Hurricane force winds, up to 115 mph, downed trees in and power lines across the Front Range Mountains and Foothills. Numerous trees were downed in Rocky Mountain National Park.
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 BOU wrote it up.
Hurricane force winds, up to 115 mph, downed trees in and power lines across the Front Range Mountains and Foothills. Numerous trees were downed in Rocky Mountain National Park. Sprague Lake was closed until crews could clear the access road of several fallen trees. Numerous outages were reported with some damage to homes and vehicles. In Estes Park, a total of 3,000 customers lost power, with up to 1,500 customers affected at Allenspark and Glen Haven. In Park County, nearly 1,800 homes in the Alma and Fairplay areas were without power. Thirty access roads around Park County had to be cleared of fallen trees. Scattered outages were also reported in Gilpin County.
In Boulder, a woman received minor injuries when she was struck in the head by a falling tree limb. Three women near Georgetown received minor injuries when they were pelted by glass shards after a barrage of wind driven rocks and dirt shattered their windshield. The strong winds forced the closure of State Highway 287 from Ted's Place to Laramie, Wyoming.
Peak wind gusts included: 115 mph, 5 miles south of Frisco; 113 mph at Mines Peak Summit, 109 mph, 6 miles north-northwest of Berthoud Pass; 101 mph atop Kenosha Pass, 100 mph, 2 miles south-southwest of Loveland Pass; 99 mph, 7 miles west- northwest of Berthoud; 92 mph at Blackhawk; 90 mph, 3 miles south-southwest of Boulder; 87 mph, 2 miles west-northwest of Aspen Springs and at Pickle Gulch; 84 mph at Loveland Pass and Lyons; 82 mph at the National Wind Technology Center; 80 mph at Dumont, 78 mph near Rollinsville and Ward; and 77 mph, 2 miles east-northeast of Estes Park.
The storm also produced heavy snow in parts of western Jackson and Grand Counties. Storm totals included: 13 inches at Zirkel SNOTEL, 12 inches near Rabbit Ears Pass, 10 inches at Columbine SNOTEL, 8 inches at Rand and 5.5 inches near Grand 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 Nov 11, 8:11 PM MST, 3 hours 49 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 811 PM MST FRI NOV 11 2011 .UPDATE... && .SHORT TERM...A MTN WAVE IS SUPPOSED TO DVLP BY 09Z AND LINGER THRU 15Z SAT MORNING. LATEST RUC SHOWS PEAK GUSTS IN THE 50-60 MPH RANGE LATE TONIGHT IN AND NR THE FOOTHILLS WHILE THE NAM HAS HIGHER GUSTS IN THE 65-75 MPH RANGE ALTHOUGH IT KEEPS THE STRONGEST WINDS MAINLY IN THE HIGHER FOOTHILLS AND OVER THE MTNS. MEANWHILE THE HRRR HAS WIND GUSTS MAINLY IN THE 55-65 MPH RANGE. WILL LEAVE CURRENT WARNING IN PLACE SINCE MAY STILL SEE A FEW HIGHER GUSTS MIX DOWN TO LOWER AREAS IN THE NORMALLY WINDY AREAS. .AVIATION...WILL KEEP WINDS SSW OVERNIGHT AROUND 10-15 MPH HOWEVER LATEST HRRR SHOWS WINDS MAY PICK UP AFTER 09Z FM THE WSW WITH SOME GUSTS TO 20-25 MPH THRU 13Z OR S0. THUS WILL INCLUDE A TEMPO GROUP FOR WIND GUSTS IN THE 06Z TAF. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 303 PM MST FRI NOV 11 2011/ SHORT TERM...AS THE NEXT STORM SYSTEM FROM THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST APPROACHES THE STATE TONIGHT...A STRONG SURFACE GRADIENT DEVELOPS AS A SURFACE TROUGH DEEPENS ALONG THE LEESIDE OF THE ROCKIES. MODEL CROSS SECTIONS CONTINUE TO SHOW WINDS INCREASING AFTER MIDNIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING HOURS AND HAVE THE TREND AS STRONGER THAN LAST NIGHT WHERE WE SAW GUSTS TO 74 MPH IN THE FOOTHILLS OF BOULDER COUNTY AND TO 79 MPH OVER BERTHOUD PASS. WILL CONTINUE THE HIGH WIND WARNING FOR THE FOOTHILLS AND URBAN CORRIDOR MAINLY WEST OF I25 STARTING AFTER MIDNIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY AFTERNOON. SOME RECENT MODELS ARE SHOWING THE MAIN TIME FRAME OF STRONGEST WINDS A LITTLE LATER...BUT WILL KEEP WHAT IS OUT AS STILL EXPECTING THE NORMAL EARLY MORNING MAXIMUM GUST PATTERN. MOISTURE WILL BE INCREASING OVER WESTERN COLORADO TONIGHT WITH SNOW EXPECTED TO BEGIN OVER THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT WITH GENERALLY LIGHT AMOUNTS...THEN SNOW RATES ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE THROUGH THE REST OF THE MORNING AND TOMORROW AFTERNOON AS THE UPPER DISTURBANCE NEARS. STRONG OROGRAPHIC FORCING AS WELL AS DYNAMIC FORCING FROM THE DISTURBANCE PASSING OVERHEAD IS EXPECTED TO BRING HEAVIER SNOWFALL BEGINNING TOMORROW AFTERNOON. 