High winds occurred in the North Central Mountains above timberline and in the foothills of Boulder and Larimer Counties. Peak wind gusts included: 100 mph atop Berthoud Pass; 97 mph, 7 miles southwest of Tabernash; 87 mph at the NCAR Mesa Lab southwest of Boulder; 86 mph, 8 miles northeast of Four Corners; and 77 mph, 2 miles south-southeast of Gold Hill.
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 BOU wrote it up.
High winds occurred in the North Central Mountains above timberline and in the foothills of Boulder and Larimer Counties. Peak wind gusts included: 100 mph atop Berthoud Pass; 97 mph, 7 miles southwest of Tabernash; 87 mph at the NCAR Mesa Lab southwest of Boulder; 86 mph, 8 miles northeast of Four Corners; and 77 mph, 2 miles south-southeast of Gold Hill.
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 Feb 14, 7:49 PM MST, 3 hours 33 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO 749 PM MST FRI FEB 14 2014 .UPDATE...WINDS IN THE FOOTHILLS AND ADJACENT PLAINS HAVE BEEN SLOW TO DEVELOP THIS EVENING. THIS HAS ALLOWED TEMPERATURES TO FALL QUICKLY AND IN SOME CASES ARE LOWER THAN FORECASTED OVERNIGHT LOWS. WENT AHEAD AND DROPPED LOW TEMPERATURES FOR TONIGHT. ONCE THE WINDS PICK UP...TEMPERATURES WILL INCREASE. THE GRAND JUNCTION SOUNDING SHOWS AN INVERSION NEAR 600 MB. THIS WILL FAVOR MOUNTAIN WAVE DEVELOPMENT OVERNIGHT. ADJUSTED THE WINDS TO REFLECT THE CURRENT SLOWER SPEEDS AND THEN EXPECT THEM TO INCREASE AROUND MIDNIGHT. WILL KEEP THE HIGH WIND WARNING AS IS. WEB CAMERAS AND RADAR SHOWING SOME SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS. SNOWFALL OVER THE PAST FEW HOURS APPEARS ON THE LIGHT SIDE. HOWEVER...THERE HAS BEEN ENOUGH SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW TO MAKE ROADS SLIPPERY. WILL KEEP THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY GOING THROUGH MID SATURDAY MORNING. LOWERED TEMPERATURES FOR SATURDAY OVER NORTHEAST COLORADO. A WEAK FRONT WILL BACKDOOR SOUTHWEST OVER NORTHEAST COLORADO DURING THE MORNING HOURS. EXPECT HIGHS TO STAY BELOW 50 DEGREES OVER THE NORTH EAST PLAINS. FOR AREAS NEAR THE FOOTHILLS...HIGHS IN THE 50S COULD BE REACHED IN THE MORNING WITH GUSTY WESTERLY WINDS. ONCE THE WINDS TURN EASTERLY...TEMPERATURES DURING THE AFTERNOON COULD FALL INTO THE 40S. && .AVIATION...HIGH CLOUDS WILL CONTINUE TO STREAM ACROSS COLORADO TONIGHT AND SATURDAY. LIGHT WINDS WILL BECOME SOUTHWEST OVERNIGHT AS STRONGER WINDS MOVE OFF THE FOOTHILLS. WEST WINDS TO 50 KNOTS WILL BE POSSIBLE AT KBJC INTO SATURDAY MORNING. THE WEST TO SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL LINGER INTO MID SATURDAY MORNING AND THEN TURN NORTHEAST AS ANOTHER WEAK FRONT PUSHES THROUGH. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 332 PM MST FRI FEB 14 2014/ SHORT TERM...WEB CAMS AS WELL AS RADAR SHOWING LIGHT SNOW OCCURRING ACROSS MOST OF THE MOUNTAINS...MAINLY ALONG THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE OF SUMMIT AND GRAND COUNTIES AS WELL AS THE PARK AND GORE RANGES OF WESTERN JACKSON COUNTY. UPPER TROUGH AND DEEPER MOISTURE STILL OVER NORTHERN GREAT BASIN BUT INCREASING MID LEVEL ASCENT AND GOOD OROGRAPHICS HELPING TO GENERATE THE LIGHT SNOW. SOME PRECIPITATION OCCURRING ACROSS NORTH AND MIDDLE PARKS...TEMPERATURES LOOK WARM ENOUGH FOR A MIX OF RAIN AND SNOW. SOME GUSTS TO 45 MPH ACROSS THE HIGHER RIDGES CREATING SOME BLOWING