Highs winds, with gusts in excess of 100 mph, occurred in and near the Front Range Foothills. Near Pinecliffe, the damaging wind snapped and uprooted several trees.
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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.
Highs winds, with gusts in excess of 100 mph, occurred in and near the Front Range Foothills. Near Pinecliffe, the damaging wind snapped and uprooted several trees. Brief power outages were also reported. Peak wind gusts included: 106 mph, 2 miles south-southeast of Gold Hill; 91 mph, 4 miles east-northeast of Nederland; 90 mph near Dumont; 87 mph near Aspen Springs; 81 mph at Glen Haven; 79 mph atop Loveland Pass; 78 mph, 10 miles north of Red Feather Lakes; 76 mph at Pickle Gulch; with 75 mph at Floyd 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 Jan 5, 3:48 AM MST, 2 hours 23 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO 348 AM MST MON JAN 5 2015 .SHORT TERM...(TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT ) ISSUED AT 345 AM MST MON JAN 5 2015 MAIN CONCERN TODAY AND THIS EVENING IS THE HIGH WIND POTENTIAL IN THE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS. CURRENT OBSERVATIONS SHOWING WINDS BEGINNING TO INCREASE BUT STILL ONLY IN THE 30-45 MPH RANGE. 88D ALSO SHOWING WIND SIGNATURE INCREASING IN THE PAST HOUR AS WINDS BEGIN TO DESCEND THROUGH THE FOOTHILLS OF BOULDER COUNTY. SURFACE PRESSURE ALSO BEGINNING TO FALL BUT BEST PRESSURE FALLS STILL OVER MONTANA AND WYOMING. SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT WILL CONTINUE TO STEEPEN ACROSS THE STATE AS THE ADDITIONAL FALLS WORK INTO EASTERN COLORADO. LATEST MODELS SHOWING SURFACE GRADIENT TO TIGHTEN TO AROUND 15 MB FROM GJT TO DEN BY LATER THIS AM AND THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. CROSS SECTIONS SHOWING 60-70KT CROSS BARRIER FLOW DEVELOPING THIS MORNING BEFORE DECREASING THIS EVENING. STRONG MID LEVEL WARMING WILL RESULT IN STRONG INVERSIONS DEVELOPING AT MOUNTAIN TOP LEVEL ALONG WITH ADEQUATE WIND SHEAR PROFILE FOR AMPLIFIED MOUNTAIN WAVE. THE ONE FACTOR AGAINST HIGH WINDS TODAY IS THE INCREASED MOISTURE AND LIGHT SNOW EXPECTED OVER HIGHER NORTHERN MOUNTAINS. LATEST RAP/HRRR SHOWING PEAK WIND GUSTS IN THE 60-80KT RANGE FROM 16Z-23Z. FEEL THERE ENOUGH CONFIDENCE TO UPGRADE THE WATCH TO A WARNING FOR THE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS. WINDS MAY HAVE A HARD TIME DEVELOPING ACROSS LOWER ELEVATIONS OF THE FOOTHILLS BUT BELIEVE THE STRONG GRADIENT WILL AID IN THE WIND DEVELOPMENT. EXPECT LIGHT SNOW TO DEVELOP OVER FAR NORTHERN MOUNTAINS TODAY BUT EXPECT SNOWFALL AMOUNTS WILL BE ON THE LIGHT SIDE DUE TO LOW LAPSE RATES DESPITE THE STRONG OROGRAPHIC FLOW. BEST SNOWFALL LIKELY WILL BE OVER ZONE 31 WITH UP TO 3 INCHES POSSIBLE TODAY. TEMPERATURES WILL BE WARMER TODAY ACROSS LOWER ELEVATIONS...ESPECIALLY IN WINDY AREAS AT THE BASE OF THE FOOTHILLS AND PALMER DIVIDE. FURTHER NORTH AND EAST OF DENVER...COLD AIR MAY BE A BIT HARDER TO SCOUR OUT. .LONG TERM...(TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY) ISSUED AT 204 AM MST MON JAN 5 2015 NW FLOW ALOFT WILL REMAIN OVER THE AREA FM TUE INTO WED. SOME MOISTURE WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT THE NRN MTNS ON TUE HOWEVER LAPSE RATES REMAIN STABLE SO ANY SNOW WILL BE VERY LIGHT. OVER NERN CO IT WILL BE DRY ON TUE WITH A WEAK SFC LEE TROUGH ALONG THE FRONT RANGE. ONCE AGAIN TEMP FCST WILL BE DEPENDENT ON LINGERING SNOW COVER. GUIDANCE TEMPS WRM READINGS INTO THE LOWER TO MID 50S OVER DENVER WITH 40S ACROSS THE PLAINS. HOWEVER 850-700 MB TEMPS WILL COOL AROUND 3 DEGREES C AND WITH LESS DOWNSLOPE COMPONENT NOT SURE READINGS ARE GOING TO BE AS WRM AS MONDAY SO WILL KEEP HIGHS IN THE 40S ALONG THE FRONT RANGE WITH 30S OVER THE FAR NERN PLAINS. TUE NIGHT INTO WED ANOTHER SHOT OF COLD AIR WILL MOVE INTO NERN CO WITH SHALLOW UPSLOPE THRU EARLY WED MORNING. LATEST CROSS-SECTIONS SHOW ENOUGH MOISTURE FOR AT LEAST A SLIGHT CHC OF LIGHT SNOW OVER NERN CO. IN THE MTNS WILL NOT MENTION ANY PCPN. AS FOR HIGHS BELIEVE ECMWF HAS A BETTER HANDLE WITH COLD AIRMASS SO WILL KEEP HIGHS IN