On the evening of the 30th, high based showers and thunderstorms produced microburst winds over portions of northern Jefferson, eastern Boulder and southwest Weld Counties. Peak wind reports included: 77 mph at White Ranch Open Space; 72 mph, 2 miles north of Longmont; 67 mph, 1 mile south-southwest of Erie and Firestone; 60 mph, 3 miles south of Mead and 59 mph, 5 miles northwest of Henderson.
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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.
On the evening of the 30th, high based showers and thunderstorms produced microburst winds over portions of northern Jefferson, eastern Boulder and southwest Weld Counties. Peak wind reports included: 77 mph at White Ranch Open Space; 72 mph, 2 miles north of Longmont; 67 mph, 1 mile south-southwest of Erie and Firestone; 60 mph, 3 miles south of Mead and 59 mph, 5 miles northwest of Henderson. The wind downed power lines in Weld County which sparked a small fire.
High winds then developed over parts of the Front Range Foothills, Urban Corridor and Northeast Plains through the morning of the 31st. Peak wind gusts included: 98 mph, 2 miles south-southeast of Gold Hill; 77 mph, 4 miles west-southwest of Eldorado Springs; 63 mph, 4 miles east-northeast of Loveland; 62 mph at Cedar Point; 61 mph at Akron Airport, Centennial, and Fort Morgan Airport; 60 mph at Holyoke and 1 mile southwest of Windsor; 59 mph at Buckley AFB; and 58 mph, 1 mile east of Greeley.
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 Mar 30, 2:42 PM MST, 5 hours 48 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO 342 PM MDT SUN MAR 30 2014 .SHORT TERM...THE UPPER TROUGH AXIS IS MOVING ACROSS EASTERN UTAH...KICKING OFF A LINE OF SHOWERS THAT ARE JUST ABOUT READY TO MOVE ACROSS THE COLORADO STATE LINE. A FAIR AMOUNT OF LIGHTNING HAS BEEN OCCURRING WITH THIS LINE...SO INSTABILITY WILL BE SUFFICIENT TO MENTION THUNDERSTORMS WITH THE EVENING PRECIPITATION IN THE MOUNTAINS. INSTABILITY OF THE AIRMASS SHOULD ALSO BE ENOUGH FOR SOME DECENT SNOW ACCUMULATION RATES IN THE MOUNTAINS LATER TONIGHT. WILL LET THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY CONTINUE FOR 4 TO 7 INCHES OF NEW SNOW OVERNIGHT. ALONG THE FOOTHILLS...AFTER THE UPPER TROUGH PASSES AND WINDS ALOFT SWITCH TO WESTERLY...MODEL CROSS SECTIONS SHOW A STRONG AMPLIFIED WAVE DEVELOPING WITH CROSS BARRIER FLOW REACHING 70 KNOTS. THIS SHOULD PRODUCE A PRETTY GOOD ROUND OF DOWNSLOPE WIND OVER THE FOOTHILLS DURING THE PRE-DAWN HOURS. A HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR ZONES 35 AND 36. GUSTY WINDS WILL EXTEND OUT ONTO THE PLAINS AT TIMES. WITH THE STRONG DOWNSLOPING EAST OF THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE...PROBABILITY OF PRECIPITATION IS ONLY IN THE SCATTERED CATEGORY. ON THE PLAINS...THIS AFTERNOON...WE ARE SEEING GUSTY WINDS OVER THE PALMER DIVIDE WITH TEMPERATURES IN THE UPPER 60S. THIS HAS CREATED MARGINAL RED FLAG CONDITIONS...SO WILL LET THE WARNING CONTINUE UNTIL LATER THIS EVENING WHEN WINDS DIE DOWN AND HUMIDITIES RECOVER. FOR TOMORROW...THE UPPER TROUGH MOVING OVER THE GREAT PLAINS WILL PRODUCE SURFACE CYCLOGENESIS OVER WESTERN NEBRASKA WITH TIGHTENING SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENTS ACROSS THE NORTHEAST COLORADO PLAINS. FOR THE TIME BEING HAVE KEPT FORECAST WIND SPEEDS BELOW HIGH WIND CRITERIA...BUT THE FORECASTS WILL MENTION THE WINDY CONDITIONS THAT SHOULD PREVAIL THROUGH MOST OF THE DAY. VERY LITTLE PRECIPITATION IS GENERATED BY THE MODELS ON THE PLAINS...SO HAVE ONLY MENTIONED ISOLATED SHOWERS OVER THE NORTHERN TIER OF ZONES. TEMPERATURES WILL BE MUCH COOLER TOMORROW WITH THE STRONG NORTHWEST FLOW OVER THE FORECAST AREA. MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWER ACTIVITY TOMORROW SHOULD BE REDUCED BY THE STRONG SUBSIDENCE ASSOCIATED WITH A BUILDING UPPER RIDGE...BUT SCATTERED SHOWERS MAY STILL DEVELOP DUE TO THE STRONG...OROGRAPHIC NORTHWESTERLY FLOW. .LONG TERM...MODELS HAVE A WEST-SOUTHWESTERLY JET MAXIMUM OVER THE FORECAST AREA MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY. TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY EVENING...THE FLOW ALOFT IS STILL PRETTY STRONG AND SOUTHWESTERLY. BY 12Z THURSDAY MORNING...AN UPPER TROUGH IS GETTING INTO WESTERN COLORADO. THE QG VERTICAL VELOCITY FIELDS SHOW UPWARD SYNOPTIC SCALE ENERGY FOR THE CWA MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT. THE ENERGY IS PRETTY STRONG WEDNESDAY NIGHT...ESPECIALLY ON THE ECMWF. THE BOUNDARY LAYER FLOW IS PROGGED TO HAVE AN EASTERLY COMPONENT TO IT MONDAY NIGHT AND AGAIN WEDNESDAY AND WEDNEDAY NIGHT. ON TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT...DOWNSLOPING IS PROGGED. FOR MOISTURE...THERE IS QUITE A BIT