Two backcountry skiers triggered an avalanche near Berthoud Pass. One of the skiers was caught and partially buried in the slide.
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The episode as NWS BOU wrote it up.
Two backcountry skiers triggered an avalanche near Berthoud Pass. One of the skiers was caught and partially buried in the slide. He sustained a broken arm.
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 1, 10:45 AM MST, 3 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 1045 AM MST SUN JAN 1 2012 .UPDATE...LATEST ANALYSIS SHOWS A WEAK FRONTAL PUSH MOVING ACROSS THE NORTHERN BORDER WITH A BATCH OF MID LEVEL CLOUDINESS BEHIND IT. AS A RESULT...WE WILL INCREASE SKY COVER A BIT AND LOWER MAX TEMPS A COUPLE DEGREES OVER THE NORTHEAST PLAINS. OTHERWISE FORECAST IS ON TRACK WITH TRANQUIL WEATHER CONDITIONS BEHIND YESTERDAYS WINDSTORM. && .AVIATION...GIVEN WEAK FRONTAL PUSH/SURGE MOVING ACROSS THE NORTHERN BORDER...WIND DIRECTION SHOULD REMAIN MORE NORTH/NORTHEASTERLY THROUGH THE AFTERNOON HOURS. THEN WINDS WILL TRANSITION TO TYPICAL SOUTH/SOUTHWEST IN THE 01Z-04Z TIME FRAME. VFR CONDITIONS WITH ONLY FEW-SCT CLOUDS ABOVE 8000 FT AGL. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 400 AM MST SUN JAN 01 2012/ ..CORRECTION TO FIRST PARAGRAPH FOR A FEW MISSING WORDS... . SHORT TERM...IT/LL BE CONSIDERABLY MORE TRANQUIL TODAY AFTER YESTERDAY/S BIG BORA WIND STORM. THE SYSTEM RESPONSIBLE HAS MOVE WELL EAST OF COLORADO NOW WITH THE REGION UNDER A NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT AHEAD OF AN UPPER RIDGE MOVING THIS WAY FROM THE GREAT BASIN. HOWEVER WINDS HAVE YET TO TOTALLY GO AWAY SUCH AS UP ALONG THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE AND ON THE LEE SLOPE OF THE FRONT RANGE WHERE THE PASS FEW HOURS WLY WINDS CONTINUED TO GUST IN THE 30-40 MPH RANGE. STRONG MTN TOP STATIC STABILITY...THE PRESENCE OF A MTN WAVE AND 50-80KT NWLY FLOW AT MID-LEVELS MAIN REASON FOR THE LINGERING WINDS. ON THE PLAINS ENHANCED DRAINAGE FLOW OFF THE PALMER DIVIDE HAS KEPT SPEEDS UP IN THE 14-22KT RANGE AT D.I.A. AND POINTS SOUTH AND EAST OF DENVER PAST FEW HOURS. SHOULD SEE THESE WINDS SLACKING OFF QUITE A BIT NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS WITH THE MTN WAVE RELAXING AND MOVING EAST AWAY FROM THE FRONT RANGE. HOWEVER AT THE SAME TIME...RUC... HRRR AND NAM MODELS SHOW NWLY SFC WINDS PICKING ACROSS THE NERN CORNER OF THE STATE THROUGH THE MORNING WITH A MID-LEVEL JET SPEED MAX LOWERING AS IT PASSES BY. COULD SEE SPEEDS IN THE 20-25KT RANGE IN THIS AREA LATER THIS MORNING THRU EARLY THIS AFTERNOON...THEN A STEADY DROP OFF IN SPEEDS THEREAFTER. OTHERWISE SOME MOUNTAIN WAVE CLOUDINESS EARLY THIS MORNING...THEN FILTERED SUNSHINE REST OF THE DAY WITH PASSING CIRRUS. TEMPERATURES TODAY AT OR SLIGHT BELOW AVERAGE FOR THIS DATE. TONIGHT LOOKS CALM AND CLEAR WITH MIN TEMPERATURES SLIGHTLY WARMER IN MOST AREAS. LONG TERM...HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE ALOFT WILL MOVE ACROSS COLORADO ON MONDAY WITH CONTINUE DRY CONDITIONS AND MORE NOTICEABLE TEMPERATURE WARMUP. WITH THE DOWNSLOPE FLOW READINGS WILL BE IN THE UPPER 40S TO MID 50S OVER MOST SECTIONS OF THE PLAINS. FOR TUESDAY...CONTINUED WARMING BUT MORE WINDS AS A STRONGER WEST TO NORTHWEST FLOW PATTERN DEVELOPS AS RIDGE MIGRATES EAST AND WEAK TROF MOVES ACROSS THE NORTHERN HIGH PLAINS. WE WILL MOST LIKELY SEE SOME GUSTS IN THE 40-50KT RANGE OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND HIGHER FOOTHILLS BUT DOESN'T LOOK HIGH WINDS AT THIS TIME. MORE RIDGING FOR WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY AS TEMPERATURES CLIMB TO WAY ABOVE SEASONABLE NORMALS. THERE STILL LOOKS TO BE A PATTERN CHANGE COME LATE IN THE WEEK...AROUND LATE FRIDAY AND SATURDAY BUT LONG RANGE MODELS ARE QUITE DIFFERENT IN THE HANDLING OF ENERGY APPROACHING COLORADO. AS WITH YESTERDAY'S RUNS...THE GFS IS THE MOST PROGRESSIVE BUT WEAKER...WHILE THE EUROPEAN IS STILL SHOWING A CUTOFF LOW DEVELOPING IN THE DESERT SOUTHWEST. GFS ENSEMBLE PLOTS ARE QUITE TANGLED. AT THIS TIME WITH MUCH UNCERTAINTY WILL MAINTAIN THE SLIGHT CHANCE POPS FOR MUCH OF THE CWA IN THE FRIDAY AND SATURDAY TIME FRAME. CERTAINLY SOME COOLER TEMPERATURES LOOK TO BE ON TAP. AVIATION...SOUTH-SOUTHEAST WINDS OF 12-20 KNOTS IN HOUR OR SO...THEN A STEADY DROP OFF IN SPEEDS TO UNDER 10 KNOTS FOR THE REMINDER OF THE DAY. MID AND HIGH LEVEL MOUNTAIN WAVE CLOUDINESS SHOULD MOVE SOUTHEAST OF THE METRO AREA BY MID-MORNING. OTHERWISE VFR CONDITIONS FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS WITH WINDS ASSUMING THEIR TYPICAL DRAINAGE PATTERN AFTER DARK. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && SHORT TERM...BARJENBRUCH LONG TERM....ENTREKIN AVIATION...BARJENBRUCH
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 1048 AM MST SUN JAN 01 2012 COZ030>051-021300- 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- 1048 AM MST SUN JAN 01 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. BARJENBRUCH/DANKERS
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 avalanche. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, January 2012
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: 358633.