Low level moisture trapped at the surface due to recent snow showers resulted in areas of dense fog within the Grand Valley.
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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 GJT wrote it up.
Low level moisture trapped at the surface due to recent snow showers resulted in areas of dense fog within the Grand Valley.
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 Feb 6, 3:54 AM MST, 3 hours 6 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 354 AM MST SAT FEB 6 2016 .SHORT TERM...(TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY) ISSUED AT 354 AM MST SAT FEB 6 2016 A STRONG RIDGE WILL CONTINUE BUILDING OVER THE WESTERN U.S...WITH ITS AXIS OVER THE WESTERN GREAT BASIN. A HUGE LONGWAVE TROUGH WAS BUILDING OVER THE EASTERN HALF OF THE U.S. WITH THE FORECAST AREA UNDER THE NORTHWEST FLOW BETWEEN THE TWO. A VERY WEAK SHORTWAVE TROUGH WILL RIDE DOWN THE WESTERN PERIPHERY OF THE RIDGE AND OVER THE MOUNTAINS NEAR THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE SO THERE SHOULD BE ISOLATED OROGRAPHIC CLOUDS AND SHOWERS HUGGING THE NORTHWEST FACING SLOPE TODAY AND TONIGHT. THESE LESSEN SUNDAY AS THE AVAILABLE MOISTURE ERODES. THE ONLY OVER WEATHER OF NOTE IS THE LOW STRATUS AND FOG OVER THE GRAND FLAT IN EASTERN UT AND THE EXTREME WESTERN PORTION OF THE GRAND VALLEY. LOW LEVEL INVERSIONS WILL KEEP THE MOISTURE... STRATUS...AND AREAS OF FOG IN PLACE THROUGH MIDMORNING. IT SHOULD RETURN TONIGHT AS WELL. TEMPS WILL REMAIN ON THE COOL SIDE WITH VERY COLD LOW TEMPS IN THE HIGH VALLEYS. .LONG TERM...(SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY) ISSUED AT 354 AM MST SAT FEB 6 2016 THE STEEP RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE MENTIONED IN THE PREVIOUS SHORT TERM DISCUSSION WILL HOLD SWAY OVER THE REGION THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF THE COMING WEEK ACCORDING TO MEDIUM RANGE MODELS. AS A RESULT ...EXPECT DRY AND MILDER CONDITIONS FOR MOST AREAS EXCEPT INVERTED VALLEYS WHICH WILL BE SLOWER TO RESPOND TO WARMING TREND. THE RIDGE WEAKENS DURING THE LATTER PART OF THE WEEK AS A A PAIR OF PACIFIC SHORTWAVE TROUGHS MOVE THROUGH THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. HOWEVER...THE RIDGE RETAINS ENOUGH AMPLITUDE TO KEEP DEEP MOISTURE NORTH OF THE AREA THOUGH MODERATE MID-LEVEL MOISTURE WILL BRING CLOUDS TO THE NORTHERN ZONES. DOESN/T APPEAR THERE WILL BE ANY RELIEF FROM VALLEY INVERSIONS SO UNDERCUT GUIDANCE FOR BOTH HIGHS AND LOWS IN THE LOWER ELEVATIONS. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z SUNDAY MORNING) ISSUED AT 354 AM MST SAT FEB 6 2016 EXPECT LOW STRATUS AND LIGHT MIST EXTENDING FROM EASTERN UTAH/S GRAND FLAT AND CANYON COUNTRY REGION TO THE WESTERN GRAND VALLEY TO PERSIST THROUGH 14Z. AS THE SUN COMES UP...EXPECT THE BLANKET OF STRATUS WILL ERODE FROM THE EDGES AND WILL LIFT INTO THE EARLY AFTERNOON. HOWEVER...LIKE YESTERDAY...DO NOT ANTICIPATE THAT THE CLOUD MASS WILL ENTIRELY DISSIPATE OVER KCNY THOUGH THIS MORNING/S LIFR CIGS WILL IMPROVE TO MVFR AROUND 18Z. SINCE STRONG INVERSIONS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE LOW CLOUDS WILL PERSIST...LOOK FOR THE CLOUD FIELD TO EXPAND AFTER 00Z/SUN WITH COVERAGE SIMILAR TO THAT EXPERIENCED THIS MORNING. ELSEWHERE...DO NOT EXPECT WEATHER RELATED IMPACTS AT REMAINING AIRPORTS WITHIN THE REGION THROUGH THE NEXT 24 HOURS. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CO...NONE. UT...NONE. && SHORT TERM...CC LONG TERM...NL AVIATION...NL
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 430 AM MST SAT FEB 6 2016 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-071130- 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-FLAT TOPS- 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- 430 AM MST SAT FEB 6 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT PATCHY LIGHT FOG...WILL PERSIST UNTIL MID-MORNING IN GRAND COUNTY UTAH AND WESTERN MESA COUNTY COLORADO ...AFFECTING HIGHWAY 191 AND INTERSTATE 70. AREAS OF FOG ARE LIKELY TO REDEVELOP IN THE SAME AREAS LATER TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .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.
Dense fog occurred in the Grand Valley. The visibility dropped to less than a quarter mile near Mack.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, February 2016
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: 664358.