SNOW. ALONG FOOTHILLS THERE WERE A FEW GUSTS TO 35 MPH. ACROSS PLAINS SURFACE HIGH SLIDING ACROSS CENTRAL PLAINS WITH SOUTHEAST FLOW PREVAILING. FOR TONIGHT...MOISTURE AND LIFT WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS THIS EVENING AS UPPER TROUGH MOVES INTO WESTERN WYOMING AND SOUTHEAST IDAHO. WINDS WILL ALSO BE ON THE INCREASE AS JET MAX MOVES INTO WYOMING. SHOULD SEE SNOW BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD ALONG WITH AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW. BUT WARM AIR ADVECTION WILL LIMIT THE ACCUMULATION. THERE WILL BE SOME DECREASE IN THE SNOW AFTER MIDNIGHT AS TROUGH MOVES ACROSS WYOMING AND LIFT OVER THE MOUNTAINS WEAKENS. BUT WINDS WILL BECOME STRONGER WITH CROSS MOUNTAIN FLOW AROUND 65 KTS. THOUGH THE SNOWFALL WILL BE LESS... THE WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO CREATE AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW... ESPECIALLY OVER THE MOUNTAIN PASSES. WILL HOIST AN WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW FOR ZONES 31 AND 33 BEGINNING AT 00Z WHEN THE WINDS WILL BE ON THE INCREASE. SNOW AMOUNTS TO FALL SHORT OF ADVISORY CRITERIA...BUT THE BLOWING SNOW WILL BE MORE OF AN ISSUE FOR THE MOUNTAIN PASSES. WILL ALSO KEEP THE HIGH WIND WARNING GOING FOR ZONES 33...35 AND 36 WHICH BEGINS AT 03Z. THE STRONGEST WINDS MAY OCCUR AFTER MIDNIGHT WHEN THE LIFT WEAKENS AND CROSS MOUNTAIN FLOW INCREASES. ACROSS PLAINS... THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF LIGHT RAIN OR SNOW THIS EVENING NEAR THE WYOMING AND NEBRASKA BORDERS WITH JET NEARBY AND LIFT FROM THE APPROACHING TROUGH. THE GFS IS THE ONLY MODEL THAT GENERATES QPF IN THIS AREA. CLOSER TO THE FOOTHILLS...DOWNSLOPE WIND WILL BE ON THE INCREASE WHICH WILL LIMIT ANY CHANCES FOR PRECIPITATION. OVERNIGHT TEMPERATURES NEAR THE FOOTHILLS WILL BE FAIRLY WARM DUE TO THE DOWNSLOPE WINDS. ON SATURDAY...CROSS MOUNTAIN FLOW GRADUALLY DECREASES BY THE LATE MORNING WITH SURFACE GRADIENT WEAKENING. HIGH WIND WARNING FOR ZONES 33..35 AND 36 TO CONTINUE UNTIL NOON. MOISTURE ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS DECREASES WITH CONTINUED WARM AIR ADVECTION AND A MORE STABLE AIRMASS. STILL ENOUGH OROGRAPHICS FOR SOME LIGHT SNOW... MAINLY ALONG THE WEST FACING SLOPES. ANY ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATION WILL BE LIGHT. THOUGH WINDS WILL BE DECREASING...IT WILL STILL BE GUSTY ACROSS THE HIGHER MOUNTAIN PASSES PRODUCING SOME BLOWING SNOW. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR ZONES 31 AND 33 TO END AT 15Z. ACROSS PLAINS...MODELS SHOW WEAK SURGE ASSOCIATED WITH SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE MOVING ACROSS THE AREA AFTER 15Z WITH WINDS TURNING TO THE NORTH AND NORTHEAST. SURGE WILL BE FIGHTING THE DOWNSLOPE WINDS INITIALLY SO THE WIND SHIFT MAY DELAYED UNTIL AFTER 18Z WHEN THE DOWNSLOPE WINDS WEAKEN. AT THIS TIME...LOW LEVELS LOOK DRY SO NOT EXPECTING ANY STRATUS OR FOG. GFS GENERATES MORE QPF ACROSS SOUTHERN WYOMING DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS WITH THE TROUGH. WILL NOT MENTION ANY PRECIPITATION AT THIS TIME WEAK SUBSIDENCE WILL BE OVER THE AREA. TEMPERATURES TO START OFF RATHER WARM WITH THE GOOD DOWNSLOPE IN PLACE. SOME LOW LEVEL COLD AIR TO THEN SPREAD ACROSS THE PLAINS DURING THE AFTERNOON WHICH WILL LIMIT THE WARMUP. STILL MOST LOCATIONS ACROSS THE PLAINS SHOULD WARM INTO