Strong northwest winds occurred near the Cheyenne and Palmer Ridges. Peak wind reports included: 63 mph at Hugo, 61 mph, 6 miles southwest of Carr and 3 miles south of Cedar Point; 59 mph, 7 miles north of Rockport; with 58 mph at Limon Municipal Airport.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 BOU wrote it up.
Strong northwest winds occurred near the Cheyenne and Palmer Ridges. Peak wind reports included: 63 mph at Hugo, 61 mph, 6 miles southwest of Carr and 3 miles south of Cedar Point; 59 mph, 7 miles north of Rockport; with 58 mph at Limon Municipal Airport.
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 Dec 8, 3:10 AM MST, 6 hours 22 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO 310 AM MST Fri Dec 8 2017 .SHORT TERM...(Today and tonight) Issued at 310 AM MST Fri Dec 8 2017 North-Northeast flow aloft will prevail today around the upper level ridge over western North America. Looking upstream, appears there will be enough moisture for mostly cloudy to partly cloudy skies for today. Light snow/flurries are occurring over parts of the foothills and mountains. Have this ending mid morning as drier air works its way into the state. Any additional accumulation should be light and less than an inch. Winds are already gusting to 40 knots across eastern Wyoming and western Nebraska. These winds will spread into the area this morning. Gusts to around 50 mph are expected this morning and early afternoon over the eastern plains. Localized gusts close to 60 mph will be possible over downslope favored area along the Cheyenne Ridge and Palmer Divide. Warm air advection is already occurring and will continue today. Highs will climb into the 50s for most of northeast Colorado. .LONG TERM...(Saturday through Thursday) Issued at 310 AM MST Fri Dec 8 2017 Few changes noted in the 00z and 06z/Fri model runs. Large blocking ridge pattern will remain the dominate weather maker across the western CONUS for the foreseeable future. Colorado on the east side of this ridge will also remain under a moderately strong northwesterly flow aloft. Weak to moderate subsidence contributing to drying and warming aloft and a west-to-east cross state pressure gradient will keep precip chances near zero and a low-level downslope flow off the Front Range. However, around the middle of next week, both the GFS and ECMWF show the Great Basin ridge retreating westward, enough to allow a weak Alberta clipper system to race across nern Colorado sometime on Wednesday. Do not see much in the way of moisture with it, though enough cool air and gusty nwly winds to drop temperatures by about 5 deg f on Wednesday and another 5-8 deg F on Thursday. Thursday also looks pretty windy, esply acrs the northeast corner of the state in the vicinity of a tight baroclinic zone sitting just east of the area. Otherwise, temperature readings should remain above average through the entire period, with warmest readings on Sunday and Tuesday when highs on the plains should again manage to reach the lower 60s. Normal highs for nern Colorado this time of year average in the low to mid 40s, with high country highs running anywhere from the mid teens near timberline to mid 30s on the alpine basin floors. && .AVIATION...(For the 12Z TAFS through 12Z Saturday morning) Issued at 310 AM MST Fri Dec 8 2017 Expect mid and high clouds to continue to stream across the area today. Ceilings in the Denver area will remain above 8000 feet. Gusty north-northwest winds will develop around 16Z. Gusts to 30 knots will be possible at KDEN and KAPA through late afternoon, 23Z. For tonight, skies will clear and winds will become a normal southerly drainage direction at KDEN and KAPA early in the evening, 03-04Z. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 310 AM MST Fri Dec 8 2017 Strong northerly winds with gusts to 50 mph over eastern Colorado will prevail this morning and early afternoon. Relative humidities are expected to fall into the teens this afternoon with values slowing increasing to the east. Will continue with the Red Flag Warning for much of the eastern plains today. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Red Flag Warning from 10 AM this morning to 5 PM MST this afternoon for COZ238-241>249. && SHORT TERM...Meier LONG TERM...Baker AVIATION...Meier FIRE WEATHER...Meier
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO 336 AM MST Fri Dec 8 2017 COZ030>051-091330- 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- 336 AM MST Fri Dec 8 2017 This hazardous weather outlook is for northeast and north central Colorado. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Gusty northerly winds will spread across the area this morning and continue through the day. Gust to 50 mph are expected over the eastern plains. In addition to the windy conditions, relative humidities will fall into the teens late this morning. This will elevate the fire danger today. Light snow in the mountains will end by mid morning. Any additional snowfall is expected to be less than an inch. A few mountain roads may be slippery this morning. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Saturday through Thursday It will stay dry and seasonably warm through the middle of next week with temperatures running several degrees above average. Gusty winds on the plains at times will keep the rangeland fire danger moderate to high. A large ridge of high pressure anchored over the Intermountain West will be responsible for the status- quo in the weather pattern affecting Colorado. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed today or tonight. Meier/Baker
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, December 2017
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: 730714, 730715.