High winds occurred in and near the Front Range Foothills. Peak gusts included: 85 mph at Rooney Road, 84 mph, 2 miles south of Marshall; 83 mph at Virginia Dale; 82 mph, 2 miles south of Crescent Village, Rocky Flats National Wind Technology Center and Wondervu; 79 mph at the Mesa Lab at NCAR and 2 miles southwest of Pleasant View; and 75 mph, 3 miles south-southwest of Boulder; 73 mph in…
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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 BOU wrote it up.
High winds occurred in and near the Front Range Foothills. Peak gusts included: 85 mph at Rooney Road, 84 mph, 2 miles south of Marshall; 83 mph at Virginia Dale; 82 mph, 2 miles south of Crescent Village, Rocky Flats National Wind Technology Center and Wondervu; 79 mph at the Mesa Lab at NCAR and 2 miles southwest of Pleasant View; and 75 mph, 3 miles south-southwest of Boulder; 73 mph in Superior and 68 mph in Golden. The wind downed trees and power lines. As a result, scattered electrical outages affected 20,000 Xcel Energy customers through the morning hours. The main outages affected the cities of Boulder, Golden and Lakewood. Smaller outages were reported in areas of Gold Hill, Fairplay, Ward, Westminster and Wheat Ridge.
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 Denver/Boulder, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 10, 7:31 PM MST, 5 hours 29 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO 831 PM MDT THU OCT 10 2013 .UPDATE...LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED ALONG THE COLD FRONT EARLIER THIS EVENING AND...AT ONE POINT...STRETCHED FROM LOGAN COUNTY DOWN TO SOUTHERN LINCOLN COUNTY...WITH STRONG SOUTHERLY WINDS TO THE EAST OF THE FRONT. THE LINE OF STORMS HAS PUSHED INTO WESTERN NEBRASKA AND WESTERN KANSAS...BRINGING AN END TO THE THREAT OF THUNDERSTORMS ON THE NORTHEAST PLAINS. AN AREA OF POST- FRONTAL SHOWERS HAS DEVELOPED IN THE DEFORMATION ZONE TO THE WEST OF THE SURFACE LOW. THESE LIGHT SHOWERS SHOULD LINGER FOR SEVERAL HOURS...BUT WITH MINIMAL IMPACT. THAT COMPRISES THE FIRST HALF OF TONIGHTS WEATHER. STILL TO COME WILL BE SOME OROGRAPHIC SNOW SHOWER ACTIVITY IN THE MOUNTAINS AND AN EPISODE OF GUSTY WINDS ALONG THE FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS AFTER MIDNIGHT. THESE FEATURES WILL DEVELOP AS THE UPPER LOW CURRENTLY OVER SOUTH-CENTRAL COLORADO SHEARS OUT AND EJECTS ACROSS EASTERN COLORADO DURING THE PRE-DAWN HOURS. KGJX RADAR SHOWS SCATTERED SHOWERS MOVING EASTWARD WITH TIME. AS THE LOW EJECTS...FLOW OVER THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS WILL BECOME WEST-NORTHWEST AS THE COOLEST AIR ALOFT MOVES ACROSS THE STATE. SNOW SHOWERS SHOULD PRODUCE UP TO A HALF FOOT OR MORE OF SNOW THROUGH MIDDAY TOMORROW. THE WIND ALONG THE EAST SLOPES WILL RESULT FROM THE COMBINATION OF INCREASING NORTHWEST FLOW AT LOW AND MID LEVELS WITH A REGION OF NORTHERLY WINDS AT UPPER LEVELS CREATING A MEAN STATE CRITICAL LAYER THAT AMPLIFIES A MOUNTAIN WAVE OVER THE FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS. THE