THE TEENS OVER THE PLAINS WITH 25 TO 30 CLOSER TO THE FOOTHILLS. ON THU DRY WNW FLOW ALOFT WILL BE OVER THE AREA AS A SFC LEE TROUGH REDEVELOPS OVER ERN CO. THIS SHOULD LEAD TO WARMER TEMPS WITH READINGS RISING BACK INTO THE 45 TO 50 DEGREE RANGE AROUND DENVER WITH UPPER 30S TO LOWER 40S OVER THE FAR NERN PLAINS. BY THU NIGHT INTO A FRI ANOTHER SHOT OF COOLER AIR WILL MOVE INTO NERN CO. THUS WILL DROP HIGHS BACK INTO THE 20S OVER THE PLAINS WITH LOWER TO MID 30S AROUND DENVER. BOTH THE ECMWF AND GFS SHOW SOME MOISTURE IN THE LOWER LEVELS WITH SHALLOW UPSLOPE COMPONENT LATE THU NIGHT INTO FRI MORNING SO IT WOULDN'T BE A TOTAL SURPRISE TO SEE AT LEAST A SLIGHT CHC OF LIGHT SNOW OVER NERN CO. IN THE MTNS THERE IS SOME INCREASE IN MOISTURE BY AFTN SO WILL MENTION A SLIGHT CHC OF SNOW AS WELL. BY SAT THE ECMWF AND GFS CONTINUE TO DIFFER ON THE OVERALL PTRN. THE ECMWF HAS DRY NWLY FLOW ALOFT OVER THE AREA WITH DOWNSLOPE WARMING OCCURRING OVER NERN CO WHILE THE GFS SHOWS A WK DISTURBANCE MOVING ACROSS WITH QUITE A BIT OF MOISTURE. IN ADDITION THE GFS KEEPS A SHALLOW COLD AIRMASS OVER NERN CO AS WELL. FOR NOW WILL KEEP A SLIGHT CHC OF PCPN IN THE FCST AND TREND WITH THE COOLER GFS. ON SUN THE GFS SHOWS ANOTHER WK DISTURBANCE MOVING ACROSS WITH ANOTHER SHOT OF MOISTURE ESPECIALLY FOR THE MTNS WHILE KEEPING A SHALLOW LYR OF COLD AIR OVER NERN CO. MEANWHILE THE ECMWF KEEPS MAINLY DRY NWLY FLOW ALOFT OVER THE AREA HOWEVER IT DOES SHOW A SHOT OF COOLER AIR MOVING INTO NERN CO DURING THE DAY. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE TAFS THROUGH 12Z TUESDAY MORNING) ISSUED AT 345 AM MST MON JAN 5 2015 TERMINALS HAD BEEN FLIRTING WITH STRATUS/PATCHY FOG EARLIER BUT DRAINAGE AND DOWNSLOPE WINDS BEGINNING TO KICK IN SO HAVE REMOVED FURTHER CLOUDS/FOG FROM BJC/DEN. WITH TIGHTENING SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT DURING THE DAY EXPECT INCREASING DOWNSLOPE WINDS FROM THE WEST. HIGH RESOLUTION MODELS NOT SHOWING MUCH GUSTY WINDS WORKING EAST TOWARDS DIA...BUT GIVEN STRENGTH OF GRADIENT EXPECT SOME GUSTS IN THE 20-30KT RANGE. HIGHEST WINDS WILL BE AT BJC THIS AFTERNOON WITH GUSTS UP TO 40KT POSSIBLE. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH WIND WARNING FROM 5 AM THROUGH THIS EVENING FOR COZ033>036. && SHORT TERM...ENTREKIN LONG TERM...RPK AVIATION...ENTREKIN
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO 452 AM MST MON JAN 5 2015 COZ030>051-061200- 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- 452 AM MST MON JAN 5 2015 ...HIGH WIND WARNING THROUGH THIS EVENING FOR THE HIGHER MOUNTAINS AND FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT GUSTY WEST WINDS WILL INCREASE DURING THE LATE MORNING AND AFTERNOON HOURS. SPEEDS OF 20 TO 35 MPH AND GUSTS TO 60 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED EARLY THIS MORNING. THE WINDS WILL INCREASE EVEN MORE TO 60 TO 80 MPH BY LATER THIS MORNING. WITH THE WINDS...THERE WILL BE AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW AND POOR VISIBILITIES AT TIMES. THE STRONGEST WINDS WILL DECREASE THIS EVENING. LIGHT SNOW WILL DEVELOP OVER THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS TODAY WITH AMOUNTS UP TO 3 INCHES OVER HIGHER WEST AND NORTHWEST FACING SLOPES. TEMPERATURES WILL BE WARMER THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS LOWER ELEVATIONS WITH READINGS IN THE 40S AND 50S. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY ON TUESDAY THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS WITH DRY CONDITIONS OVER NORTHEAST COLORADO. ANOTHER SHOT OF COLD AIR WILL AFFECT NORTHEAST COLORADO ON WEDNESDAY ALONG WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF LIGHT SNOW. BY THURSDAY WARMER TEMPERATURES WILL RETURN TO NORTHEAST COLORADO BEFORE ANOTHER SHOT OF COOLER AIR ARRIVES ON FRIDAY. THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF LIGHT SNOW OVER THE AREA ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY AS WELL. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
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, January 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: 551127, 551128, 551129.