THE 50S WITH UPPER 40S FAR NORTHEAST CORNER. LONG TERM...THERE IS MAINLY STRONG ZONAL FLOW OVER THE FORECAST AREA SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT. THE FLOW ALOFT STAYS ZONAL BUT DECREASES IN SPEED MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT. A WEAK UPPER RIDGE MOVES ACROSS SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING...AND A WEAK UPPER TROUGH MOVES ACROSS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THERE IS BENIGN SYNOPTIC SCALE ENERGY PROGGED SATURDAY NIGHT...THEN UPWARD QG VERTICAL VELOCITY IS NOTED ON SUNDAY. DOWNWARD MOTION IS PROGGED SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY...THEN WEAK UPWARD AGAIN MONDAY NIGHT. FOR THE MOST PART...LOW LEVEL TROUGHING IS PROGGED EAST OF THE MOUNTAINS AND THE BOUNDARY LAYER FLOW WILL GENERALLY HAVE A DOWNSLOPING COMPONENT ADDED IN TO THE NORMAL DIURNAL PATTERNS THROUGH THE FIVE PERIODS. MOISTURE-WISE...THERE IS SOME AROUND SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING...BUT IT'S MOSTLY IN THE MID AND UPPER LEVELS. IT GETS LOWER DOWN OVER THE MOUNTAINS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. MOISTURE DECREASES RAPIDLY AFTER MIDNIGHT SUNDAY NIGHT. MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT LOOK PRETTY DRY...JUST A BIT IN THE UPPER LEVELS. THERE IS BASICALLY NOTHING ON THE QPF FIELDS FOR THE CWA SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING. THERE IS LIMITED AMOUNTS OF MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FOR THE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS. AFTER 06Z SUNDAY NIGHT AND ALL OF MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT...THERE IS NOTHING. CONCERNING POPS...NOTHING FOR THE PLAINS SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT. FOR THE MOUNTAINS...THERE IS MOISTURE...BEST FROM SUNDAY AFTERNOON INTO EARLY EVENING. THERE IS A BIT OF A JET OVER THE CWA FROM 00Z TO 06Z SUNDAY EVENING. TEMPERATURES AREN'T GREAT AND WIND DIRECTIONS AREN'T GREAT FOR OROGRAPHICS. WILL KEEP THE "LIKELY" GOING IN THE MOUNTAINS...BUT WILL DECREASE THEM GREATLY AFTER 06Z SUNDAY NIGHT. NO POPS IN THE MOUNTAINS MONDAY OR MONDAY NIGHT. FOR THE LATER DAYS...TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...MODELS KEEP ZONAL FLOW OVER THE CWA INTO WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON...THEN A WEAK UPPER TROUGH IS PROGGED TO MOVE ACROSS. BY THURSDAY NIGHT ..THROUGH FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY MORNING A MORE SIGNIFICANT UPPER TROUGH IS PROGGED. MOISTURE IS FAIR WITH THE WEDNESDAY TROUGH ..AND IT INCREASES BETTER FOR THE FRIDAY THING...BUT ITS NOT VERY DEEP OVER ALL THE CWA. WILL KEEP POPS REASONABLE FOR THIS FAR OUT. TEMPERATURES WILL STAY ABOVE NORMALS TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY ..THEN START TO COOL. AVIATION...SOUTHEAST WINDS ACROSS THE AREA TO SHIFT TO THE SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST DURING THE EVENING AS DRAINAGE FLOW DEVELOPS. WINDS TO BE MORE WESTERLY AT KBJC WITH SOME GUSTS TO 35 KTS POSSIBLE AFTER 06Z AS DOWNSLOPE INCREASES. WINDS TO THEN SHIFT TO THE NORTHWEST BY 17Z AHEAD OF ANOTHER FRONTAL SURGE. WINDS COULD GUSTS TO 20KTS AT KDEN AROUND 13Z. FRONT EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO THE AREA BETWEEN 18Z AND 20Z WITH WINDS SHIFTING TO THE NORTHEAST AND WEAKENING. LOW LEVEL MOISTURE APPEARS LACKING AT THIS TIME...SO NOT EXPECTING ANY LOW CLOUDS OR FOG. VFR TO PREVAIL. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL NOON MST SATURDAY FOR COZ033-035-036. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 8 AM MST SATURDAY FOR COZ031-034. && SHORT TERM...D-L LONG TERM....RJK AVIATION...MEIER
