Clearing skies and high relative humidities caused dense form to fog in the Nucla area.
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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.
Clearing skies and high relative humidities caused dense form to fog in the Nucla area.
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 3, 3:25 PM MST, 4 hours 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 325 PM MST SUN FEB 3 2013 .SHORT TERM...(THIS EVENING THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT) ISSUED AT 320 PM MST SUN FEB 3 2013 SHRTWV ENERGY PASSING THROUGH THE SOUTHERN ZONES THIS AFTERNOON TRIGGERING AREAS OF LIGHT SNOW AND VIRGA...MAINLY SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 70. RADAR INDICATING SUFFICIENT RETURNS TO GET SOME PRECIP DOWN TO THE GROUND...BUT STILL NOT GETTING ANY SFC REFLECTION IN OBSERVATIONS OR FROM SPOTTERS. WILL NUDGE POPS HIGHER THROUGH MID EVENING...AS WE SATURATE THE LOWER LEVELS...EVENTUALLY DRIVING SOME LIGHT PRECIP DOWN TO THE SFC. SCATTERED COVERAGE SHOULD SUFFICE ACROSS THE SAN JUANS WITH ISOLATED ACTIVITY ELSEWHERE. NORTH OF INTERSTATE 70...DRY CONDITIONS PERSIST WITH BLANKET OF MID AND HIGH CLOUDS DEPARTING OVERNIGHT WITH HEIGHTS BUILDING IN RESPONSE TO GREAT BASIN RIDGE SLIDING SLOWLY EAST. THIS WILL PUT THE FORECAST AREA UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF NW FLOW ALOFT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT WITH PASSING MID AND HIGH CLOUDS AS ENERGY ROTATES OUT INTO THE PLAINS WELL NORTH AND EAST OF THE FORECAST AREA. LITTLE CHANGE IN TEMPS THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT...WITH PERSISTENCE GOLDEN AND THE UINTA BASIN ONCE AGAIN STUCK UNDER THE INVERSION WITH AREAS OF FOG PERSISTING THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT AND EARLY MORNING HOURS. .LONG TERM...(TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY) ISSUED AT 320 PM MST SUN FEB 3 2013 CONTINUED MILD AND MOSTLY DRY THROUGH THURSDAY. PERSISTENCE WILL GENERALLY WORK WELL FOR THESE PERIODS. A BROAD DIRTY RIDGE BUILDS IN ON TUESDAY BUT IS FLATTENED ON WEDNESDAY BY AN OPEN PASSING TROUGH THROUGH THE NORTHERN ROCKIES. INCREASED CLOUDS AND SOME HIGH COUNTRY FLURRIES ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS WAVE. THE RIDGE REBOUNDS AND QUICKLY SHIFTS EAST ON THURSDAY. SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE REMAINS ANCHORED OVER NE UTAH-NW COLORADO THAT WILL HELP KEEP SURFACE INVERSIONS STRONGER ACROSS THE NORTHERN VALLEYS AND AREAS OF FOG MAINLY IN THE UINTA BASIN. JUST WHEN IT BEGINS TO FEEL LIKE WINTER IS OVER...A ROBUST STORM COMES TO REMIND US ITS STILL EARLY FEBRUARY. MODELS CONTINUE TO CONVERGE ON THE STORM CENTERED ON FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY. MODEL TREND IS TO SPEED UP THE TROUGH WHICH MOST OFTEN SPEAKS TO A MORE INTENSE STORM. THE FASTEST ECMWF THE MODEL OF CHOICE. CLOUDS AND SW GRADIENT WINDS INCREASE LATE THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY. JET STREAK OVER THE COLD FRONT WORK INTO THE FOUR CORNERS FRIDAY AFTERNOON. THE EC-TIMED FRONT SWEEPS THROUGH THE REGION FRIDAY NIGHT BRINGING WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION. SNOW LEVELS LOWER FROM 7000FT MSL TO THE VALLEY BOTTOMS BY SATURDAY MORNING. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS INCREASE ON NORTH FACING SLOPES SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT. QG FORCING REMAINS MOST ROBUST OVER THE NORTHERN ZONES WITH THE SOUTHERN VALLEYS TO SEE SHOWERS MAINLY WITH FRONTAL PASSAGE FRIDAY NIGHT. INSTABILITY WILL BE ADDED TO THE STORM FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY. MOISTURE IS THE MAIN LIMITING INGREDIENT. HIGHLIGHTS ARE ANTICIPATED FOR MOST/ALL MOUNTAINS AND SOME VALLEYS ESPECIALLY NORTH. INCREASED GUIDANCE POPS SIGNIFICANTLY TO PRODUCE LIKELY WORDING IN THE MTNS. SUNDAY...THE MAIN PORTION OF THE STORM ENERGY PROGRESSES TO THE NE BUT A HANG-BACK TROUGH REMAINS OVER THE REGION. TIGHT CYCLONIC FLOW ALOFT WILL EFFICIENTLY PRODUCE SNOW BUT PROBABLY WITH LIMITED ACCUMULATIONS. TEMPERATURES WILL ONCE AGAIN BE WELL BELOW NORMAL. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z MONDAY EVENING) ISSUED AT 320 PM MST SUN FEB 3 2013 AREAS OF FOG WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE MVFR TO IFR CIGS AND VSBYS ACROSS THE UINTA BASIN IN NORTHEAST UTAH...IMPACTING KVEL THROUGH MIDDAY MONDAY. THERE WILL ALSO BE AREAS OF LIGHT SNOW ACROSS THE SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS IN SOUTHWEST COLORADO THIS EVENING WHICH WILL OBSCURE MOUNTAIN TOPS AND BRING BRIEF IFR CIGS AND VSBYS TO KTEX. OTHERWISE...VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL AT ALL TERMINAL SITES THROUGH 00Z MONDAY. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CO...NONE. UT...NONE. && SHORT TERM...JDC LONG TERM...JOE AVIATION...JDC
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 533 AM MST SUN FEB 3 2013 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-041245- 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- 533 AM MST SUN FEB 3 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A WEAK DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE OVER THE SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS TODAY BRINGING SOME FLURRIES AND LIGHT SNOWFALL TO HIGHER ELEVATIONS. NO ACCUMULATION IS EXPECTED. MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES WILL BE COMMON TODAY BECOMING PARTLY CLOUDY TOWARDS EVENING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY ANOTHER WEAK WAVE WILL MOVE OVER THE FLATTOPS AND GORE RANGE WEDNESDAY EVENING BRINGING A SLIM CHANCE FOR SOME LIGHT SNOWFALL. AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE WILL BRING MORE SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION TO THE REGION FROM FRIDAY ONWARDS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 dense fog. Local standard time, as filed.
Dense fog with visibilities down to a quarter mile or less was measured at Hopkins Field Airport in Nucla.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, February 2013
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: 483149.