4 TO 7 INCHES ARE EXPECTED TOMORROW OVER THE MOUNTAINS OF WESTERN GRAND AND JACKSON COUNTIES...WITH AMOUNTS OF 3 TO 6 INCHES OVER THE REST OF THE WESTERN FACES OF THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS. THE FORCING IN THE MORNING WILL BE MAINLY OROGRAPHIC LIMITING THE HIGH VALLEYS OF GETTING MUCH SNOW UNTIL THE UPPER SHORTWAVE MOVES CLOSER IN THE AFTERNOON. EXPECT A FEW INCHES POSSIBLE OVER NORTH AND MIDDLE PARKS BY THE EVENING. WINDS IN EXCESS OF 40 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 75 MPH WILL CAUSE EXTENDED PERIODS OF BLIZZARD CONDITIONS ABOVE TREE LINE. THESE HIGHER WINDS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO DIG FURTHER DOWN OVER THE PASSES AT TIMES TO CAUSE BLIZZARD CONDITIONS FOR A SHORT TIME. THE PLAINS ARE EXPECTED TO BE GENERALLY WINDY TOMORROW WITH THE STRONG WEST WINDS SPREADING OVER THE EASTERN PLAINS IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGHS WILL BE SIMILAR TO TODAY'S OVER THE FAR EASTERN PLAINS WITH A FEW DEGREES COOLING CLOSER TO THE FOOTHILLS. LONG TERM...SHORT WAVE TROUGH AXIS AND BEST Q-G VERTICAL MOTION WILL BE PASSING ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA BY EARLY SATURDAY EVENING. THEN BETTER COLD ADVECTION WILL OCCUR IN THE MOUNTAINS WITH THE WINDS SHIFTING ALMOST DUE WESTERLY. WHILE THIS IS NOT A TERRIFIC SETUP FOR OROGRAPHIC SNOWFALL IN THE HIGH COUNTRY...LAPSE RATES ARE NEARLY MOIST ADIABATIC ALLOWING FOR GOOD OROGRAPHIC RESPONSE ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THE 40 KNOTS OF CROSS MOUNTAIN WIND. THERE SHOULD ALSO BE A 2 TO 3 HOUR PERIOD OF RATHER HEAVY SNOWFALL ASSOCIATED WITH THE ONSET OF COLD ADVECTION. IN ADDITION...WINDS WILL BE HOWLING ESPECIALLY ABOVE TIMBERLINE WITH GUSTS TO 70 MPH OR MORE LEADING TO CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW AND NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS ESPECIALLY DURING THE PERIOD OF HEAVIER SNOWFALL. THERE SHOULD BE A DECREASE IN SNOW DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS SATURDAY NIGHT AS SHORT WAVE CONTINUES TO PUSH EASTWARD AND SOME DRY AIR WORKS INTO THE STATE. HOWEVER...ANOTHER SHOT OF MOISTURE NOW SEEN STREAMING ACROSS THE ALEUTIANS WILL REACH THE STATE BY SUNDAY MORNING. THIS WILL BRING ANOTHER INCREASE IN SNOWFALL WHICH SHOULD CONTINUE THROUGH THE DAY BEFORE DECREASING SUNDAY EVENING. OROGRAPHIC SNOW MODELS SHOWS ANOTHER 4-8 INCHES OF SNOW FOR THIS PERIOD SO GOING WEEKEND STORM TOTAL FORECAST OF 8-16 INCHES IN THE FRONT RANGE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS...AND 12-24 INCHES NEAR THE RABBIT EARS PASS AREA IS ON TRACK. WE WILL CONTINUE ALL WINTER STORM WARNINGS AS PREVIOUSLY ISSUED. WITH REGARD TO THE WIND...THERE IS SOME THREAT OF HIGH WINDS INTO SATURDAY EVENING AS SUBSIDENCE DEVELOPS BEHIND THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH. THIS STILL LOOKS LIKE MORE OF A BRUTE FORCE EVENT RATHER THAN A MOUNTAIN WAVE EVENT WITH LACK OF A MOUNTAIN TOP STABLE LAYER. GIVEN THE LACK OF CONFIDENCE...WE WILL REFRAIN FROM EXTENDING THE WIND WARNING INTO SATURDAY EVENING AT THIS TIME. EVEN THOUGH SNOW AND WINDS WILL GRADUALLY DECREASE SUNDAY NIGHT... THERE WILL STILL BE PERIODS OF GUSTY WINDS AND MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS OFF AN ON THROUGH AT LEAST TUESDAY NIGHT. WE WILL ALSO HAVE TO WATCH POTENTIAL FOR SHORT LIVED WIND EVENTS GIVEN THE STRENGTH OF THE FLOW ALOFT AND BETTER POTENTIAL FOR MOUNTAIN WAVE ENHANCEMENT AS MOUNTAIN TOP STABLE LAYER SHOULD GRADUALLY STRENGTHEN. BY WEDNESDAY...EASING FLOW ALOFT...GRADIENT...AND UPPER RIDGING SHOULD BRING MORE TRANQUIL WEATHER. NEXT CHANCE OF SNOW SHOULD REACH THE MOUNTAINS BY THURSDAY NIGHT/FRIDAY AS A BROAD UPPER LEVEL TROUGH CARVES OUT ACROSS THE U.S. AVIATION...VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED...WITH SCT-BKN HIGH CLOUDS FROM A STANDING WAVE CLOUDS. A SURFACE TROUGH HAS BASICALLY SET UP RIGHT OVER KDEN WITH A FEW BOUNDARIES TO THE NORTH AND SOUTH. SURFACE WINDS SHOULD REMAIN SOUTHEASTERLY AT KDEN AND KAPA WITH SPEEDS LESS THAT 10 KTS UNTIL AN ENHANCED DRAINAGE WINDS KICK IN THIS EVENING. WINDS ARE THEN EXPECTED TO BECOME WEST TOMORROW MORNING WITH SPEEDS OF 15 TO 30 MPH ANTICIPATED IN THE AFTERNOON. KBJC SHOULD BECOME WESTERLY THIS EVENING WITH SPEEDS INCREASING THROUGH THE NIGHT INTO SATURDAY WITH SPEEDS OF 30 TO 50 MPH EXPECTED. