A Pacific trough with an intense pressure gradient produced strong winds in some areas of western Colorado.
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 GJT wrote it up.
A Pacific trough with an intense pressure gradient produced strong winds in some areas of western Colorado.
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 Dec 30, 9:34 PM MST, 5 hours 6 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 934 PM MST FRI DEC 30 2011 .SHORT TERM /TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY/... UNDER A TIGHTENING GRADIENT THIS EVENING WILL BEGIN THE TRANSITION FROM A WEAK RIDGE TO A PASSING SHORTWAVE TROUGH. THE TROUGH WILL HAVE THE MOST INFLUENCE OVER WY AND MT WITH JUST A BIT OF MOISTURE AND JET DYNAMICS REACHING NORTHERN CO AND UT TONIGHT. TROUGH PASSAGE IS PROGGED AT 12-15Z WITH A 100KT JET MAX GOING OVERHEAD. THE 700 MB WINDS INCREASE FROM THIS MORNING'S 20KT TO ABOUT 40 KT AT 12Z SAT. MOISTURE REMAINS QUITE SCANT. SOME COLD ADVECTION FOLLOWS THE WEAK REFLECTION OF A SURFACE FRONT...WITH 700 MB TEMPS PROJECTED TO DROP FROM 0C TO ABOUT -08C BRIEFLY LATE SAT MORNING AND AFTERNOON...BUT THERE IS ALMOST NO MOISTURE TO WORK ON. SO NO SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMS ARE EXPECTED. THE MAIN EFFECT FROM THIS SMALL SYSTEM WILL BE STRONGER AND GUSTY SURFACE WINDS. EXPECT BREEZY TO WINDY CONDITIONS ACROSS THE NORTHWEST PLATEAU AND NORTHERN AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS...WHERE BL WINDS WILL APPROACH BUT GENERALLY STAY BELOW WIND ADVISORY CRITERIA. WILL REISSUE THE SPS CURRENTLY OUT TO CONTINUE A HEADS UP FOR GUSTY WINDS SATURDAY. EXPECT BREEZY CONDITIONS ACROSS THE I-70 CORRIDOR AND ALL OF WESTERN CO AND EASTERN UT FROM I-70 AND NORTH. THE RIDGE BUILDS BACK QUICKLY SAT NIGHT AND SUN. DRY CONDITIONS WITH MUCH LESS WIND ARE EXPECTED. MAX AND MIN TEMP TRENDS SHOULDNT SEE MUCH CHANGE THROUGH THE NEXT 48 HOURS. .LONG TERM /MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY/... DRY WITH ABOVE NORMAL DAYTIME TEMPERATURES EXPECTED THROUGH THURSDAY...THEN A CHANGE POSSIBLE NEXT WEEKEND. THE LARGE-SCALE PATTERN EARLY IN THE PERIOD WILL FEATURE LONGWAVE TROUGHS OVER THE NORTHEAST PACIFIC AND EASTERN USA...WITH AN UPPER RIDGE OVER THE WEST. THIS WILL KEEP ERN UT/WRN CO DRY THROUGH THURSDAY WITH ONLY SOME HIGH CLOUDS AT TIMES AS SOME MOISTURE/ DISTURBANCES PERIODICALLY TOP THE RIDGE. THE WEAK TAIL END OF ONE SUCH SHORTWAVE TOPPING THE RIDGE WILL SLIP ACROSS OUR AREA ON TUE MOSTLY UNNOTICED. VALLEY INVERSIONS WILL LIKELY DEVELOP AS WARMING ALOFT COMMENCES...BUT ALL LOCATIONS SHOULD SEE SOME WARMING WITH AFTERNOON TEMPS MUCH ABOVE NORMAL IN MOST LOCATIONS. THE LARGE-SCALE PATTERN BEGINS TO DE-AMPLIFY LATE NEXT WEEK. THE RIDGE SHIFTS TO OUR EAST AS A STRONGER PACIFIC SYSTEM WORKS INLAND THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. SOUTHWEST FLOW SHOULD INCREASE FRI AS BOTH THE ECMWF AND GFS MODELS BRING THE POSITIVE-TILTED TROUGH INTO THE GREAT BASIN. MODEL DIFFERENCES ARISE IN THE SPEED AND EVOLUTION OF THIS TROUGH BY FRIDAY WITH THE GFS BEING A LITTLE SLOWER AND DEEPER...BUT WITH THE 12Z ECMWF FORECASTING SOME PRECIPITATION INTO THE EASTERN UINTA MTNS BY MIDDAY FRI AND WRN CO BY FRI EVENING...WILL CARRY A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR THE NORTHERN MTNS FRI AFTERNOON. && .AVIATION /FOR 06Z TAF ISSUANCE/... VFR CONDITIONS CONTINUE AS MID TO HIGH CLOUDS STREAM OVER THE AREA INTO TOMORROW AS APPROACHING TROF STARTS AFFECTING CWA. OF UTMOST CONCERN WILL BE GUSTY WINDS NORTH OF I-70 TONIGHT AND TOMORROW MORNING. LATEST GUIDANCE CONTINUES SHOWING H7 WINDS OF 55 KTS WHICH COULD PRODUCE SURFACE GUSTS UPWARDS OF 35 MPH IF/WHEN IT MIXES DOWN. MOST FAVORABLE AREAS WILL BE ALONG WY/CO BORDER THOUGH CRAIG...MEEKER...AND HAYDEN WILL SEE SOME STRONGER WINDS. THE ONLY AERODROME THAT MAY BE AFFECTED IS KVEL THOUGH GUIDANCE DOWNPLAYS SUCH STRONG WINDS. TAF WILL FOLLOW SUIT BUT MAY PUT TEMPO GROUP FOR SOME GUSTY OVERNIGHT WINDS. BY MORNING...WINDS WILL SUBSIDE AS JET PUSHES OFF TO THE EAST LEAVING SOME CIRRUS IN ITS WAKE AND THUS...VFR. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CO...NONE. UT...NONE. && SHORT TERM...CJC LONG TERM....JD AVIATION.....TGR