STRONGEST WINDS WILL DEVELOP AFTER MIDNIGHT AND MAY PEAK BETWEEN 3 AM AND 6 AM. THE ADVISORIES AND WARNINGS TO COVER THESE ASPECTS OF THE STORM WILL REMAIN IN PLACE FOR NOW. THE PRIMARY CHANGE TO THE FORECAST PACKAGE WILL BE THE REMOVAL OF THUNDERSTORMS FROM THIS EVENINGS TIME PERIOD. OTHER ELEMENTS ARE UNCHANGED. && .AVIATION...WINDS AT DENVER AREA AIRPORTS HAVE BEEN DRIVEN BY OUTLOW FROM SHOWER ACTIVITY IN COMBINATION WITH MODERATE SOUTHWEST FLOW OFF THE SURFACE. LOW LEVEL WINDS LOOK TO HAVE TRANSITIONED TO A DOWNSLOPE NORTHWESTERLY DIRECTION WHICH WILL HELP KEEP CEILINGS IN THE VFR RANGE OVERNIGHT. SHOWERS DEVELOPING OVER CENTRAL ADAMS AND ARAPAHOE COUNTIES SHOULD REMAIN EAST OF THE METRO AREA AS THEY DRIFT NORTHWARD. WESTERLY WINDS SHOULD PREVAIL OVERNIGHT AS THE HIGH WIND EVENT DEVELOPS ALONG THE FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS. && .HYDROLOGY...NO CONCERNS. HEAVY PRECIPITATION IS NOT EXPECTED. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 301 PM MDT THU OCT 10 2013/ SHORT TERM...UPPER TROF APPROACHING COLORADO FROM THE WEST THIS AFTERNOON AND APPEARS THERE ARE TWO MAIN CIRCULATION CENTERS WITH THE ENTIRE TROF. THE STRONGER ONE IS NOW APPROACHING SW COLORADO WITH A WEAKER CIRCULATION OVER NORTHERN UTAH. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPING OVER THE MOUNTAINS BUT COVERAGE MORE SCATTERED WITH UNFAVORABLE SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST MTN TOP FLOW. FLOW WILL BECOME MORE FAVORABLE TNT AS MTN TOP FLOW SHIFTS MORE WESTERLY. SNOW PRODUCTION SHOULD INCREASE IN THE MOUNTAINS ALONG WITH STRONG WESTERLY WINDS. HENCE...CURRENT WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES LOOK GOOD. ACROSS NORTHEAST COLORADO...SURFACE BOUNDARY JUST SHIFTING EAST OF DENVER WITH STRONG SOUTHEAST WINDS OVER THE PALMER DIVIDE AND NORTHEAST PLAINS. STILL A CHANCE FOR SEVERE STORMS ON THE PLAINS WITH STRONG SHEAR PROFILE AND MODERATE INSTABILITY. COULD EASILY SEE HIGH WIND GUSTS GIVEN THE STRONG 50KT MID LEVEL FLOW. HIGHEST CHANCES OF STORMS WILL BE OVER THE FAR PLAINS WITH CONVERGENCE AND BETTER LOW LEVEL MOISTURE NOW INTO WESTERN KANSAS. MAIN CONCERN FOR LATER TNT AND FRIDAY AM IS THE POTENTIAL FOR HIGH WINDS OVER THE FOOTHILLS AND ADJACENT PLAINS. THIS LOOKS LIKE A GOOD CASE FOR HIGH WINDS WITH EJECTING LOW FROM THE DESERT SOUTHWEST. BOTH NAM AND RAP SHOWING CROSS BARRIER FLOW INCREASING 50-60KT AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT ALONG WITH STRONG MTN TOP STABILITY JUST BELOW 700MB. ALSO MEAN STATE CRITICAL LAYER DEVELOPS AS WELL. A FEW FACTORS AGAINST THE WINDS...AS DEEP UPSTREAM MOISTURE MAY LIMIT THE MTN TOP STABILITY AND BEST SUBSIDENCE BEHIND THE TROF IS JUST SOUTH AND EAST OF THE HIGH WIND AREA. ON THE OTHER SIDE...SURFACE GRADIENT INCREASES TO AROUND 15MB FROM GJT TO DEN. BOTTOM LINE...WILL UPGRADE THE WATCH TO WARNINGS FOR THE TARGETED AREA WITH ENOUGH FACTORS IN FAVOR OF HIGH WINDS. LONG TERM...THE SECONDARY UPPER TROUGH WILL BE MOVING EAST OF THE AREA FRIDAY NIGHT WITH ISOLATED SHOWERS CONTINUING ACROSS THE AREA. AN