A Pacific, spring storm system skirted across northeast Utah and northwest Colorado spreading snowfall over the higher elevations.
Every event with a place to put it; 7 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 GJT wrote it up.
A Pacific, spring storm system skirted across northeast Utah and northwest Colorado spreading snowfall over the higher elevations.
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 Grand Junction, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 2, 2:27 PM MST, 33 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
327 PM MDT FRI APR 2 2010
.SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY...
THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH HAS EXITED TO THE FRONT RANGE LEAVING
NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT AND LINGERING SHOWERS OF THE NORTHERN
MOUNTAINS...ALONG THE GORE RANGE AND DIVIDE. SNOWFALL RATES SHOULD
DECREASE WITH ONLY LOCAL SHOWERS PRODUCING BRIEF MODERATE SNOW AT
TIMES. VERY BRIEF TRANSITORY RIDGE WILL TRACK EAST THIS EVENING AND
THEN THE NEXT STORM SYSTEM WILL TRACK OVER THE NORTHERN ROCKIES AND
SKIRT THE NORTHERN PART OF THE CENTRAL ROCKIES. FLOW WILL STAY WEST
TO NORTHWEST WITH DYNAMICS AND OROGRAPHICS FAVORING THE NORTHERN
MOUNTAINS OF EASTERN UT AND WESTERN CO.
AS THE SNOWFALL TAPPERS OFF WILL END THE CURRENT WARNINGS AT THE
AFTERNOON PACKAGE. LIGHT SNOW MAY CONTINUE OVER THE HIGHEST PEAKS OF
THE NORTHERN AND NORTH CENTRAL MOUNTAINS OF CO. ALSO...WILL ISSUE
ADVISORIES FOR THE NEXT STORM SYSTEM THAT WILL SKIRT THE NORTHERN
TIER OF THE FORECAST AREA...STARTING OVER NORTHEAST UT MOUNTAINS
THIS EVENING AND TRANSITIONING TO THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS
OF WESTERN CO LATER TONIGHT. EXPECT AN INCREASE IN WINDS WITH THIS
SYSTEM WHICH WILL CAUSE BLOWING SNOW.
FAIRLY QUICK HITTING SYSTEM EXITS LATE SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND
EVENING. FLOW WILL SHIFT TO THE WEST SOUTHWEST SATURDAY NIGHT AS THE
NEXT LARGE SYSTEM SPINS ALONG THE PAC COAST. A WEAK EMBEDDED
DISTURBANCE WILL TRACK OVER CENTRAL UT AND INTO WY BUT SHOULD ONLY
BRING ISOLATED SHOWERS TO THE EASTERN UINTA MOUNTAINS. THIS
DISTURBANCE WILL TIGHTEN THE GRADIENT OVERHEAD AND INCREASE WINDS ON
SUNDAY ESPECIALLY DURING BEST MIXING IN THE AFTERNOON.
.LONG TERM...SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY...
PROGRESSIVE PATTERN CONTINUES WITH UNSETTLED CONDITIONS FOR THE FIRST
HALF OF THE WORK WEEK. THE NEXT PACIFIC LOW APPROACHES THE WA/OR
COAST SUNDAY NIGHT WITH LEADING SHORTWAVE ENERGY MOVING INTO THE
GREAT BASIN. THE FLOW OVER OUR REGION BECOMES SOUTHWEST AND BY MONDAY
BREEZY TO WINDY CONDITIONS DEVELOP. MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY INCREASE
ON MONDAY WITH PRECIPITATION SPREADING IN FROM THE WEST. THERE IS
SOME MODEL DIFFERENCES...WITH THE GFS SHOWING THE FASTER AND
INITIALLY MORE AMPLIFIED SOLUTION. WILL LEAN TOWARDS THE GFS AT THIS
TIME WITH THE SHORTWAVE TROUGH AXIS MOVING ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA
MON NIGHT. THIS WILL RESULT IN THE BEST PRECIPITATION OCCURRING MON
NIGHT INTO TUE. THE ECMWF WAITS FOR TUE-TUE NIGHT WITH A MORE
NORTHERLY WAVE...THEN SHOWS SECONDARY AND MORE SOUTHERLY SHOT ON
WEDNESDAY. BUT WILL STAY WITH THE GFS TIMING FOR NOW AND TREND POPS
DOWNWARDS ON TUE NIGHT...WITH THE CHANCE OF SNOW OVER THE NORTHERN
MOUNTAINS THROUGH THE NIGHT.
A FLAT RIDGE MOVES OVER THE AREA ON THURSDAY...WITH THE FLOW BECOMING
SOUTHWEST ON FRIDAY AS THE NEXT PACIFIC LOW DEVELOPS ALONG THE
COAST.
&&
.AVIATION...
ANOTHER SURGE OF MOISTURE WILL SPREAD IN FROM THE WEST THIS EVENING
AFFECTING MAINLY THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA. THIS WILL
RESULT IN SOME MVFR WITH LOCAL IFR CIGS AND VSBYS THROUGH SATURDAY.
CONDITIONS OVER THE SOUTHERN HALF WILL GENERALLY REMAIN IN THE VFR
CATEGORY.
&&
.GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
CO...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM MDT SATURDAY FOR ZONE 003.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO MIDNIGHT MDT
SATURDAY NIGHT FOR ZONES 004-009-010-012-013.
