A weather disturbance embedded in the southwest flow aloft produced significant snowfall in the mountain areas within the northwest corner of 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 weather disturbance embedded in the southwest flow aloft produced significant snowfall in the mountain areas within the northwest corner of 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 Nov 3, 2:56 PM MST, 4 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 256 PM MST SUN NOV 3 2013 .SHORT TERM...(TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT) ISSUED AT 256 PM MST SUN NOV 3 2013 COLD FRONT HAS MOVED INTO NORTHWEST COLORADO AND WILL BE APPROACHING THE I70 CORRIDOR EARLY THIS EVENING. BEHIND THE COLD FRONT...SHOWERS WILL EXPAND AS THE BAROCLINIC ZONE SHIFTS FROM NE UTAH INTO NW COLORADO THROUGH EARLY EVENING. WEB CAMS OVER NORTHEAST UTAH INDICATE LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS OVER THE EASTERN UINTA MOUNTAINS AND THE SRN END OF FLAMING GORGE RESERVOIR. RADAR SHOWS SHOWERS SPREADING FROM THE TAVAPUTS AND MOVING INTO MOFFAT AND RIO BLANCO COUNTY. RAIN SHOWERS WILL QUICKLY CHANGE OVER TO SNOW AS EVAPORATIVE COOLING AND A COOLER AIR MASS BRINGS THE SNOW LEVEL TO THE VALLEY FLOORS EARLY THIS EVENING. THE COLD FRONT CONTINUES TO SAG SOUTHWARD DURING THE NIGHT...REACHING THE ARIZONA AND NEW MEXICO BORDER BY SUNRISE MONDAY. BUT THE SUPPORT FOR THE FRONT WEAKENS SIGNIFICANTLY AS THE UPPER LEVEL ENERGY MOVES FARTHER DOWNSTREAM. AS THE FRONT MOVES SOUTH OF THE GRAND MESA AND THE ELK MOUNTAINS...THE COLD FRONT BECOMES "DRY" WITH LITTLE IF ANY PRECIPITATION OCCURRING. THIS FRONT BECOMES A WIND SHIFT WITH COOLER AIR SPREADING ACROSS THE SRN PORTION OF THE REGION. ANY SUNSHINE THAT OCCURS MONDAY MORNING WILL BE BRIEF AS THE NEXT SHORT WAVE (CURRENTLY ALONG THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST COAST) CARVES OUT A SHARP TROUGH AXIS OVER THE WRN CONUS. THE BIG PICTURE SHOWS A COLD DEEP CONSOLIDATED TROUGH AXIS FORMING TO OUR WEST...TYPICALLY THIS SCENARIO LEADS TO ROBUST SNOW AMOUNTS OVER OUR HIGH COUNTRY. TWO PIECES OF ENERGY SPLITS THE TROUGH AND THE QG FORCING IS NOT COHESIVE...ONE VORT CENTER DIGS SOUTH INTO ARIZONA AND THE NRN PIECE MOVES ACROSS WYOMING. THIS LEAVES COLORADO WITH WEAKER GRADIENT FLOW AND THE OROGRAPHIC COMPONENT MINIMALLY ENHANCES SNOWFALL. CURRENT QPF MODEL PROJECTIONS INDICATE THAT SNOWFALL AMOUNTS RANGES FROM 4 TO 8 INCHES OF SNOW...EXCEPT 8 TO 12 INCHES GETS THE WRN SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS THANKS TO SOUTHWEST FLOW. COULD ISSUE A THIRD PERIOD WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY...BUT HELD OFF IN THE EVENT THAT THE ADDITIONAL SPLITTING OCCURS. THIS IS THE COLDEST AIR MASS THIS AUTUMN SEASON...SNOW LEVELS WILL LOWER TO THE VALLEY FLOORS. ANY RAIN THAT OCCURS EARLY MONDAY EVENING WITH CHANGE OVER TO SNOW. .LONG TERM...(TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY) ISSUED AT 256 PM MST SUN NOV 3 2013 TUESDAY THE SHARP UPPER TROUGH WORKS THROUGH THE REGION WITH SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS CONTINUING OVER THE EASTERN MOUNTAINS. LIGHT NW FLOW ALOFT FAVORS NW-FACING SLOPES WITH LIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS. SHOWERS END BY LATE AFTERNOON. TUESDAY NIGHT...THE COLD DRY AIR MASS IN PLACE WILL ALLOW FOR THE COLDEST NIGHT OF THE SEASON SO FAR. WEDNESDAY...NW FLOW ALOFT BRINGS A WEAK OPEN WAVE SKIRTING THE NORTH WHERE LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS ARE POSSIBLE. TEMPERATURES REMAIN SOME 10 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THURSDAY...WEAK BROAD DIRTY RIDGING ALLOWS TEMPERATURES TO RECOVER NEAR NORMAL. FRIDAY ANOTHER OPEN TROUGH WORKS THRU MT-WY THAT MAY PRODUCE SOME SHOWERS ACROSS THE NORTH. SATURDAY-SUNDAY...A BENIGN WSW FLOW BRINGS ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AS A TROUGH DEVELOPS IN THE PACIFIC NW THAT MAY BRING SHOWERS THE NEXT TUE-WED. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z MONDAY EVENING) ISSUED AT 256 PM MST SUN NOV 3 2013 A COLD FRONT OVER NORTHWEST COLORADO WILL SAG SOUTHWARD TONIGHT. SHOWERS WILL DEVELOP BEHIND THE COLD FRONT FOR A 2-5 HOUR WINDOW THIS EVENING WITH THE SNOW LEVEL LOWERING TO THE VALLEY FLOORS. AIRPORTS AFFECTED BY THIS PRECIPITATION BAND INCLUDE KCAG...KEEO...KHDN AND KSBS. EXPECT MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS FROM LIGHT SNOW...BUT IMPROVING CONDITIONS AFTER 06Z. VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED ELSEWHERE. VFR PREVAILS AT ALL TAF SITES ON MONDAY. SNOW WILL BE INCREASING OVER THE MOUNTAIN TOPS MONDAY AFTERNOON. EXPECT OCCASIONAL MECHANICAL TURBULENCE THROUGH THE PERIOD. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CO...NONE. UT...NONE. && SHORT TERM...PF LONG TERM...JOE AVIATION...PF
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
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 258 PM MST SUN NOV 3 2013 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-041000- 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- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...RANGELY...DINOSAUR...CRAIG...HAYDEN... MEEKER...RIO BLANCO...COLUMBINE...TOPONAS... STEAMBOAT SPRINGS AND VICINITY...GRAND JUNCTION...FRUITA... PALISADE...RIFLE...SILT...PARACHUTE...MESA...GLENWOOD SPRINGS... EAGLE...CARBONDALE...SKYWAY...ASPEN...VAIL...SNOWMASS... CEDAREDGE...DELTA...HOTCHKISS...MONTROSE...CRESTED BUTTE... TAYLOR PARK...MARBLE...BUFORD...TRAPPERS LAKE...GUNNISON... CIMARRON...RIDGWAY...GLADE PARK...OURAY...TELLURIDE...LAKE CITY... SILVERTON...RICO...HESPERUS...GATEWAY...NUCLA...CORTEZ... DOVE CREEK...MANCOS...DURANGO...BAYFIELD...IGNACIO... PAGOSA SPRINGS AND VICINITY...BLANDING...BLUFF...MEXICAN HAT... MANILA...DUTCH JOHN...VERNAL...JENSEN...BALLARD...FORT DUCHESNE... RANDLETT...MOAB...CASTLE VALLEY...THOMPSON SPRINGS... MONTICELLO AND VICINITY 258 PM MST SUN NOV 3 2013 ...SNOW MOVING ACROSS THE REGION ON MONDAY NIGHT... SOME SNOW WILL FALL TONIGHT ACROSS NORTHWEST COLORADO AS A COLD FRONT BRINGS MUCH COOLER WEATHER TO THE ENTIRE REGION. ROUTT COUNTY IN NORTHWEST COLORADO STANDS THE BEST CHANCE FOR RECEIVING ACCUMULATING SNOW WITH 1 INCH POSSIBLE IN STEAMBOAT SPRINGS...WITH UPWARDS TO 3 INCHES IN THE SURROUNDING MOUNTAINS. MUCH OF THE SNOW IS EXPECTED MONDAY NIGHT THAT INCLUDES POSSIBLE ACCUMULATIONS IN SOME OF THE LOWER VALLEYS. CONFIDENCE IS HIGH THAT SNOW WILL FALL...BUT THERE IS SOME UNCERTAINTY WITH RESPECTS TO SNOWFALL AMOUNTS. CURRENT PROJECTIONS INDICATE THE FOLLOWING: FOR THE MOUNTAIN AREAS...SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OF 4 TO 8 INCHES ARE LIKELY ABOVE 7000 FEET. OVER THE SAN JUAN MOUNTAIN PASSES ON HIGHWAY 550 COULD RECEIVE 8 TO 12 INCHES...INCLUDING COAL BANK AND RED MOUNTAIN PASS. FOR THE EASTERN UTAH MOUNTAINS...SNOW AMOUNTS WILL BE LOWER AND RANGE FROM 1 TO 3 INCHES...EXCEPT UPWARDS OF 5 INCHES ON THE PEAKS OF THE LA SAL MOUNTAINS. FOR THE VALLEY LOCATIONS...ACCUMULATING SNOW IS EXPECTED WITH THE BEST POTENTIAL ABOVE 5500 FEET. CURRENT PROJECTIONS INDICATE 2 TO 4 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE EAST OF RIFLE ALONG THE INTERSTATE 70 CORRIDOR...INCLUDING GLENWOOD SPRINGS AND EAGLE. HOWEVER...2 TO 4 INCHES OF SNOW IS ALSO POSSIBLE ACROSS OVER THE HIGHER VALLEYS THAT INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING TOWNS...CRAIG...MEEKER...STEAMBOAT SPRINGS AND GUNNISON. FOR CORTEZ... DURANGO...AND PAGOSA SPRINGS...1 TO 3 INCHES MAY FALL. NEAR 1 INCH OF SNOW MAY FALL AT GRAND JUNCTION AND MONTROSE AREAS. LITTLE IF ANY SNOWFALL IS EXPECTED ACROSS THE EASTERN UTAH VALLEYS. THE HIGHEST THREAT FOR SNOW OCCURS AFTER SUNSET ON MONDAY EVENING...BUT THE SNOW FORECAST MAY CHANGE. FOR PEOPLE TRAVELING ACROSS THE REGION SHOULD STAY ALERT FOR UPDATED FORECASTS. THE LATEST FORECAST ARE ALWAYS AVAILABLE AT WWW.WEATHER.GOV.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Snowfall totals of 4 to 8 inches were measured across the area.
Snowfall totals of around 5 inches were measured mainly in the Steamboat Springs area.
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, November 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: 526007, 499171.