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 545 AM MST FRI DEC 30 2011 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-311245- 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 MST FRI DEC 30 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT STRONG GUSTY WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP TONIGHT. AFTER MIDNIGHT MOUNTAIN WIND GUSTS OF 35 TO 55 MPH ARE POSSIBLE. VALLEYS NORTH OF INTERSTATE 70 COULD ALSO SEE WIND GUSTS OF 30 TO 40 MPH DEVELOP LATE TONIGHT. LIGHT SNOW AND AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW ARE POSSIBLE NORTH OF INTERSTATE 70 AFTER MIDNIGHT ESPECIALLY OVER RABBIT EARS PASS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY BLOWING SNOW AND GUSTY WINDS ARE LIKELY OVER THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS AND HIGH VALLEYS SATURDAY. OTHERWISE...MILD AND DRY CONDITIONS CAN BE EXPECTED THROUGH LATE NEXT WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. TGJT
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 1045 PM MST FRI DEC 30 2011 COZ001>005-007>010-012-013-UTZ023>025-311900- LOWER YAMPA RIVER BASIN-CENTRAL YAMPA RIVER BASIN- ROAN AND TAVAPUTS PLATEAUS-ELKHEAD AND PARK MOUNTAINS- UPPER YAMPA RIVER BASIN-DEBEQUE TO SILT CORRIDOR- CENTRAL COLORADO RIVER BASIN-GRAND AND BATTLEMENT MESAS- GORE AND ELK MOUNTAINS/CENTRAL MOUNTAIN VALLEYS- WEST ELK AND SAWATCH MOUNTAINS-FLATTOPS-EASTERN UINTA MOUNTAINS- EASTERN UINTA BASIN-TAVAPUTS PLATEAU- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...RANGELY...DINOSAUR...CRAIG...HAYDEN... MEEKER...RIO BLANCO...COLUMBINE...TOPONAS... STEAMBOAT SPRINGS AND VICINITY...RIFLE...SILT...PARACHUTE... MESA...GLENWOOD SPRINGS...EAGLE...CARBONDALE...SKYWAY...ASPEN... VAIL...SNOWMASS...CRESTED BUTTE...TAYLOR PARK...MARBLE...BUFORD... TRAPPERS LAKE...MANILA...DUTCH JOHN...VERNAL...JENSEN...BALLARD... FORT DUCHESNE...RANDLETT 1045 PM MST FRI DEC 30 2011 ...GUSTY WINDS EXPECTED ACROSS NORTHEAST UTAH AND NORTHWEST COLORADO TONIGHT AND TOMORROW MORNING... A VIGOROUS STORM SYSTEM IS CURRENTLY MOVING ACROSS NORTHERN UTAH AND WILL CONTINUE MOVING EASTWARD THROUGH THE NIGHT. AS IT DOES...GUSTY WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS WILL PICK UP AND BRING PERIODS OF WINDY CONDITIONS TO THE MOUNTAINS AND VALLEYS NORTH OF INTERSTATE 70. WINDS MAY GUST TO OVER 40 MPH ACROSS THE EASTERN UINTA BASIN AND COLORADO NORTHWEST PLATEAU IMPACTING AREAS SUCH AS VERNAL...CRAIG AND STEAMBOAT SPRINGS. THE WINDS WILL BE STRONGER OVER THE HIGHER MOUNTAINS WITH GUSTS TO NEAR 55 MPH POSSIBLE ESPECIALLY NEAR RABBIT EARS PASS. THE WINDS WILL ALSO CREATE AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW MAINLY OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS AND ALONG AND NORTH OF HIGHWAY 40 FROM CRAIG TO STEAMBOAT SPRINGS. THE WINDS WILL START TO DIMINISH FROM NOON ONWARDS TOMORROW.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
236 AM MST SAT DEC 31 2011
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0127 AM NON-TSTM WND GST 1 ESE CRAIG 40.51N 107.53W
12/31/2011 M52 MPH MOFFAT CO ASOS
WIND MEASURED AT CRAIG ASOS
&&
EVENT NUMBER GJT1100675
DCThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Wind gusts of 50 to 80 mph were measured across the area. Locally stronger winds were clocked to 112 mph at the 12,000 foot level near Monarch Pass.
Wind gusts of 50 to 80 mph were measured across the area. Even stronger winds were measured at some high elevation locations, including 99 mph on Mount Abrahms.
Wind gusts of 50 to 80 mph were measured across the area. Even stronger winds were measured at some high elevation locations, including 94 mph on Mount Putney.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, December 2011
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: 355490, 355492, 355493.