A Pacific trough and associated cold front brought significant snowfall to the mountains of northwest Colorado.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 and associated cold front brought significant snowfall to the mountains 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 Jan 10, 8:46 PM MST, 3 hours 14 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 846 PM MST TUE JAN 10 2012 .AVIATION /FOR 06Z TAF ISSUANCE/... AREAS OF LIGHT SNOW WILL DEVELOP OVER THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS LATE THIS EVENING...SHIFTING SOUTH OVERNIGHT INTO EARLY WEDNESDAY. LIGHT SNOW IN THE VICINITY OF KHDN...KSBS...KASE...AND KEGE IS POSSIBLE AFTER 09Z...WITH SNOW CHANCES INCREASING BY 12Z WEDNESDAY. FREQUENT MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS WILL OCCUR OVER THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS...ESPECIALLY ALONG THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE. AREAS OF MVFR CIGS AND VISIBILITY WILL DEVELOP...WITH BRIEF IFR CONDITIONS IN HEAVIER SNOW SHOWERS...OVER AND AROUND THE AIRPORTS LISTED PREVIOUSLY THROUGH 19Z WEDNESDAY. SNOW WILL DIMINISH DURING THE AFTERNOON ACROSS THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON WITH A RETURN TO VFR CONDITIONS WEDNESDAY EVENING. ELSEWHERE...EXPECT VFR CONDITIONS THROUGH THE NEXT 24 HOURS. && .PREV DISCUSSION /ISSUED 254 PM MST TUE JAN 10 2012/... SHORT TERM /TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY/... UPPER AIR ANALYSIS AND WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWING THE WESTERN TROF SPLITTING AS PROGGED THIS AFTERNOON AS IT PROGRESSED OUT OF SOUTHWEST CANADA. THERE IS NOW A DISTINCT CIRCULATION OFF THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST THAT WILL DISCONNECT FROM THE FLOW AND MEANDER OFF THE CALIFORNIA COAST THE NEXT FEW DAYS. MORE RELEVANT TO THIS AREA IS THE ENERGY DROPPING INTO THE NORTHERN ROCKIES THIS AFTERNOON...DRIVING A COLD FRONT ACROSS SOUTHERN MONTANA INTO NORTHERN NEVADA. RADAR MOSAIC IS NOT VERY ACTIVE UPSTREAM NEAR THE FRONT AND WITH NO SIGNIFICANT PACIFIC TAP INDICATED...STILL LEANING THE FORECAST BELOW ADVISORY LEVEL SNOWS AS THIS FRONT MOVES THROUGH OUR CWA LATE TONIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY MORNING. MODERATE LARGE SCALE ASCENT INCREASES OVER THE NORTHERN CWA THIS EVENING AS THE TROF AXIS EXTENDS FROM THE NORTHERN HIGH PLAINS TO THE NORTHERN GREAT BASIN. SOME JET INTERACTION WILL HELP THE OVERALL LIFT AND WITH GRADUAL TOP-DOWN MOISTENING OF THE DENDRITIC LAYER EXPECT SNOW SHOWERS TO INCREASE OVER THE NORTHEAST UTAH MOUNTAINS AND THE PARK/GORE RANGE INTERFACE BY MIDNIGHT. THE SHOWERS WILL GET A BOOST AFTER MIDNIGHT AS THE MAIN ENERGY/PV LOBE ROTATES INTO EASTERN UTAH/WESTERN COLORADO AND DRIVES THE COLD FRONT THROUGH ALL BUT THE FAR SOUTHERN CWA BY SUNRISE. LIFT FROM THE FRONT AND FAVORABLE W/NW OROGRAPHICS LOOK TO FAVOR THE PORTIONS OF THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS FROM STEAMBOAT DOWN TO AROUND CRESTED BUTTE INCLUDING THE DIVIDE. THICKENING DENDRITIC LAYER IN THE COLD AND DRY AIR SHOULD BOOST SLR/S UP TO AT LEAST CLIMO OR GREATER AND HAVE PUSHED SNOW TOTALS UP TO THE 2-4 INCH RANGE OF THE ABOVE MENTIONED AREA. THE STRONGER CONVECTIVE NATURE OF THE LAST STORM LOOKS TO BE LACKING WITH THIS FAST MOVING STORM BUT COLD CORE AND STEEPENING LAPSE RATES WILL KEEP SHOWERS POSSIBLE ALONG THE UPPER I-70 CORRIDOR...WITH 1 TO MAYBE 2 INCHES FROM GLENWOOD TO AVON IS POSSIBLE BY LATE WEDNESDAY. RELAXING LAPSE RATES AND INCREASING SUBSIDENCE TURN OFF THE BULK OF THE SNOW BY MIDNIGHT...BUT SOUNDINGS ARE SHOWING MOIST MOUNTAIN TOP LEVEL IN VERY FAVORABLE DENDRITIC LAYER ACROSS THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS TO VAIL PASS SO VERY LIGHT SNOW/FLURRIES COULD LAST INTO THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. VERY COLD AIR WILL BE DRIFTING IN BEHIND THIS SYSTEM AND LOWS BY SUNRISE THURSDAY STILL LOOK TO BE THE COLDEST OF THE FORECAST PERIOD. TEMPERATURES WILL BE SLOW TO WARM ON THURSDAY AS WELL WITH WARMING ALOFT HELPING TO RE-ENFORCE THE LOW LEVEL INVERSIONS AND CONTINUED TO RUN NUMBERS TOWARD LOWER END OF GUIDANCE. LONG TERM /THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY/... A WEAK WAVE EMBEDDED IN THE NORTHERN-BRANCH NORTHWEST FLOW WILL PASS OVER THE FORECAST AREA THURSDAY EVENING. THIS WILL BRING SOME FAST MOVING CLOUDS ACROSS THE AREA...BUT MOISTURE REMAINS QUITE LIMITED. THE WESTERN RIDGE THEN FLATTENS FOR THE WEEKEND AS SHORTWAVE ENERGY MOVES INTO THE NORTHWEST. ALSO WITH SIZABLE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE GFS AND ECMWF...A SOUTHERN BRANCH CUTOFF LOW OFF THE CA COAST WILL BEGIN TO WEAKEN AND SHIFT EAST EARLY IN THE WEEKEND. THE GFS SOLUTION IS FASTER AND MORE SOUTHERLY...AND BRINGS AN UN- PHASED LOW ACROSS NORTHWEST NEW MEXICO/SOUTHWEST COLORADO SUNDAY NIGHT. THE ECMWF OPENS UP AND PHASES THE THE MUCH WEAKENED LOW WITH A NORTHERN BRANCH SHORTWAVE...WHICH DOES NOT REACH THE FORECAST AREA UNTIL LATE MONDAY. BOTH SOLUTIONS REMAIN ON THE WEAK SIDE...WITH THE GFS QPF SCANTY...AND ONLY OVER THE SOUTHERN EDGE. THE EC COULD BRING A LITTLE BETTER COVERAGE...BUT AMOUNTS STILL LOOKING VERY THIN. THEREFORE WITH THE TRACK/STRENGTH STILL UNCERTAIN...HAVE KEPT THE FORECAST ON THE DRY SIDE FOR NOW. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CO...NONE. UT...NONE. && SHORT TERM...15 LONG TERM....EH AVIATION.....TGJT
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 604 AM MST TUE JAN 10 2012 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-111300- LOWER YAMPA RIVER BASIN-CENTRAL YAMPA RIVER BASIN- ROAN AND TAVAPUTS PLATEAUS-ELKHEAD AND PARK MOUNTAINS- UPPER YAMPA RIVER BASIN-GRAND VALLEY-DEBEQUE TO SILT CORRIDOR- CENTRAL COLORADO RIVER BASIN-GRAND AND BATTLEMENT MESAS- GORE AND ELK MOUNTAINS/CENTRAL MOUNTAIN VALLEYS- CENTRAL GUNNISON AND UNCOMPAHGRE RIVER BASIN- WEST ELK AND SAWATCH MOUNTAINS-FLATTOPS- UPPER GUNNISON RIVER VALLEY-UNCOMPAHGRE PLATEAU AND DALLAS DIVIDE- NORTHWEST SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS-SOUTHWEST SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS- PARADOX VALLEY/LOWER DOLORES RIVER- FOUR CORNERS/UPPER DOLORES RIVER-ANIMAS RIVER BASIN- SAN JUAN RIVER BASIN-SOUTHEAST UTAH-EASTERN UINTA MOUNTAINS- EASTERN UINTA BASIN-TAVAPUTS PLATEAU-ARCHES/GRAND FLAT- LA SAL AND ABAJO MOUNTAINS-CANYONLANDS/NATURAL BRIDGES- 604 AM MST TUE JAN 10 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT LIGHT SNOW AND LOCALIZED BLOWING SNOW WILL DEVELOP OVER THE ELKHEAD...PARK AND FLAT TOP MOUNTAINS AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY LIGHT SNOW WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE NORTHERN COLORADO MOUNTAINS FROM RABBIT EARS PASS TO VAIL WEDNESDAY. AREAS OF LIGHT SNOW WILL EXTEND INTO THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED TODAY OR TONIGHT...HOWEVER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SNOWFALL AMOUNTS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND JUNCTION.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Snowfall ranged from 3 to 8 inches across the area. Wind gusts of 20 to 35 mph produced localized blowing and drifting snow.
Snowfall ranged from 3 to 8 inches across the area. Wind gusts of 20 to 30 mph produced localized blowing and drifting snow.
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: 355496, 355497.