Clearing skies after a storm system allowed fog to form near Rifle and along the Colorado River in Rifle.
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The episode as NWS GJT wrote it up.
Clearing skies after a storm system allowed fog to form near Rifle and along the Colorado River in Rifle.
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 19, 3:28 AM MST, 32 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 428 AM MDT SUN APR 19 2015 .SHORT TERM...(TODAY THROUGH MONDAY) ISSUED AT 425 AM MDT SUN APR 19 2015 CLEARING SKIES LATE TONIGHT HELPED FOG TO FORM IN THE CO RIVER VALLEY...WITH PATCHY DENSE FOG NEAR RIFLE. HAVE ISSUED A DENSE FOG ADVISORY UNTIL 10 AM MDT FOR THE CO RIVER VALLEY AND INTERSTATE 70 FROM DE BEQUE TO SILT. H5 HAND ANALYSIS AT 00Z SHOWED A WELCOME KICKER WAVE DROPPING INTO THE NORTHERN HIGH PLAINS WITH A WELL DEFINED TROP FOLD SHOWING UP IN IN WATER VAPOR AS WELL. THE STAGNANT LOW WAS LOCATED OVER EAST CENTRAL COLORADO AT 00Z AND SATELLITE TRENDS SUGGEST IT IS FINALLY BEGINNING TO PUSH EAST LATE THIS EVENING WITH THE BETTER HEIGHT FALLS OVER SOUTHERN KANSAS. THERE IS A THIN LINE OF WELL DEFINED MOISTURE WRAPPING AROUND THE BACK SIDE EXTENDING FROM THE PARK TO THE ELK MOUNTAINS. THIS WILL KEEP SNOW PINNED UP AGAINST THE DIVIDE THROUGH THE EARLY MORNING HOURS BUT DENDRITIC LAYERS WILL BE DRYING OUT AND ASCENT SHIFTING EAST AS THE NORTHERN TROUGH SWINGS INTO THE EASTERN DAKOTAS BY SUNRISE. BOUNDARY LAYER REMAINS MOIST AND WILL HELP FORM STRATUS AND FOG THROUGH MID MORNING IN SEVERAL VALLEYS BUT SO FAR ANY DENSE FOG APPEARS VERY LOCALIZED. A WARMUP CAN BE EXPECTED THE NEXT FEW DAYS AS WE PUSH THIS LOW OUT OF THE REGION. THIS WARM-UP WILL BE TEMPERED BY INCREASING NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT...A RESULT OF THE CURRENT NORTHERN STREAM TROUGH DEEPENING OVER THE WESTERN GREAT LAKES. HIGHS WILL STAY BELOW NORMAL INTO EARLY WEEK AS A RESULT WITH LOWS FLIRTING WITH FREEZING IN THE CORTEZ REGION. INSTABILITY THIS AFTERNOON COMBINED WITH RESIDUAL MOISTURE LEADS TO ISOLATED SHOWERS DEVELOPING OVER THE NORTHERN AND EASTERN TERRAIN TODAY WITH A RUMBLE OF THUNDER MORE LIKELY IN THE SOUTH. A PROGRESSIVE WAVE MOVES THROUGH WYOMING TOWARD NORTHERN COLORADO LATE TONIGHT AND ACROSS THE REGION EARLY MONDAY. CROSS SECTIONS SHOW MOISTURE STAYING MAINLY ABOVE MOUNTAIN TOP LEVEL WITH THE LIFT BETTER ORGANIZED TO THE NORTHEAST OF OUR CWA. HOWEVER THE NORTHERLY OROGRAPHICS FAVOR SOME LIGHT SNOW OVER THE NORTHERN MOUNTAIN RANGES TO HIGHEST POPS THERE AND LOW CONFIDENCE ELSEWHERE. .LONG TERM...(MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY) ISSUED AT 425 AM MDT SUN APR 19 2015 BY MONDAY EVENING THE MAIN UPPER LOW WILL BE OVER THE GREAT LAKES WITH THE LAST WEAK SHORTWAVE TROUGH SLIDING THROUGH THE AREA MONDAY EVENING...IN THE NW FLOW LEFT IN THE LOW'S WAKE. MOISTURE CONTENT DECREASES INCREMENTALLY WITH SOME SHOWERS EXPECTED ALONG THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE AND AN OLD FRONTAL BOUNDARY BACKING UP AGAINST THE FRONT RANGE AND CONTINENTAL DIVIDE THROUGH TUESDAY. TUE AND WED SHOULD BE RELATIVELY DRY AS A TRANSITORY RIDGE MOVES OVER THE AREA...THROUGH THE OLD FRONTAL BOUNDARY SHOULD STILL ACT AS A FOCUS FOR SHOWERS NEAR THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE. THE NEXT BIG TROUGH WILL MOVE ONSHORE OVER SRN CA WED NIGHT AND THE MIDRANGE MODELS CARRY IT FAIRLY QUICKLY ENE AND INTO THE FOUR CORNERS REGION BY THU NIGHT. THE LOW MOVES OVERHEAD FRI AND SAT AND HAVE GONE WITH MORE CLOUD COVER AND A HIGH CHANCE OF PRECIP THROUGH BOTH DAYS. THE STORM APPEARS COLD ENOUGH FOR ANOTHER BOUT OF MOUNTAIN SNOW FRI NGT AND SAT. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z MONDAY MORNING) ISSUED AT 425 AM MDT SUN APR 19 2015 AS LOW PRESSURE CONTINUES MOVING EAST TODAY THE REMAINING SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS OVER THE EASTERN UT AND WESTERN CO MTS WILL ALSO GRADUALLY DECREASE TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT. MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS WILL CONTINUE BUT BECOME LESS WIDESPREAD TONIGHT. PATCHY FOG THIS MORNING IN MOST VALLEYS WILL BRING OCCASIONAL MVFR VSBYS AND CIGS TO KGJT...KMTJ AND KASE...WHILE KRIL WILL HAVE IFR/LIFR CIGS AND VSBYS IN DENSE FOG UNTIL ABOUT 16Z. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CO...DENSE FOG ADVISORY UNTIL 10 AM MDT THIS MORNING FOR COZ007. UT...NONE. && SHORT TERM...15 LONG TERM...CC AVIATION...CC
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
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 dense fog. Local standard time, as filed.
The Rifle airport ASOS reported 1/4 mile fog for 3 hours. Local webcams also showed dense fog.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, April 2015
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: 655086.