Severe drought conditions began to creep into the Four Corners region by late April as winter and early spring precipitation remained below normal.
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.
Severe drought conditions began to creep into the Four Corners region by late April as winter and early spring precipitation remained below normal.
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 Apr 14, 9:30 PM MST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 1030 PM MDT MON APR 14 2014 .SHORT TERM...(THIS EVENING THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT) ISSUED AT 245 PM MDT MON APR 14 2014 LOW AND HIGH TEMPERATURES TODAY WERE 10-15 COLDER THAN NORMAL ACROSS THE REGION. WHERE SOME FRUIT TREES WERE BLOSSOMING IN THE GRAND AND LOWER UNCOMPAHGRE/GUNNISON VALLEYS...MORNING TEMPERATURES DROPPED INTO THE MID 20S. ANOTHER COLD NIGHT IS IN STORE TONIGHT EXCEPT ON THE HIGHER EXPOSED SLOPES WHERE A SUBSIDENCE INVERSION WILL KEEP OVERNIGHT LOWS LESS COLD. LATEST GUIDANCE AGAIN SUPPORTS TEMPERATURES WELL BELOW FREEZING FOR THE GRAND JUNCTION AND MONTROSE AREAS. SO A FREEZE WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED. HIGH CLOUDS AND SW-W GRADIENT WINDS BEGIN TO PICK UP ON TUESDAY. THIS WILL END THE VALLEY FREEZES FOR AWHILE. MILD AND DRY CONDITIONS WILL DEVELOP ACROSS PORTIONS OF SE UTAH AND SW COLORADO TUESDAY AFTERNOON. THE PACIFIC NW TROUGH DROPS ACROSS WYOMING TUESDAY NIGHT WITH A WEAK 80KT JET STREAK IN NW COLORADO. LIGHT MOUNTAIN ACCUMULATIONS ARE POSSIBLE NORTH OF I-70. .LONG TERM...(WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY) ISSUED AT 245 PM MDT MON APR 14 2014 A DISTURBANCE MOVING THROUGH THE NORTHERN ROCKIES WILL SKIRT THE NORTHERN TIER COUNTIES OF WESTERN COLORADO AND EASTERN UTAH. A SECONDARY DISTURBANCE TRAILING AND SLIGHTLY FARTHER SOUTH WILL DIG THROUGH UTAH AND INTO COLORADO ON WEDNESDAY AND BRING UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT FOR SHOWERS. FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT BETWEEN MODELS ALTHOUGH THE TROF IS SLIGHTLY DEEPER IN THE GFS. AN ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT WILL TRANSITION FROM NORTH TO SOUTH AND COOL THE TEMPERATURES BY 5 TO 10 DEGREES WEDNESDAY. THE BEST FOCUS FOR PRECIPITATION LOOKS TO BE EAST OF THE DIVIDE WITH WIDE SPREAD SHOWERS OVER THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL PORTION OF EASTERN UT AND WESTERN CO. FOR NOW MODELS INDICATE SNOW AMOUNTS WELL BELOW WARNING CRITERIA WEST OF THE DIVIDE. THE CONVECTIVE COMPONENT MAY LEAD TO LOCALIZED HIGHER AMOUNTS BUT WILL HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL THE SYSTEM GETS CLOSER FOR EVALUATION. THE TROF EXITS THURSDAY ALLOWING A TRANSITORY RIDGE TO MOVE OVER THE REGION. SHOWERS SHOULD END EARLY THURSDAY MORNING WITH ONLY LINGERING SHOWERS OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS ALONG THE DIVIDE. THE RIDGE AXIS REACHES EASTERN UT BY FRIDAY. AFTER THIS POINT IN TIME THE MODELS BEGIN TO DIVERGE. THE GFS SLIDES AN OPEN TROF OVER HEAD THROUGH THE FIRST HALF OF THE WEEKEND. THE EC ON THE OTHER HAND CLOSES A LOW OFF OVER THE SOUTHWESTERN US AND KEEPS UNSETTLED WEATHER PATTERN OVER THE FORECAST AREA. CURRENTLY...CONFIDENCE IS LOW FOR THE WEEKEND FORECAST...WILL HAVE TO WAIT ANOTHER MODEL RUN OR TWO TO SEE TRENDS. BOTH SCENARIOS INCLUDE SHOWERS OVER THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS SATURDAY SO WILL TAKE A BLEND AND LEAVE THEM LOW CHANCE FOR NOW. WILL KEEP CURRENT FORECAST TREND FOR NOW WITHOUT ANY SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN THE EXTENDED. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z TUESDAY NIGHT) ISSUED AT 1030 PM MDT MON APR 14 2014 VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED AT ALL TAF SITES THROUGH TUE EVENING. HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE AREA WILL BEGIN WEAKENING TUESDAY AS THE NEXT PACIFIC STORM MOVES INTO THE NORTHERN ROCKIES. SOUTHWEST GUSTS TO 20-25 KTS ARE EXPECTED AFTER 19Z TUE. ISOLATED SHOWERS ARE POSSIBLE OVER THE ERN UINTA MOUNTAINS AFTER 22Z TUE...WITH ISOLATED SHOWERS OVER THE ELKHEAD AND PARK MOUNTAINS AND THE FLATTOPS AFTER 00Z WED. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CO...FREEZE WARNING UNTIL 8 AM MDT TUESDAY FOR COZ006-011. UT...NONE. && SHORT TERM...JOE LONG TERM...AS AVIATION...JAD
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 436 AM MDT MON APR 14 2014 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-151045- 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- 436 AM MDT MON APR 14 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL COLORADO...NORTHWEST COLORADO...SOUTH CENTRAL COLORADO... SOUTHWEST COLORADO...WEST CENTRAL COLORADO...UT...EAST CENTRAL UTAH...NORTHEAST UTAH AND SOUTHEAST UTAH. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ISOLATED SNOW SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE OVER THE MOUNTAINS NEAR THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE THROUGH MIDMORNING...THEN DISSIPATE. LOW TEMPERATURES TONIGHT WILL AGAIN APPROACH OR DROP BELOW FREEZING IN MANY OF THE LOWER VALLEYS. A FREEZE WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE GRAND VALLEY AND THE CENTRAL GUNNISON AND UNCOMPAHGRE RIVER BASINS...INCLUDING PALISADE...GRAND JUNCTION... FRUITA...LOMA...DELTA...OLATHE...HOTCHKISS...PAONIA AND MONTROSE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY THE NEXT CHANCE OF WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION WILL COME TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY AS A PACIFIC STORM MOVES THROUGH THE AREA. ANOTHER STORM WILL BRING PRECIPITATION TO THE AREA FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. CUOCO
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Severe drought conditions returned to the Four Corners region of Colorado by the second half of April.
Severe drought conditions returned to the lower elevations of La Plata County by the second half of April.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, April 2014
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: 529168, 529169.