A Pacific trough produced significant snowfall in some mountain areas of eastern Utah.
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 produced significant snowfall in some mountain areas of eastern Utah.
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 Feb 12, 4:31 AM MST, 29 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
431 AM MST SUN FEB 12 2012
.SHORT TERM /TODAY THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT/...
STORM IS EVOLVING AS PREDICTED...WITH THE TROUGH AXIS PROGRESSING
ACROSS ARIZONA TODAY. THE 80KT JET NOSE WAS EAST OF THE FOUR
CORNERS THIS EARLY MORNING WITH PROGGED Q CONVERGENCE SPREADING
OVER THE SOUTH. AT 4 AM CHAIN LAWS WERE IN EFFECT IN THE SAN JUAN
MTNS AND SNOW WAS LOWERING INTO THE SOUTHERN VALLEYS.
COLD ADVECTION ALOFT BEGINS THIS MORNING STEEPENING THE LAPSE
RATES. SURFACE CONVERGENCE IS MOSTLY LIMITED TO NE UT-NW CO BUT
JET SUPPORT AND STEEPEST LAPSE RATES ARE CENTERED OVER THE SOUTH THIS
AFTERNOON. WITH MARGINAL INSTABILITY THIS AFTERNOON...SLANTWISE
OR OCCASIONALLY STAND-UP CONVECTION WILL SET OFF ISOLATED
THUNDERSNOW...WITH THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA PERHAPS
FAVORED. AS THE FLOW VEERS FROM SW TO W-NW IN THE APPROACHING
TROUGH THIS AFTERNOON...THE MID LEVELS DEVELOP A NICE CYCLONIC
CURVATURE. ACCUMULATIONS WILL INCREASE OVER W AND NW FACING
SLOPES LATE TODAY AND EVENING. MODELS CONTINUE TO INDICATE A
DEFORMATION ZONE OVER NE UT-NW CO THIS AFTERNOON OVER THE BEST
SURFACE CONVERGENCE. MODELS ARE PRODUCING LITTLE SNOWFALL IN THE
UINTA BASIN AND NW CO PLATEAU...BUT THIS AREA NEEDS TO BE WATCHED
FOR POTENTIAL CONVECTIVE ACCUMULATIONS. WITH 700MB TEMPERATURES
DROPPING FROM -3C THIS MORNING TO -6 THIS AFTERNOON...SNOW LEVELS
WILL LOWER FROM 7K TO 5.5.KFT AS THE -25C COLD CORE SETTLES OVER
THE SOUTH.
TONIGHT...THE POTENTIAL VORT CENTER PASSES OVER THE SOUTH AND
DYNAMICAL FORCING SHIFTS EAST OF THE DIVIDE AFTER MIDNIGHT. MOIST
W-NW FLOW WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE OROGRAPHIC SNOW THROUGH THE
NIGHT. THE CENTRAL MTNS WILL LIKELY SEE THEIR BEST ACCUMULATIONS
THIS EVENING. INCLUDED ZONE 10/ELKS IN THE ADVISORY AFTER NOON
TODAY. THE BEST ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED IN THE SOUTHERN HALF OF
THAT ZONE WITH VAIL PASS EXPECTED TO RECEIVE LESS SNOWFALL.
MONDAY SHOWERS WILL BE LIMITED MAINLY TO THE CO MTNS AND
ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE LIGHT AS HEIGHTS RISE UNDER A SHORTWAVE
RIDGE. AVAILABLE MOISTURE DIMINISHES A BIT ESPECIALLY NORTH AS
FLOW BACKS TO SW.
MONDAY NIGHT THE NEXT PACIFIC TROUGH DIGS TO NEAR LAS VEGAS BY
SUNRISE. THE ASSOCIATED POTENTIAL VORT CENTER PUSHES INTO SE UTAH
WITH SOME WEAK SFC REFLECTION TO THE NORTH OF THE FOUR CORNERS.
MOISTURE INCREASES AGAIN FOR SHOWERS SPREADING INTO THE FOUR
CORNERS...MAINLY IN THE FORM OF SNOW.
.LONG TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/...
NEXT WINTER STORM WILL BE PUNCHING INTO THE FOUR CORNERS REGION ON
TUESDAY...WITH WIDESPREAD SNOW BREAKING OUT ONCE AGAIN OVER
WESTERN COLORADO AND EASTERN UTAH. STILL SOME ISSUES WITH SNOW
LEVELS INITIALLY...ALTHOUGH THIS SYSTEM IS COLDER SO THOSE LEVELS
SHOULD DROP TO THE VALLEY FLOORS BY TUESDAY EVENING. MODELS ARE IN
GOOD AGREEMENT ATTM AND CONFIDENCE LEVEL ON THE RISE THAT ANOTHER
SIGNIFICANT SNOW EVENT WILL OCCUR...FOCUSED ONCE AGAIN ON THE
SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS. SOME SPILLOVER INTO THE CENTRAL AND NORTHERN
ZONES CAN BE EXPECTED...ALTHOUGH SNOWFALL AMOUNTS WILL BE LIGHTER.
THIS STORM EXITS WEDNESDAY...WITH DRY WEATHER RETURNING TO CLOSE
OUT THE WEEK AS BRIEF RIDGING ARRIVES. HOWEVER...ANOTHER SERIES OF
PACIFIC WAVES LOOMS ON THE HORIZON TO START OFF THE NEW WORK
WEEK...WHICH REMAINS JUST OUTSIDE OF THIS FORECAST PACKAGE. SO
EXPECT UNSETTLED WEATHER TO CONTINUE FOR AT LEAST ANOTHER WEEK.
&&
.AVIATION /FOR 12Z TAF ISSUANCE/...
DETERIORATING CONDITIONS EXPECTED THROUGHOUT THE REGION TODAY AS A
STRONG UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVES IN THIS MORNING. THIS
WILL BRING WIDESPREAD MVFR/IFR CONDITIONS TO THE SOUTHERN
MOUNTAINS AND VALLEYS THIS MORNING...EVENTUALLY SPREADING NORTH
THIS AFTERNOON...IMPACTING ALL TERMINAL SITES. A MIXTURE OF RAIN
AND SNOW CAN BE EXPECTED BELOW 6000 FEET. SNOW LEVELS WILL LOWER
TO NEAR THE VALLEY FLOORS AFTER 00Z MONDAY. SCATTERED SHOWERS
LINGER THROUGH MONDAY...ALTHOUGH CIGS WILL BE IMPROVING WITH VFR
CONDS EXPECTED AT ALL SITES BY MIDDAY.
&&
.GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
CO...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL NOON MST MONDAY FOR ZONES 009-012-
013-018.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 6 AM MST MONDAY FOR ZONES 003-017.
WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL NOON MST MONDAY FOR ZONE 019.
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM NOON TODAY TO NOON MST MONDAY FOR
ZONE 010.
WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL MIDNIGHT MST TONIGHT FOR ZONES 022-
023.
UT...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL MIDNIGHT MST TONIGHT FOR ZONES 023-
025-028.
&&
SHORT TERM...JOE
LONG TERM....JDC
AVIATION.....JDCThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Snowfall accumulations of 5 to 6 inches were measured above the 8000 foot level.
Snowfall accumulations of 5 to 8 inches were measured across the area. Wind gusts of 20 to 45 mph produced areas of blowing and drifting snow.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Utah in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Utah, February 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: 370341, 370340.