High pressure at the surface and aloft created a stable air mass over Western Colorado, which trapped low level moisture in some valleys.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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.
High pressure at the surface and aloft created a stable air mass over Western Colorado, which trapped low level moisture in some valleys.
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 Jan 7, 8:48 PM MST, 12 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 848 PM MST WED JAN 7 2015 .UPDATE... ISSUED AT 846 PM MST WED JAN 7 2015 LOW CLOUDS AND FOG PERSIST IN THE UPPER GUNNISON BASIN AND WILL CONTINUE OVERNIGHT. LATEST OBSERVATIONS INDICATE VISIBILITY DROPPING TO A 1/4 MILE OR LESS IN AREAS SO ISSUED A DENSE FOG ADVISORY THROUGH TOMORROW MORNING FOR THE AREA. NO OTHER CHANGES ANTICIPATED TONIGHT. && .SHORT TERM...(TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT) ISSUED AT 338 PM MST WED JAN 7 2015 A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE CONTINUED OVER THE WESTERN GREAT BASIN TODAY WITH ITS AXIS EXTENDING BACK TO WESTERN TX. THE NORTHERN JET STREAM DIPPED FROM WESTERN CANADA INTO THE CENTRAL USA. LITTLE CHANGE IN EXPECTED WITH AS A STABLE AIRMASS REMAINING OVER ERN UT AND WRN CO. SOME FOG IS AGAIN POSSIBLE TONIGHT IN SOME VALLEYS WITH SUBSTANTIAL SNOW COVER OR NEAR OPEN WATER...SIMILAR TO WHAT OCCURRED THIS MORNING. WATER VAPOR SATELLITE IMAGES INDICATED A SHORTWAVE TROUGH OVER SOUTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA THIS AFTERNOON. MODELS SHOW IT BRUSHING OUR NORTH THU MORNING AS IT FOLLOWS THE JET STREAM INTO THE PLAINS. THIS SHOULD BRING SOME MORE CLOUDS TO THE NRN AND CENTRAL CO MTNS THU MORNING BUT LITTLE ELSE. OTHERWISE...THU LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER MOSTLY SUNNY DAY WITH TEMPS SIMILAR TO TODAY. .LONG TERM...(FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY) ISSUED AT 338 PM MST WED JAN 7 2015 ANY SEMBLANCE OF THE AMPLIFIED RIDGE ALONG THE WEST COAST WILL BE GETTING DAMPED OUT ON FRIDAY AS ENERGY IN BOTH THE NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN STREAMS PLOW INLAND. THE LARGE...DOWNSTREAM BLOCKING TROUGH IN NORTHEAST NOAM WILL STILL BE IN PLACE AND CONTINUE TO FORCE MOISTURE AROUND OUR CWA GOING INTO SATURDAY MORNING. SO DRY WEATHER WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK WITH TEMPERATURES...AND POTENTIAL FOG REMAINING AS THE FORECAST CHALLENGES. GUIDANCE BEGINS TO HAVE A RATHER LARGE SPREAD BY FRIDAY WITH GFS ON THE WARM SIDE OF THINGS AND THE EURO UNREALISTICALLY COLD. A WAVE PASSING TO OUR NORTHEAST WILL BE COOLING TEMPERATURES ALOFT AND HELP WEAKEN THE INVERSIONS...BUT WILL THIS ALLOW FOR STRONGER MIXING? FOR NOW BLENDED GUIDANCE TOWARD THE NAM WITH HIGHS ABOUT 5 DEGREES COOLER THAN DAYS PAST. THE MODELS ARE STILL STRUGGLING A BIT UPSTREAM WITH THE TIMING AND PLACEMENT OF THE MERGER OF THE NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN STREAMS. THE GFS STILL HAS THE NORTHERN STREAM A BIT MORE DOMINANT AND KEEP THE BULK OF THE SOUTHERN STREAM MOISTURE TO OUR SOUTH THROUGH THE WEEKEND. THE EURO PHASES THE STREAMS A BIT QUICKER AND BRINGS A WETTER SOLUTION TO THE COLORADO HIGH COUNTRY. CONFIDENCE LOW AND REFLECTED IN LOW POPS ATTM. MODEL TIMING IS HOWEVER COMING CLOSER IN LINE BY EARLY NEXT WEEK WHEN A STRONGER NORTHERN STREAM SYSTEM WILL BE DIVING TOWARD THE CENTRAL ROCKIES. STILL NOTHING TO REALLY HANG A HAT ON BUT EXPECT UNSETTLED WEATHER MONDAY INTO TUESDAY AS THIS SYSTEM WORKS THROUGH. NO CONFIDENCE IN TEMPERATURE FORECAST EITHER WHICH WILL DEPEND HEAVILY ON PCPN CHANCES...SO BLENDED FORECAST USED FOR NOW. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z THURSDAY EVENING) ISSUED AT 444 PM MST WED JAN 7 2015 HIGH PRESSURE OVERHEAD WILL KEEP VFR IN THE PICTURE FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE. ONLY CONCERNS WILL BE GUNNISON THAT HAS REPORTED IFR CONDITIONS THROUGH THE DAY WITH LOW CLOUDS AND FOG THAT WILL LIKELY PERSIST OVERNIGHT. KVEL MAY SEE SOME MORNING FOG DROPPING VIS TO 5 MILES AT TIMES. BIGGEST CONCERN WILL BE KEGE AND MORNING FOG. SOME HIGH THIN CLOUDS LOOK TO MOVE OVER THE TAF SITE AT DAYBREAK AND MAY KEEP ANY FOG AT BAY. VCFG LOOKS GOOD FOR NOW. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CO...DENSE FOG ADVISORY UNTIL 11 AM MST THURSDAY FOR COZ014. UT...NONE. && UPDATE...TGR SHORT TERM...JAD LONG TERM...15 AVIATION...TGR
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 436 AM MST WED JAN 7 2015 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-081145- 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 MST WED JAN 7 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT AREAS OF MORNING FOG ALONG THE UPPER AND MIDDLE YAMPA RIVER BASIN IN NORTHWEST COLORADO...AND IN THE VICINITY OF LAKE POWELL IN SOUTHEAST UTAH WILL DIMINISH BY LATE MORNING. PATCHY FOG WILL AGAIN BE POSSIBLE IN THESE AND OTHER VALLEY AREAS LATE TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THERE IS A CHANCE OF SNOWFALL LATE THIS WEEKEND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK WITH MOUNTAIN AREAS FAVORED. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 dense fog. Local standard time, as filed.
Widespread dense fog reduced visibility to a quarter mile in much of the Gunnison River Valley.
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: 604803.