UT...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM MDT SATURDAY FOR ZONES 023-
025.
&&
SHORT TERM...AS
LONG TERM....EH
AVIATION.....EHHAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 338 PM MDT FRI APR 2 2010 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-031200- ANIMAS RIVER BASIN-ARCHES/GRAND FLAT-CANYONLANDS/NATURAL BRIDGES- CENTRAL COLORADO RIVER BASIN- CENTRAL GUNNISON AND UNCOMPAHGRE RIVER BASIN- CENTRAL YAMPA RIVER BASIN-DEBEQUE TO SILT CORRIDOR- EASTERN UINTA BASIN-EASTERN UINTA MOUNTAINS- ELKHEAD AND PARK MOUNTAINS-FLAT TOPS- FOUR CORNERS/UPPER DOLORES RIVER- GORE AND ELK MOUNTAINS/CENTRAL MOUNTAINS-GRAND AND BATTLEMENT MESAS- GRAND VALLEY-LA SAL AND ABAJO MOUNTAINS-LOWER YAMPA RIVER BASIN- NORTHWEST SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS-PARADOX VALLEY/LOWER DOLORES RIVER- ROAN AND TAVAPUTS PLATEAUS-SAN JUAN RIVER BASIN-SOUTHEAST UTAH- SOUTHWEST SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS-TAVAPUTS PLATEAU- UNCOMPAHGRE PLATEAU AND DALLAS DIVIDE-UPPER GUNNISON RIVER VALLEY- UPPER YAMPA RIVER BASIN-WEST ELK AND SAWATCH MOUNTAINS- 338 PM MDT FRI APR 2 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO. ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES HAVE BEEN ISSUED FOR THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS OF EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO... .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SNOWFALL WILL START OVER THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS OF EASTERN UTAH THIS EVENING AND INCREASE OVER THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS OF WESTERN COLORADO LATE TONIGHT. TRAVEL OVER MOUNTAIN PASSES WILL BE ICY...SNOWPACKED... AND VERY SLICK AT TIMES. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY ANOTHER STORM WILL BRING INCREASING SNOWFALL TO THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS OF WESTERN COLORADO SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT. LOCALLY HEAVY SNOWFALL WILL BE POSSIBLE...WITH ACCUMULATIONS OVER 6 INCHES POSSIBLE. WINDY CONDITIONS THEN DEVELOP SUNDAY AND MONDAY...WITH WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 40 MPH. THESE WINDS WILL BE FOUND AHEAD OF A STORM SYSTEM THAT WILL BRING MORE WIDESPREAD RAIN AND SNOW TO THE REGION MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED TODAY OR TONIGHT. BUT PLEASE REPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT WEATHER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND JUNCTION. TGJT
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
111 PM MDT FRI APR 02 2010
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0901 AM SNOW HAYDEN 40.49N 107.26W
04/02/2010 M5.0 INCH ROUTT CO CO-OP OBSERVER
24HR SNOWFALL
&&
EVENT NUMBER GJT1000397
DLCPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
153 PM MDT FRI APR 02 2010
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0919 AM SNOW RED MOUNTAIN PASS 37.90N 107.70W
04/02/2010 M5.5 INCH OURAY CO AVALANCHE FCSTR
24HR SNOWFALL
&&
EVENT NUMBER GJT1000398
DLCPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
155 PM MDT FRI APR 02 2010
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0919 AM SNOW MOLAS PASS 37.73N 107.70W
04/02/2010 M6.0 INCH SAN JUAN CO AVALANCHE FCSTR
24HR SNOWFALL
&&
EVENT NUMBER GJT1000399
DLCPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
301 PM MDT FRI APR 02 2010
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1000 AM SNOW MCCLURE PASS 39.09N 107.28W
04/02/2010 M6.0 INCH GUNNISON CO AVALANCHE FCSTR
24HR SNOWFALL
&&
EVENT NUMBER GJT1000400
DLCThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
7 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Snowfall of 8 to 12 inches occurred across the area with locally higher amounts up to 15 inches reported at the Tower SNOTEL site. Wind gusts of 25 to 40 mph, with local gusts up to 50 mph, generated areas of blowing and drifting snow.
Snowfall of 5 to 8 inches occurred with wind gusts up to 35 mph producing areas of blowing snow.
Snowfall of 5 to 12 inches occurred with locally higher amounts, including 14 inches at the Bison Lake and Ripple Creek SNOTEL sites. Wind gusts up to 35 mph produced areas of blowing snow.
Snowfall of 5 to 12 inches occurred with locally higher amounts, including 18 inches at Schofield Pass and Gothic. Winds gusted up to 35 mph generating areas of blowing snow.
Snowfall of 5 to 10 inches occurred above the 9,000 foot level. Locally higher amounts were reported, including 14 inches at the Park Reservoir SNOTEL site. Wind gusts of 30 to 45 mph produced areas of blowing snow.
Snowfall of 3 to 4 inches occurred across the area. Wind gusts up to 30 mph produced some areas of blowing snow.
Snowfall of 5 to 8 inches occurred across the area.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, April 2010
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: 223397, 223399, 223401, 223400, 223398, 223405, 223403.