Strong winds, gusting in excess of 90 mph at times impacted portions of southern Colorado from the afternoon of November 16th into the early afternoon hours of November 17th, 2017. Some of the higher reported wind gusts with this event included wind gusts between 60 mph and 70 near Pikes Peak, Colorado City and Hoehne as well an impressive 92 mph wind gust near Monarch Pass.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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 PUB wrote it up.
Strong winds, gusting in excess of 90 mph at times impacted portions of southern Colorado from the afternoon of November 16th into the early afternoon hours of November 17th, 2017. Some of the higher reported wind gusts with this event included wind gusts between 60 mph and 70 near Pikes Peak, Colorado City and Hoehne as well an impressive 92 mph wind gust near Monarch Pass.
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 Pueblo, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Nov 16, 10:45 PM MST, 35 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pueblo CO 1045 PM MST Thu Nov 16 2017 .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Friday) Issued at 346 PM MST Thu Nov 16 2017 ...Heavy snow and strong winds mountains...Damaging wind gusts southern I-25 corridor... Upper trough is starting to move onshore across the Pacific Northwest with winds aloft strengthening over southern CO in advance of this system. Expect winds aloft to increase further and especially on Friday with deep mixing as 120-140+ Kt upper jet translates across southern CO by Friday afternoon. Cross-sections still show quite a bit of forward shear overall, though there could be a brief window for mtn wave development late this evening through 12z across the southern I-25 corridor. However main mechanism for gusty wind potential still looks to be tied to deep mixing/brute forcing with surface pressure gradient on Friday which could tap 40-50 kt winds not too far off the surface. All parameters for high wind come together best across the southern I-25 corridor for Friday afternoon where gusts to around 60 mph will be possible. However gusts anywhere along the I-25 corridor could hit at least 50-55 mph on Friday. Will be upgrading the High wind watch to a warning for the southern I-25 corridor, though latest high res model runs are a little weaker with winds across eastern Las Animas county, so will trim that section out. However, its important to note that winds will be strong everywhere tomorrow. And while humidity values are expected to remain above the critical threshold of 15%, fire danger will still be elevated due to the potential for such strong wind gusts. This will be particularly true for the southeast plains where fuels are critical. Across the mountains...all advisories and warnings still look on track. Models differ most with how much snow will fall across the Eastern San Juan mountains where 12z NAM was quite a bit heavier than 12z GFS. QPF from ECMWF better supports GFS solution which would bode for lighter amounts, though still approaching low end warning criteria. Highlights over the mountains still look good and made only some minor tweaks to accumulations. Greatest impacts will be across the Sawatch and Mosquito ranges. Should be an active 24 hour period. -KT .LONG TERM...(Friday night through Thursday) Issued at 346 PM MST Thu Nov 16 2017 Friday night...A strong upper system will cross the Rockies Friday with the trough axis finally exiting eastern CO early Sat morning. A very tight pressure gradient coupled with a healthy slug of moisture will continue snow and blowing snow across the higher elevations Fri evening, with 3 to 5 inches of additional snowfall along the Continental Divide possible by early Sat morning. Ongoing Winter Storm Warnings and Advisories along the Divide look good through 12z, though much of the active snowfall will likely be rapidly winding down by 09z. A surface cold front is forecast to drop south across the Palmer Divide right around midnight, with winds becoming northerly and remaining gusty across the plains during the overnight hours. As for temps, expect minimum readings in the single digits and teens for the mts and high valleys, and upper 20s to mid 30s for the eastern plains. Saturday through Monday...Ongoing forecast looks good for over the weekend. The upper trough axis swings across the SE corner of the state Sat morning, with just a few lingering showers over the E mts early Sat morning. Sat still looks to be the coldest day of the extended period, with highs only forecast to reach the 40s to around 50F. Otherwise, dry W-NW flow across the region is expected with temps then climbing into the 50s to lower 60s Sun and Mon. Tuesday through Thursday...Long range models are starting to agree somewhat on a fast-moving weak disturbance bringing isolated showers to the central mts on Tue, then high pressure over the CA Baja nosing up across the desert SW and keeping things dry and mild for Wed and Thu. Moore && .AVIATION...