UPPER RIDGE WILL BUILD OVER THE AREA SATURDAY BRINGING DRIER WEATHER BEFORE ANOTHER WEATHER SYSTEM DIGS INTO THE GREAT BASIN SUNDAY. A SURFACE LOW WILL BE FORMING TO THE NORTH OF THE STATE TO CREATE GUSTY SOUTHERLY WINDS OVER THE PLAINS SATURDAY. SOUTHWEST WINDS ALOFT WILL INCREASE TO BRING IN WARMER AIR SUNDAY BEFORE MOISTURE IS DRAWN UP FROM THE SOUTH TO BRING SHOWERS AND POSSIBLE THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE PLAINS. AT THE SAME TIME...MOISTURE FROM THE INCOMING GREAT BASIN SYSTEM WILL SPREAD SHOWERS OVER THE MOUNTAINS. THE ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT IS PROGGED TO PUSH DOWN ACROSS THE STATE MONDAY AS THE UPPER TROUGH BEGINS TO LIFT NORTHEAST. RAIN SHOWERS OVER THE PLAINS AND SNOW SHOWERS OVER THE MOUNTAINS WILL CONTINUE FROM SUNDAY INTO MONDAY NIGHT...WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE THE RAIN COULD CHANGE INTO SNOW AT LOWER ELEVATIONS MONDAY NIGHT. TUESDAY IS WHEN THE MODELS BEGIN TO DIVERGE WITH THE UPPER TROUGH. ECMWF AND THE CANADIAN MODEL KEEPS A LOW BACK IN THE GREAT BASIN TO ANCHOR THE UPPER TROUGH OVER THE STATE LONGER WHILE THE GFS CONTINUES TO MOVE THE TROUGH SOUTHEAST. WILL KEEP COLDER THAN NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND A SLIGHT CHANCE OF PRECIP IN THE FORECAST WHILE THESE DIFFERENCES ARE RESOLVED. AVIATION...SURFACE BOUNDARY HAS PUSHED EAST OF DENVER AS ALL TERMINALS HAVE NOW SHIFTED NORTHWEST. GIVEN THAT SHOWERS WILL BE AROUND THROUGH EARLY EVENING WINDS WILL END UP BEING QUITE VARIABLE AND WILL BE HARD TO PINPOINT SPECIFIC DIRECTIONS BUT MOST LIKELY SOME SORT OF WESTERLY COMPONENT. WEST WINDS WILL INCREASE AT BJC LATER TNT WITH POTENTIAL FOR HIGH WINDS AND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 50KT. THE WEST WINDS WILL BE LIGHTER AT DEN AND APA WITH SPEEDS UP TO 25KT POSSIBLE. HYDROLOGY...NO CONCERNS WITH MAINLY FAST MOVING STORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH WIND WARNING FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 9 AM MDT FRIDAY FOR COZ035-036-038-039. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL NOON MDT FRIDAY FOR COZ031-033-034. && SHORT TERM...DANKERS LONG TERM....99 AVIATION...ET
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO 1038 AM MDT THU OCT 10 2013 COZ030>051-111645- JACKSON COUNTY BELOW 9000 FEET- WEST JACKSON AND WEST GRAND COUNTIES ABOVE 9000 FEET- GRAND AND SUMMIT COUNTIES BELOW 9000 FEET- SOUTH AND EAST JACKSON/LARIMER/NORTH AND NORTHEAST GRAND/ NORTHWEST BOULDER COUNTIES ABOVE 9000 FEET- SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST GRAND/WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST BOULDER/ GILPIN/CLEAR CREEK/SUMMIT/NORTH AND WEST PARK COUNTIES ABOVE 9000 FEET-LARIMER AND BOULDER COUNTIES BETWEEN 6000 AND 9000 FEET- JEFFERSON AND WEST DOUGLAS COUNTIES ABOVE 6000 FEET/GILPIN/CLEAR CREEK/NORTHEAST PARK COUNTIES BELOW 9000 FEET- CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PARK COUNTY- LARIMER COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/NORTHWEST WELD COUNTY- BOULDER AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES BELOW 6000 FEET/WEST BROOMFIELD COUNTY- NORTH DOUGLAS COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/DENVER/WEST ADAMS AND ARAPAHOE COUNTIES/EAST BROOMFIELD COUNTY- ELBERT/CENTRAL AND EAST DOUGLAS COUNTIES ABOVE 6000 FEET- NORTHEAST WELD COUNTY-CENTRAL AND SOUTH WELD COUNTY-MORGAN COUNTY- CENTRAL AND EAST ADAMS AND ARAPAHOE COUNTIES- NORTH AND NORTHEAST ELBERT COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/NORTH LINCOLN COUNTY- SOUTHEAST ELBERT COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/SOUTH LINCOLN COUNTY- LOGAN COUNTY-WASHINGTON COUNTY-SEDGWICK COUNTY-PHILLIPS COUNTY- 1038 AM MDT THU OCT 10 2013 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING... ...HIGH WINDS WATCH LATE TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING IN AND NEAR THE FOOTHILLS... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A STORM SYSTEM NOW OVER ARIZONA WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. AS THIS SYSTEM MOVES ACROSS SNOW WILL INCREASE IN THE MOUNTAINS LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE OVERNIGHT. IN ADDITION GUSTY WEST WINDS UP TO 50 MPH WILL PRODUCE AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW AND POOR VISIBILITIES OVERNIGHT OVER THE HIGHER PASSES. AT LOWER ELEVATIONS THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE NORTHEAST PLAINS LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. A FEW OF THE STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE NORTHEAST OF A FORT MORGAN TO AKRON LINE WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL TO ONE INCH IN DIAMETER. IN ADDITION GUSTY SOUTH WINDS OF 30 TO 50 MPH WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE PALMER DIVIDE TOWARDS THE LIMON AREA THIS AFTERNOON AS WELL. BY LATE TONIGHT STRONG WINDS MAY DEVELOP IN AND NEAR THE FOOTHILLS AFTER MIDNIGHT WITH WIND GUSTS TO 75 MPH POSSIBLE AT TIMES. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY WINDS WILL START TO DECREASE OVER THE FOOTHILLS AND ADJACENT PLAINS FRIDAY MORNING AS THE MAIN STORM SYSTEM EXITS TO THE NORTHEAST. HOWEVER A SECOND WEAKER SYSTEM WILL AFFECT THE AREA FRIDAY AFTERNOON INTO EARLY SATURDAY MORNING. THIS SYSTEM WILL LIKELY KEEP SNOW FALLING IN THE MOUNTAINS AND BRING ISOLATED TO SCATTERED RAIN SHOWERS TO NORTHEAST COLORADO. ANOTHER WEATHER SYSTEM MAY AFFECT THE REGION LATE SUNDAY INTO MONDAY WITH THE MOUNTAINS HAVING THE BEST CHANCE AT SEEING PRECIPITATION. HOWEVER THE PLAINS MAY SEE SOME RAIN SHOWERS POSSIBLY TRANSITIONING TO SNOW SHOWERS MONDAY EVENING. THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER THE FAR EASTERN PLAINS MONDAY AFTERNOON. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED LATE THIS AFTERNOON OVER THE FAR NORTHEAST PLAINS OF COLORADO.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Strong winds caused scattered outages in and near the Front Range Foothills.
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, October 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: 479815, 479814, 479816.