Drought conditions improved over all but the extreme northwest corner of Colorado which remained abnormally dry through November.
Every event with a place to put it; 8 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.
Drought conditions improved over all but the extreme northwest corner of Colorado which remained abnormally dry through November.
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 Oct 31, 1:15 PM MST, 10 hours 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 215 PM MDT SUN OCT 31 2010 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY... CLOUDS WILL QUICKLY INCREASE TOWARD THE WYOMING BORDER THIS EVENING AS THE NEXT UPSTREAM SHORT WAVE SWEEPS ACROSS NORTHWEST COLORADO. TROUGH AXIS IS SPLITTING AS THE PROGRESSIVE SHORT WAVE MOVES OVER THE CENTRAL ROCKIES. FAVORABLE OROGRAPHICS IS SHORT LIVED AS THE WINDS SHIFT FROM WESTERLY TO NORTHERLY WITHIN A 9 TO 12 HOUR PERIOD LATE TONIGHT AND EARLY MONDAY. FARTHER UPSTREAM...OVERRUNNING FROM THE NEXT ERN PACIFIC STORM HAS CUT OFF THE SUPPLY OF COLD AIR SUPPLY. THE NET RESULT IS A SHORT WAVE THAT IS NOT EXPECTED TO STRENGTHEN... AND LIGHT SHOWERS ON THE BOISE AND POCATELLO RADARS...COMBINED WITH THE LACK OF COLD CLOUD TOPS SUPPORT THIS THINKING. TONIGHTS SYSTEM IS A FAST MOVER THAT ONLY HAS A 2-4 HOURS OF OPTIMUM DYNAMICAL FORCING TO GENERATE SNOW OVER THE COLORADO NWRN MOUNTAINS. THE BEST CHANCE OF SNOW OCCURS BETWEEN 03Z THROUGH 09Z...THEN SNOW TAPERS OFF AS THE DYNAMICAL FORCING MOVES DOWNSTREAM. IN CONTRAST...MOST OF ERN UTAH AND SOUTHWEST COLORADO WILL STAY MOSTLY CLEAR AND DRY EXCEPT FOR SOME FLURRIES OVER THE NWRN SAN JUANS. MONDAY AND TUESDAY...WARM ADVECTION ALOFT IS PRONOUNCED AS STRONG HIGH PRESSURE AMPLIFIES OVER THE WRN CONUS. IN THE WAKE OF TONIGHTS SHORT WAVE...COOLER AIR AT THE SURFACE AND STRONG SUBSIDENCE DEVELOPING MONDAY NIGHT WILL RESULT IN STRONGER TEMPERATURE INVERSIONS. BELIEVE THAT BIAS CORRECTED GUIDANCE IS NOT EFFECTIVELY PICKING OUT THE TREND OF STRONGER INVERSIONS...THEREFORE LEANED TOWARD REGULAR BUT COOLER MOS GUIDANCE. SOME CIRRUS WILL TRANSLATE ACROSS THE REGION MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY MORNING...BUT NOT SUFFICIENT TO DISTRACT FROM MOSTLY SUNNY CONDITIONS. .LONG TERM...TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY... A BROAD RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL DOMINATE THE WEATHER INTO THE WEEKEND WITH DRY CONDITIONS ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. EXPECT COOL NIGHT-TIME TEMPERATURES AND MOSTLY SUNNY SKIES WITH SEASONABLY WARM AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES EACH DAY. THE RIDGE WILL SHIFT EAST ON SATURDAY AS A WEAK TROUGH MOVES INTO THE GREAT BASIN REGION. HAVE INCREASE CLOUD COVER AND POPS TO SLIGHT CHANCE OVER MOUNTAINS SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY AS A RESULT OF THIS FAST MOVING WAVE. && .AVIATION... WIDESPREAD RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS ARRIVE THIS EVENING NORTH AND EAST OF A LINE FROM KCAG-KRIL-KGUC (SOUTH AND WEST OF THIS LINE WILL STAY VFR). EXPECT MVFR AND LOCAL IFR TO LIFR CONDS IN THE VICINITY OF SNOW SHOWERS. IMPROVING CONDITIONS CAN BE EXPECTED MONDAY MORNING AFTER SUNRISE WITH WIDESPREAD VFR IN THE AFTERNOON. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CO...NONE. UT...NONE. SHORT TERM.....PF LONG TERM......MPM AVIATION.......TGJT
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 545 AM MDT SUN OCT 31 2010 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-011145- 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- 545 AM MDT SUN OCT 31 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A CHANCE FOR VALLEY RAIN...MOUNTAIN SNOW...AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE NORTH ON LATE THIS AFTERNOON AS A FAST MOVING WEATHER SYSTEM SWEEPS INTO THE REGION. ACCUMULATING SNOWFALL WILL PRIMARILY BE LIMITED TO AREAS ABOVE 9000 FEET DUE TO THE RELATIVELY MILD NATURE OF THIS FAST MOVING DISTURBANCE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS LINGER OVER THE CENTRAL COLORADO MOUNTAINS THROUGH MIDDAY MONDAY. OTHERWISE...DRY AND WARMER WEATHER CAN BE EXPECTED THROUGH SATURDAY AS HIGH PRESSURE RETURNS TO THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED TODAY OR TONIGHT. TGJT
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
8 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Abnormally dry conditions remain in place across extreme Northwest Colorado.
Occasional precipitation through the month was enough to alleviate the drought and near normal conditions returned to the area.
Occasional precipitation through the month was enough to alleviate the drought and near normal conditions returned to the area.
Occasional precipitation through the month was enough to alleviate the drought and near normal conditions returned to the area.
Occasional precipitation through the month was enough to alleviate the drought and near normal conditions returned to the area.
Occasional precipitation through the month was enough to alleviate the drought and near normal conditions returned to the area.
Occasional precipitation through the month was enough to alleviate the drought and near normal conditions returned to the area.
Occasional precipitation through the month was enough to alleviate the drought and near normal conditions returned to 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, November 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: 339038, 339042, 339045, 339046, 339047, 339048, 339049, 339050.