OVER THE CWA MONDAY NIGHT... ESPECIALLY OVER THE MOUNTAINS. THE PLAIN'S MOISTURE IS IN THE MID AND UPPER LEVELS. TUESDAY INTO MID DAY WEDNESDAY ARE A BIT DRIER BUT THERE IS STILL ALPINE MOISTURE AROUND. MOISTURE IS QUITE DEEP OVER ALL AREAS WEDNEDAY NIGHT ON THE ECMWF...THE GFS IS A BIT DRIER OVER THE PLAINS...BUT THERE IS STILL SOME. THE QPF FIELDS PRETTY MUCH SHOW A BIT OF MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION OVER THE MOUNTAINS ALL FIVE PERIODS. THERE IS A BIT OF A LULL FROM 06 TO 12Z TUESDAY NIGHT. BY WEDNESDAY NIGHT...THERE IS PRECIPITATION NOTED OVER ALL THE CWA...WITH THE ECMWF SHOWING A DECENT AMOUNT OVER THE PLAINS. THERE IS A TAD OF CAPE FOR LATE DAY TUESDAY...A BIT MORE LATE DAY WEDNESDAY. IT IS MAINLY IN THE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS. SO FOR POPS...WILL GO WITH 20-70% POPS IN THE MOUNTAINS ALL FIVE PERIODS...THE LOWER END ON TUESDAY NIGHT. NO POPS OVER THE PLAINS MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON ...THEN "CHANCE"S WEDNESDAY NIGHT. FOR TEMPERATURES...TUESDAY'S HIGHS ARE A TAD WARMER THAN MONDAY'S. WEDNESDAY'S HIGHS ARE A TAD COOLER THAN TUESDAY'S. FOR THE LATER DAYS...THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...MODELS HAVE AN UPPER RIDGE ON FRIDAY...THEN AN UPPER TROUGH PRETTY FAR TO OUR SOUTH SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. THE ECMWF HAS THIS FEATURE MORE PRONOUNCED THAN THE GFS. && .AVIATION...WINDS WILL STILL BE THE MAIN CONCERN OVERNIGHT. SOUTHWEST WINDS IN THE EVENING WILL BE CHANGING TO WESTERLY LATER TONIGHT. THE TRANSITION TO WESTERLY SHOULD BE AROUND OR JUST AFTER 06Z. CEILINGS WILL REMAIN HIGHER THAN 6000 FT AGL AND VISIBILITIES WILL BE UNLIMITED. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO 6 AM MDT MONDAY FOR COZ031-033-034. RED FLAG WARNING UNTIL 8 PM MDT THIS EVENING FOR COZ241-246-247. HIGH WIND WARNING FROM 9 PM THIS EVENING TO 6 AM MDT MONDAY FOR COZ035-036. && SHORT TERM...DANKERS LONG TERM....RJK AVIATION...DANKERS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO 1104 AM MDT SUN MAR 30 2014 COZ030>051-311715- 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- 1104 AM MDT SUN MAR 30 2014 ...RED FLAG WARNING FROM NOON TO 8 PM THIS EVENING FOR THE PALMER DIVIDE REGION... ...HIGH WIND WARNING FOR THE FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS THIS EVENING AND CONTINUING OVERNIGHT... ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TONIGHT FOR THE NORTH CENTRAL MOUNTAINS... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THERE WILL BE ELEVATED FIRE DANGER THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING OVER THE PALMER DIVIDE. INCREASING SOUTHWEST WINDS TO 40 MPH AND LOW HUMIDITIES WILL COMBINE WITH TEMPERATURES IN THE LOWER 70S TO CREATE THE HIGH FIRE DANGER. A STORM SYSTEM OVER THE GREAT BASIN LATE THIS MORNING WILL MOVE OVER COLORADO TONIGHT. RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL SPREAD OVER THE MOUNTAINS THIS AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE AS SNOW OVERNIGHT. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS BY MONDAY MORNING WILL RANGE FROM 3 TO 7 INCHES. GUSTY WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS WILL ALSO INCREASE LATER TONIGHT OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS. WIND SPEEDS OF 30 TO 45 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED WITH GUSTS UP TO 80 MPH OVER THE FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS. A HIGH WIND WARNING WILL BE IN EFFECT FOR THE FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS LATER THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY ON MONDAY...SNOW SHOWERS WILL DECREASE IN THE MOUNTAINS BY MIDDAY WITH DRY WEATHER ON THE PLAINS. GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS UP TO 50 MPH WILL OCCUR OVER THE PLAINS AND OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN. FOR TUESDAY SNOW SHOWERS WILL BECOME LIKELY IN THE MOUNTAINS AS GUSTY SOUTH WINDS DEVELOP OVER NORTHEAST COLORADO. TEMPERATURES WILL BE NEAR SEASONAL NORMALS. BY MID WEEK A STORM SYSTEM MAY AFFECT THE REGION FROM LATE WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY BRINGING A CHANCE OF SNOW ALONG WITH COLDER TEMPERATURES. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT.
The Denver radar (KFTG), 16 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:59 UTC.
8 high wind, 7 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Near Weld County Roads 31 and 66, downed power lines started a small fire in some trees.
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, March 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: 509160, 508760, 508761, 509158, 508759, 508762, 508763, 508765, 508767, 509161, 509162, 508944, 508945, 509166, 509165.