Widespread precipitation deficits of a quarter to a half an inch over western Colorado allowed drought conditions to expand significantly in January. Abnormally dry conditions spread across most of the western portions of the state, although drought conditions jumped to the moderate stage along the mountain ranges near the continental divide and over most of the lower elevations of northwest…
Every event with a place to put it; 19 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.
Widespread precipitation deficits of a quarter to a half an inch over western Colorado allowed drought conditions to expand significantly in January. Abnormally dry conditions spread across most of the western portions of the state, although drought conditions jumped to the moderate stage along the mountain ranges near the continental divide and over most of the lower elevations of northwest 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 31, 8:35 PM MST, 3 hours 25 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 835 PM MST SAT DEC 31 2011 .SHORT TERM /TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY/... SURFACE ANALYSIS AND SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOW THE COLD FRONT WAS THROUGH THE ENTIRE CWA AT ABOUT 2 PM. WINDS HAVE GRADUALLY DIMINISHED BEHIND THE FRONT AND ALL WIND HIGHLIGHTS HAVE EXPIRED. THE ONLY ACTIVE WEATHER WAS OVER THE NORTHWEST CO MTNS...WHERE OROGRAPHIC SNOW SHOWERS CONTINUED IN THE PARK AND GORE RANGES AND THE FLATTOPS. ONLY LIGHT ACCUMULATION IS EXPECTED BEFORE THESE WILL DISSIPATE AFTER DARK. A RELATIVELY STRONG NW FLOW ALOFT WILL SLOWLY DECREASE TONIGHT AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS OVER THE WESTERN U.S. THE RIDGE WILL SHARPEN OVER THE GREAT BASIN SUNDAY AND MIGRATE EAST. THE RIDGELINE WILL REACH THE CO/UT BORDER MONDAY AFTERNOON. CONDITIONS WILL BE DRY ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. COLD ADVECTION BEHIND TODAY'S FRONT WILL BRING COOL OVERNIGHT LOWS AND SUNDAY MAXES WILL BE A FEW DEGREES COOLER THAN TODAY...THEN TEMPS WILL WARM UP TO ABOVE NORMAL AGAIN MONDAY. .LONG TERM /TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY/... DRY WEATHER WITH MILD AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED THROUGH THURSDAY...THEN A CHANGE IS POSSIBLE FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. A PACIFIC SHORTWAVE TROUGH PUSHES THROUGH/OVER THE WESTERN RIDGE MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY. MODELS SHOW THAT IT SPLITS WITH THE SOUTHERN END DRIFTING OVER THE DESERT SOUTHWEST WHILE THE NORTHERN SECTION CONTINUES INTO THE UPPER MIDWEST...WITH OUR AREA IN BETWEEN. A WEAK COLD PUSH INDICATED AT 700 MB MAY PRODUCE SOME BREEZY CONDITIONS NORTH OF I-70 EARLY TUE MORNING. OTHERWISE...THIS SHOULD PASS RELATIVELY UNNOTICED EXCEPT FOR SOME HIGH CLOUDS. THE RIDGE REBOUNDS WEDNESDAY FOR A SUNNY DAY BUT THEN FLATTENS THURSDAY AS ANOTHER TROUGH MOVES INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. WHILE THE 12Z GFS AND ECMWF MODELS AGREE ON A SECONDARY WAVE DIGGING A POSITIVELY-TILTED TROUGH INTO THE GREAT BASIN FRIDAY...THEY DIFFER ON WHETHER THIS TROUGH WILL SPLIT...AND IF SO...HOW MUCH. CONFIDENCE IS LOW AS MODELS HAVE BEEN INCONSISTENT RUN-TO-RUN...BUT THE TRACK RECORD OVER THE LAST MONTH HAS BEEN FOR TROUGHS TO SPLIT. WILL ACCEPT THE CONSENSUS FORECAST OF SLIGHT CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION FOR THE MTNS AND NORTHWEST CO FRI-SAT...AND COOLER TEMP...UNTIL CONFIDENCE IMPROVES. && .AVIATION /FOR 06Z TAF ISSUANCE/... HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD IN KEEPING SKIES CLEAR THROUGH THE NEXT 24 HRS. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CO...NONE. UT...NONE. && SHORT TERM...CJC LONG TERM....JAD AVIATION.....TGR
