A persistent and moist southwest flow brought significant to heavy snowfall to the mountains and some higher elevation valleys in western Colorado.
Every event with a place to put it; 11 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.
A persistent and moist southwest flow brought significant to heavy snowfall to the mountains and some higher elevation valleys in western Colorado.
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 6, 4:53 PM MST, 2 hours 7 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Grand Junction CO 453 PM MST Fri Jan 6 2017 .SHORT TERM...(Tonight through Saturday night) Issued at 220 PM MST Fri Jan 6 2017 After the last few days, the short term period remains calm and tranquil as ridging builds into the area. The biggest concern through the next few days will be daytime highs and overnight lows. The models always have a hard time picking up on inversions and tend to keep temperatures too warm or too cold when this occurs. After all the snowfall yesterday, inversions have set up over the central and northern valleys. The clear skies tonight will aid radiational cooling allowing for another very cold start to Saturday morning. The models went too warm so did drop lows several degrees and on the order of 10 to 20 degrees for the Craig and Gunnison areas. The models also wanted to bring high temperatures up very quickly by tomorrow so also dropped them several degrees. Now, there will be some upper level warm air advection occurring through the period but there isn't any 'kicker' or strong mixing that will break the inversions. The gist of it is this: A cold night, cooler than normal Saturday with plenty of sunshine, increasing clouds late Saturday night. .LONG TERM...(Sunday through Friday) Issued at 220 PM MST Fri Jan 6 2017 Expect another active week as the 'pineapple express' or an atmospheric river sets up and brings plenty of moisture to our area. This will occur thanks to a deep low over the Gulf of Alaska and the location of the jet stream which will keep pumping moisture into the intermountain west. How much? Models are indicating 2 to 3 standard deviations above normal for this time of year. Unlike the last storm where most snowfall was falling due to the cold front, the next week will see impulses of energy moving across Utah and Colorado increasing precipitation and then decreasing once each impulse passes. The mountains will do very well next week with snowfall amounts reaching several feet quite easily. The valleys will be tricky. If the inversions remain in place, the warm air will rise above the cold domes and bring some snow to the valleys. If the inversions break, all bets are off as a rain, rain/snow, or all snow is possible. Models indicating high temps in the 40s for the central and southern valleys but again, don't believe the models have a good handle on temperatures at this time. The first push of moisture looks to occur late Saturday night into Sunday morning and will favor the Continental Divide before shifting north of I-70 during the day Sunday. The ridge will still be in place but waves will start to break it down. Precipitation looks to really pick up on Monday for much of the CWA and continue through Tuesday. During this timeframe, plenty of moisture will be streaming into the area so some high snowfall amounts look reasonable. Expect somewhat of a lull Tuesday before another shot of energy moves through Wednesday into Thursday morning. Not much of a break though as yet another wave moves through Thursday night into Friday. As you can see, a very active week is in store with some significant impacts to travel possible, especially for the higher mountain passes. A lot of moving parts also in play for next week so expect some changes on timing, amounts, and intensity as we get closer to the event. && .AVIATION...(For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Saturday evening) Issued at 440 PM MST Fri Jan 6 2017 VFR conditions will prevail for the next 24 hours. Skies will start off clear with exception of DRO and PSO where some low stratus is still hanging around. Not anticipating widespread fog but some patchy fog is possible overnight due to strong inversions and cold temperatures. This is not expected to impact flight terminals. Mid and high clouds increase from west to east on Saturday afternoon into the evening ahead of the next weather system. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CO...None. UT...None. && SHORT TERM...TGR LONG TERM...TGR AVIATION...MDA
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 437 AM MST FRI JAN 6 2017 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-071300- 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- 437 AM MST FRI JAN 6 2017 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY A SERIES OF MOIST PACIFIC STORMS WILL BE PASSING THROUGH THE AREA BEGINNING SUNDAY AND CONTINUING THROUGH NEXT THURSDAY. EXPECT PERIODS OF MOUNTAIN SNOW AND VALLEY RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS EACH DAY. HEAVY MOUNTAIN SNOWFALL IS POSSIBLE THROUGH THIS PERIOD. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
509 PM MST FRI JAN 6 2017
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0700 AM SNOW HERMOSA 37.42N 107.86W
01/06/2017 M0.5 INCH LA PLATA CO LAW ENFORCEMENT
STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL. RAIN CHANGED TO SNOW
TOWARDS THE END OF THE PRECIPITATION EVENT.
&&
JRPPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
539 PM MST FRI JAN 6 2017
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0630 AM SNOW 3 WSW MONTROSE 38.46N 107.91W
01/06/2017 M8.0 INCH MONTROSE CO TRAINED SPOTTER
STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL.
&&
JRPPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
616 PM MST FRI JAN 6 2017
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0400 PM HEAVY SNOW 7 W CRESTED BUTTE 38.89N 107.11W
01/06/2017 M57.0 INCH GUNNISON CO PUBLIC
STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL AT IRWIN SKI LODGE.
&&
NWS GRAND JUNCTION CO
IRIS SYSTEMPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
627 PM MST FRI JAN 6 2017
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0600 PM SNOW 10 N MEXICAN HAT 37.27N 109.92W
01/06/2017 M3.0 INCH SAN JUAN UT CO-OP OBSERVER
STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL AT VALLEY OF THE GODS.
&&
NWS GRAND JUNCTION CO
IRIS SYSTEMPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
636 PM MST FRI JAN 6 2017
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0600 PM HEAVY SNOW 4 NNW LAZEAR 38.84N 107.80W
01/06/2017 M12.0 INCH DELTA CO PUBLIC
STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL AT HOTCHKISS 4NW.
&&
NWS GRAND JUNCTION CO
IRIS SYSTEMPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
657 PM MST FRI JAN 6 2017
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0600 PM HEAVY SNOW 4 NW COLONA 38.32N 107.80W
01/06/2017 M12.0 INCH OURAY CO TRAINED SPOTTER
STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL.
&&
NWS GRAND JUNCTION CO
IRIS SYSTEMThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
9 winter storm, 2 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Snowfall amounts of 5 to 10 inches were measured across the area.
Snowfall amounts of 10 to 20 inches were measured across the area. Locally higher amounts included 25 inches at the Ivanhoe SNOTEL site. Interstate 70 was closed early in the event between Vail and Vail Pass due to the adverse weather conditions and vehicle accidents.
Snowfall amounts of 12 to 30 inches were measured across the area. Locally higher amounts included 43 inches at the Tower SNOTEL site.
Snowfall amounts of around 10 inches were measured.
Snowfall amounts of 15 to 30 inches were measured across the area.
Generally 20 to 30 inches of snow fell across the region. Locally higher amounts included 58 inches at Schofield Pass.
Snowfall amounts of 12 to 30 inches were measured across the area.
Snowfall amounts of 12 to 30 inches were measured across the area. Locally higher amounts included 33 inches over Weminuche Pass.
Snowfall amounts of 6 to 18 inches were measured across the area. Highway 550 over Red Mountain Pass was closed midday on January 9th due to adverse conditions.
Snowfall amounts of 5 to 9 inches were measured mostly from the Steamboat Springs area to Clark.
Up to 23 inches of snow was measured at the Columbine Pass SNOTEL site.
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, January 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: 680518, 680507, 680501, 680506, 680509, 680520, 680503, 680515, 680505, 680517, 680491.