST WEDNESDAY NIGHT/THURSDAY MORNING. THERE IS A TAD OVER SOME OF THE PLAINS WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY MORNING. FOR MOUNTAIN POPS..."LIKELY"S ARE IN THERE NOW AND WILL LET THEM RIDE...ESPECIALLY WITH THE MOISTURE...MOUNTAIN TOP FLOW ...AND THE JET MAX IN MIND. HOWEVER...THERE IS NO UPWARD SYNOPTIC SCALE MOTION...ONLY MINOR COLD AIR ADVECTION WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY...AND FAIR LAPSE RATES WEDNESDAY NIGHT...BECOMING REALLY POOR BY THURSDAY MORNING. SNOW MODEL YIELDS 1 TO 6 INCHES OVER THE HIGH MOUNTAIN ZONES FROM 00Z LATE WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH 15Z THURSDAY MORNING. NO HIGHLIGHTS. FOR THE PLAINS...THE 12Z MODEL RUNS I AM LOOKING AT SHOW ALL DOWNSLOPING...MARGINAL MOISTURE OVER THE EASTERN PLAINS...EVEN LESS FOR THE WESTERN PLAINS...NO UPWARD MOTION...AND THE JET MAX ONLY TO HELP WITH BANDED PRECIPITATION OVER THE SOUTHERN PLAINS. WILL STILL LEAVE POPS FOR THE PLAINS IN THE 10-20%S RANGE AS MODELS COULD START SHOWING UPSLOPE. WINDS COULD BE A BIT OF AN ISSUE THURSDAY NIGHT/FRIDAY MORNING FOR THE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS. FOR TEMPERATURES...THURSDAY'S HIGHS ARE 2-3 C COOLER THEN WEDNESDAY'S HIGHS. FRIDAY'S HIGHS WARM UP 6-10 C OVER THURSDAY'S. FOR THE LATER DAYS...SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...MODELS HAVE AND UPPER TROUGH WAY NORTH OF THE FORECAST AREA SATURDAY AND SUNDAY WITH A TROUGH AXIS MOVING ACROSS SUNDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING. THERE IS SOME UPSLOPE PROGGED FOR THE PLAINS SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY. UPPER RIDGING MOVES IN ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY. THE FLOW ALOFT IS NORTH-NORTHWESTERLY. MOISTURE IS NOT GREAT THROUGH ALL THE DAYS. THE ONLY POTENTIAL DAY WITH BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES WOULD BE SUNDAY. && .AVIATION...DRAINAGE WINDS LIKELY TONIGHT AS EXPECT THE STRONGER WEST WINDS NOT TO MAKE IT OUT TO DIA...BUT GUSTY WEST WINDS HAVE REACHED BJC AND WILL CONTINUE TONIGHT AND TOMORROW MORNING. WEST WINDS EXPECTED DEN AND APA TOMORROW. NO PRECIP THROUGH PERIOD. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR BLOWING SNOW FOR FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS...ZONES 35..36 AND PORTIONS OF THE URBAN CORRIDOR CLOSER TO THE FOOTHILLS...ZONES 38 AND 39 UNTIL 11 AM WEDNESDAY. SZOKE/RJK
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 1107 AM MST TUE JAN 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- 1107 AM MST TUE JAN 27 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS WILL BE INCREASING TODAY AND TONIGHT ACROSS THE MOUNTAIN PASSES AND FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS. WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 20 TO 35 MPH AND GUSTS UP AROUND 60 MPH ARE POSSIBLE BY LATER TONIGHT. EVEN SOME GUSTS TO 45 MPH ARE POSSIBLE AT THE BASE OF THE FOOTHILLS. WITH THE GUSTY WINDS THERE WILL BE BLOWING SNOW AND REDUCED VISIBILITIES OVER EXPOSED AND SNOW COVERED AREAS WHICH ARE NOW WIDESPREAD AFTER THE LATEST SNOWFALL. SNOW WILL BE DEVELOPING AGAIN IN THE MOUNTAINS AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT BUT ANY ACCUMULATIONS OVERNIGHT ARE EXPECTED TO BE UNDER AN INCH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY SNOW IS LIKELY IN THE HIGH MOUNTAINS WEDNESDAY INTO EARLY THURSDAY MORNING. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL RANGE FROM 3 TO 9 INCHES THROUGH THAT PERIOD. WINDY CONDITIONS WILL CREATE AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW AS WELL. STRONG DOWNSLOPE WINDS WITH GUSTS TO 60 MPH ARE EXPECTED IN AND NEAR THE FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS WEDNESDAY MORNING. THE NEXT CHANCE OF SNOW WILL BE A SLIGHT ONE OVER THE MOUNTAINS SATURDAY NIGHT. OTHERWISE DRY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. SZOKE/RJK
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 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, 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: 150254, 150255, 150256.