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 1016 AM MST SAT DEC 31 2011 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-011400- 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- 1016 AM MST SAT DEC 31 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO. ...STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS WILL AFFECT THE AREA TODAY AS A COLD FRONT PUSHES THROUGH... .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT DRIVING WILL BE HAZARDOUS OVER MUCH OF THE AREA...BUT ESPECIALLY OVER THE HIGH MOUNTAIN PASSES WITH STRONG CROSSWINDS ARE EXPECTED. IN PARTICULAR MONARCH PASS WILL SEE VERY STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS. THE GUSTY WEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON...WITH WIND GUSTS OF 35 TO 50 MPH OVER THE NORTHWEST COLORADO PLATEAU. STRONGER WIND GUSTS OF 60-75 MPH ARE EXPECTED OVER MOST MOUNTAIN AREAS. FOR THE LOWER ELEVATIONS FROM ABOUT INTERSTATE 70 SOUTH...WINDS WILL GUST BETWEEN 30 AND 40 MPH. EXPECT LIGHT SNOW AND AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW NORTH OF INTERSTATE 70 THROUGHOUT THE DAY...THEN DIMINISHING THIS EVENING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR SNOW OVER THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS ON FRIDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. TGJT
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
19 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Abnormally dry conditions spread across the Colorado River Basin during January as monthly precipitation totals remained below normal.
Abnormally dry conditions spread across much of the lower elevations of western Colorado during January as monthly precipitation totals remained below normal.
Drought conditions jumped from near normal to moderately dry over much of northwest Colorado during January as monthly precipitation totals remained well below normal.
Drought conditions jumped from near normal to moderately dry over much of northwest Colorado during January as monthly precipitation totals remained well below normal.
Abnormally dry conditions expanded over the Colorado River Basin during January as monthly precipitation totals remained below normal.
Abnormally dry conditions expanded over the lower valleys of western Colorado during January as monthly precipitation totals remained below normal.
Near normal conditions expanded to abnormally dry and moderately drought conditions over the northern Colorado mountains and adjacent foothills during January as monthly precipitation totals remained below normal.
Near normal conditions expanded to abnormally dry and moderately drought conditions over the northern Colorado mountains and adjacent foothills during January as monthly precipitation totals remained below normal.
Near normal conditions deteriorated to abnormally dry over the Four Corners region of southwest Colorado during January as monthly precipitation totals remained below normal.
Near normal conditions deteriorated to abnormally dry over the lower desert valleys of southwest Colorado during January as monthly precipitation totals remained below normal.
Monthly precipitation totals remained below normal in January across the southern mountains of Colorado, allowing abnormally dry and moderate drought conditions to expand over portions of the southern San Juan Mountains.
Monthly precipitation totals remained below normal in January across the southern mountains of Colorado, allowing abnormally dry and moderate drought conditions to expand over portions of the northwest San Juan Mountains.
Monthly precipitation totals remained below normal in January across higher terrain of southwest Colorado, allowing abnormally dry conditions to expand across the Uncompahgre Plateau.
Monthly precipitation totals remained below normal in January across higher terrain of western Colorado, allowing abnormally dry conditions to expand across the high mesas and mountains.
Drought conditions jumped from near normal to moderately dry over the upper reaches of the Yampa River Basin during January as monthly precipitation totals remained well below normal.
Drought conditions expanded from near normal to abnormally dry over the high plateaus of northwest Colorado during January as monthly precipitation totals remained below normal.
Drought conditions jumped from near normal to abnormally dry over the upper reaches of the Gunnison River Basin during January as monthly precipitation totals remained below normal.
Drought conditions jumped from near normal to abnormally to moderately dry over the central Colorado high mountains during January as monthly precipitation totals remained below normal.
Drought conditions jumped from near normal to abnormally to moderately dry over the central Colorado high mountains during January as monthly precipitation totals remained below normal.
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: 371878, 371880, 371882, 371883, 371884, 371885, 371886, 371887, 371888, 371889, 371892, 371896, 371900, 371903, 371904, 371906, 371907, 371908, 371909.