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO 620 PM MST FRI FEB 14 2014 COZ030>051-160130- 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- 620 PM MST FRI FEB 14 2014 ...SNOW AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS LIKELY TONIGHT FOR THE MOUNTAINS AND FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT SNOW AND GUSTY WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP THIS EVENING IN THE MOUNTAINS AND HIGH VALLEYS OF NORTHERN COLORADO. ROADS OVER THE HIGH PASSES AND AT BOTH PORTALS OF THE EISENHOWER TUNNEL ARE ALREADY ICY AND SNOW PACKED...AND WIND GUSTS TO AROUND 30 MPH WERE PRODUCING BLOWING SNOW. OVERNIGHT...SNOWFALL WILL BECOME WIDESPREAD IN THE HIGH COUNTRY...WITH SNOW TOTALS BY LATE SATURDAY MORNING RANGING FROM A FEW INCHES ON THE VALLEY FLOORS TO THE AROUND A HALF FOOT ON WEST FACING MOUNTAIN SLOPES. IN ADDITION... SUSTAINED WEST WINDS OF 30 TO 45 MPH AND GUST TO AROUND 75 MPH WILL LIKELY PRODUCE CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW... PARTICULARLY ON THE PASSES AND UP AROUND THE I-70 TUNNEL. MOTORISTS NOT FAMILIAR WITH DRIVING IN WINTER DRIVING CONDITIONS MAY WANT TO DELAY THEIR TRAVEL INTO THE HIGH COUNTRY UNTIL SATURDAY MORNING. STRONG AND VERY GUSTY DOWNSLOPE WINDS WILL ALSO DEVELOP TONIGHT ON THE EAST SLOPE OF THE FRONT RANGE. THIS INCLUDES FOOTHILL AREAS WEST OF DENVER...BOULDER AND FORT COLLINS. WEST WINDS OF 35 TO 50 MPH AND PEAK GUSTS TO AROUND 80 MPH ARE LIKELY IN THESE AREAS THROUGH LATE SATURDAY MORNING. MOTORISTS SHOULD EXPECT STRONG AND SUDDEN CROSS WINDS ON NORTH-SOUTH ROADS SUCH AS THE PEAK-TO-PEAK HIGHWAY...AND NEAR ZERO VISIBILITIES DUE TO BLOWING SNOW. GUSTY WEST WINDS MAY ALSO SPREAD ONTO THE ADJACENT HIGH PLAINS OVERNIGHT. GUSTS OF 45 AND 60 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE IN AREAS SUCH AS ALONG HIGHWAY 93 BETWEEN GOLDEN AND BOULDER...U.S. 36 BETWEEN BOULDER AND LYONS...AND U.S. HIGHWAY 287 FROM NEAR FORT COLLINS TO THE WYOMING LINE. MOTORISTS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD ALSO EXPECT STRONG AND SUDDEN CROSS WINDS AND REDUCED VISIBILITIES DUE TO BLOWING SNOW. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THE STRONG WINDS AND SNOWFALL IN THE HIGH COUNTRY ARE EXPECTED TO DECREASE DURING THE DAY SATURDAY AS DRIER AIR MOVES IN FROM THE WEST. HOWEVER THERE IS A CONTINUED CHANCE OF LIGHT SNOW AND GUSTY WINDS IN THE MOUNTAINS FOR THE REMAINDER OF SATURDAY. SNOWFALL WILL RETURN TO THE HIGH COUNTRY OF NORTHERN COLORADO SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND NIGHT...WITH ANOTHER CHANCE OF SNOW ON WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY OF NEXT WEEK. THE PLAINS SHOULD REMAIN DRY WITH NEAR TO ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TONIGHT OR SATURDAY. HOWEVER...ANY REPORTS OF STRONG WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH AND SNOWFALL TOTALS WOULD BE APPRECIATED. BAKER
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
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, February 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: 504091, 504090.