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH WIND WARNING FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 6 PM MST SATURDAY FOR COZ035-036-038-039. WINTER STORM WARNING FROM NOON SATURDAY TO MIDNIGHT MST SUNDAY NIGHT FOR COZ031-033-034. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 3 PM SATURDAY TO 5 PM MST SUNDAY FOR COZ030-032. && SHORT TERM...RPK LONG TERM....BARJENBRUCH AVIATION...RPK
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...DELAYED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 1052 AM MST FRI NOV 11 2011 COZ030>051-121300- 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- 1052 AM MST FRI NOV 11 2011 ...HIGH WIND WARNING FOR AREAS IN AND NEAR THE FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS LATE TONIGHT AND SATURDAY... ...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FOR THE NORTH CENTRAL MOUNTAINS FROM NOON SATURDAY UNTIL MIDNIGHT SUNDAY NIGHT... ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FOR NORTH AND MIDDLE PARKS FOR SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND SUNDAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT IT WILL BE DRY AND WARM TODAY WITH TEMPERATURES CLIMBING TO AROUND 60 THIS AFTERNOON. VERY STRONG WINDS WILL DEVELOP IN AND NEAR THE FOOTHILLS LATE TONIGHT AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING STORM SYSTEM. STRONG WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 75 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED AFTER MIDNIGHT OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS EAST OF THE DIVIDE AS WELL AS INTO THE URBAN CORRIDOR WEST OF INTERSTATE 25. AREAS OF LIGHT SNOW WILL BEGIN TO DEVELOP AFTER MIDNIGHT OVER THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS NEAR STEAMBOAT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY STRONG WEST WINDS WILL SPREAD EASTWARD ACROSS THE PLAINS SATURDAY. STRONG GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 75 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED FROM THE FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS ONTO THE NEARBY ADJACENT PLAINS INCLUDING FORT COLLINS...CARTER LAKE AREA...BOULDER...AND GOLDEN. EAST OF I-25...GUSTS NEAR 50 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE FROM SATURDAY AFTERNOON INTO THE EVENING HOURS. IN THE MOUNTAINS...SNOW WILL BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD AND HEAVIER SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE THROUGH SATURDAY EVENING. NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS WILL BE POSSIBLE AS A PERIOD OF HEAVY SNOWFALL LATE IN THE DAY COMBINES WITH VERY STRONG WINDS. WHILE A BRIEF LULL IN THE STORM IS EXPECTED LATE SATURDAY NIGHT...ANOTHER ROUND OF HEAVIER SNOWFALL IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP SUNDAY. STRONG NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL CONTINUE TO BRING WINDY CONDITIONS TO THE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS SATURDAY NIGHT ALL THE WAY THROUGH TUESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. KRIEDERMAN/BARJENBRUCH
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 high wind, 2 winter weather, 1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Three women received minor injuries when their windshield was shattered by high winds.
A woman was slightly injured by a falling branch.
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, November 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: 353085, 353082, 353084, 353080, 353083, 353081, 353086, 353087.