(For the 06Z TAFS through 06Z Friday night) Issued at 1039 PM MST Thu Nov 16 2017 VFR at all taf sites tonight and Friday. Expect periods of very strong W-SW winds at all terminals overnight and through the day Friday, with gusts 30-40 kts at times. Cold front then drops south through the area Fri evening, with a switch to more W-NW winds at most locations 02z-04z. Over the mts, Continental Divide will be obscured by low clouds and snow the next 24 hrs, with IFR to LIFR conditions. Eastern mountains may see occasional -shsn Fri evening, with peaks occasionally obscured. && .PUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory until 5 AM MST Saturday for COZ059-063- 066. Winter Storm Warning until 5 AM MST Saturday for COZ058-060-061- 068. High Wind Warning until 5 PM MST Friday for COZ087-088. && SHORT TERM...KT LONG TERM...MOORE AVIATION...PETERSEN
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Pueblo CO 512 AM MST Thu Nov 16 2017 COZ058>089-093>099-171215- Western Mosquito Range/East Lake County Above 11000 Feet- Leadville Vicinity/Lake County Below 11000 Feet- Eastern Sawatch Mountains Above 11000 Feet- Western Chaffee County Between 9000 and 11000 Feet- Central Chaffee County Below 9000 Feet- Western Mosquito Range/East Chaffee County Above 9000 Feet- Saguache County West of Continental Divide Below 10000 Feet- Saguache County East of Continental Divide Below 10000 Feet- La Garita Mountains Above 10000 Feet- Upper Rio Grande Valley/Eastern San Juan Mountains Below 10000 Feet-Eastern San Juan Mountains Above 10000 Feet- Del Norte Vicinity/Northern San Luis Valley Below 8500 Feet- Alamosa Vicinity/Central San Luis Valley Below 8500 Feet- Southern San Luis Valley- Northern Sangre de Cristo Mountains Between 8500 And 11000 Feet- Northern Sangre de Cristo Mountains Above 11000 Feet- Southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains Between 7500 and 11000 Feet- Southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains Above 11000 Feet- Northwestern Fremont County Above 8500 Feet- Western/Central Fremont County Below 8500 Feet- Wet Mountain Valley Below 8500 Feet- Wet Mountains between 6300 and 10000 Feet- Wet Mountains Above 10000 Feet- Teller County/Rampart Range Above 7500 Feet/Pikes Peak Between 7500 And 11000 Feet-Pikes Peak Above 11000 Feet- Canon City Vicinity/Eastern Fremont County- Northern El Paso County/Monument Ridge/Rampart Range Below 7500 Feet- Colorado Springs Vicinity/Southern El Paso County/Rampart Range Below 7400 Feet-Pueblo Vicinity/Pueblo County Below 6300 Feet- Walsenburg Vicinity/Upper Huerfano River Basin Below 7500 Feet- Trinidad Vicinity/Western Las Animas County Below 7500 Feet- Crowley County-La Junta Vicinity/Otero County- Eastern Las Animas County-Western Kiowa County- Eastern Kiowa County-Las Animas Vicinity/Bent County- Lamar Vicinity/Prowers County-Springfield Vicinity/Baca County- 512 AM MST Thu Nov 16 2017 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of central...east central...south central and southeast Colorado. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight A Pacific weather system will start to show impacts over the region today and tonight. Winds will begin to increase as the storm approaches. Gusts to 50 mph will be possible in the mountains with gusts to 30 possible at the lower elevations. As the weather system moves into Colorado tonight, snow will develop in the mountains. Most of the snow will fall along the Continental Divide where 2 to 4 inches could fall by sunrise Friday. The eastern mountains could see local accumulations up to an inch by Friday morning. Little or no precipitation is expected at the lower elevations. Winds gusting to 50 mph will cause areas of blowing snow and poor visibilities in the mountains where the snow begins to fly. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday Snow will continue across the Continental Divide Friday into Friday evening. Locally heavy amounts of snow will occur across the central mountains while moderate amounts will be possible across the southwest mountains. Blowing snow will make travel difficult. Lighter accumulations will be possible across the rest of the higher terrain Friday and Friday evening. Strong winds will be possible across the east slopes of the southern mountains and the lower elevations of the Spanish Peak region and the Raton Mesa region. wind gusts to 50 to 60 mph will be possible. Light snowfall accumulations may occur across the Palmer Divide Friday night. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Weather conditions that meet reporting criteria for spotters will be possible after midnight along the Continental Divide. 50/Hodanish
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 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, November 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: 725995, 725996, 725997.