Cold valley inversions trapped low level moisture in southeast Utah valleys which resulted in areas of dense fog.
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The episode as NWS GJT wrote it up.
Cold valley inversions trapped low level moisture in southeast Utah valleys which resulted in areas of dense fog.
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 12, 9:58 PM MST, 5 hours 2 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 958 PM MST TUE JAN 12 2016 .SHORT TERM...(TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT) ISSUED AT 350 PM MST TUE JAN 12 2016 COLD VALLEY INVERSIONS REMAIN IN PLACE TONIGHT. WITH LITTLE CHANGE TO DEWPOINTS THIS AFTERNOON FOG IS EXPECTED TO RETURN TO PORTIONS OF THE SW COLORADO VALLEYS AND UINTAH BASIN. WE WILL ISSUE A DENSE FOG ADVISORY FOR DURANGO TO PAGOSA SPRINGS AND SURROUNDINGS FROM THIS EVENING THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING. UINTAH BASIN FOG IS EXPECTED TO HAVE LESS COVERAGE. OTHERWISE HIGH CLOUDS BEGIN TO INCREASE ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE NORTH AND CENTRAL ZONES AHEAD OF THE NEXT PACIFIC TROUGH. MIN TEMPERATURES WILL BE A BIT LESS COLD UNDER THESE INCREASING CLOUDS. UPPER LEVEL RIDGING REMAINS IN PLACE TOMORROW BUT HIGH CLOUDS WILL CONTINUE TO WORK THEIR WAY INTO THE REGION THROUGHOUT THE DAY AND OVERNIGHT. .LONG TERM...(THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY) ISSUED AT 350 PM MST TUE JAN 12 2016 THE FIRST IN A SERIES OF SHORTWAVES WILL DIG INTO THE FORECAST AREA BY MIDDAY THURSDAY BEFORE QUICKLY MOVING EAST. WIDESPREAD IMPACTS ARE NOT ANTICIPATED WITH THIS FIRST WAVE AS IT LACKS SUBSTANTIAL MOISTURE. SNOW SHOWERS WILL BE PRIMARILY TERRAIN- DRIVEN WITH THE MAIN FOCUS OVER THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL COLORADO MOUNTAINS. SNOWFALL WILL BE REINFORCED BY THE PASSAGE OF THE SECOND WAVE THURSDAY NIGHT. COVERAGE WILL BE MORE WIDESPREAD WITH LIGHTER ACCUMULATIONS IN THE VALLEYS AND SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS IN THE MOUNTAINS...PARTICULARLY CLOSER TO THE FRONT RANGE. DRIER NORTHWESTERLY FLOW RETURNS SATURDAY WHICH WILL ONCE AGAIN CONFINE ANY LINGERING SNOW SHOWERS TO THE HIGHER TERRAIN. MODEL SOLUTIONS BEGIN TO VARY SUNDAY ONWARDS. BOTH THE GFS AND ECMWF SHOW ANOTHER SHORTWAVE IMPACTING EASTERN UTAH/WESTERN COLORADO ON SUNDAY BUT MODELS DIFFER WITH TIMING AND INTENSITY. EVEN MORE UNCERTAINTY EXISTS FOR THE BEGINNING OF THE WORK WEEK WITH THE GFS BRINGING IN YET ANOTHER DISTURBANCE AND THE ECMWF RE- ESTABLISHING THE RIDGE OVER THE REGION. FOR NOW...WILL KEEP THE CHANCE FOR SHOWERS ON SUNDAY BEFORE BECOMING MORE CONSERVATIVE NEXT WEEK UNTIL CONFIDENCE IMPROVES. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z WEDNESDAY NIGHT) ISSUED AT 954 PM MST TUE JAN 12 2016 THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE FORECAST AREA WILL HAVE CLEAR SKIES AND VFR CONDITIONS FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS. THE EXCEPTS WILL BE AREAS OF LOW CLOUDS AND FOG...POSSIBLY DENSE FOG...AGAIN ACROSS THE SOUTHERN VALLEYS FROM KDRO TO KPSO. EXPECT LOCAL OF IFR TO LIFR CIGS AND VSBYS. PATCHY FOG AND LOW STRATUS WILL ALSO FORM IN THE UINTA BASIN NEAR KVEL AND IN NORTHWESTERN COLORADO. THESE CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST THROUGH ABOUT 17Z WED. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CO...DENSE FOG ADVISORY UNTIL 11 AM MST WEDNESDAY FOR COZ022-023. UT...NONE. && SHORT TERM...99/JDC/MMS LONG TERM...JDC/MMS 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.
Dense fog formed in portions of extreme southeast Utah with the visibility down to a quarter mile in some areas, including the Blanding Municipal Airport.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Utah in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Utah, January 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: 659973.