Strong winds, gusting in excess of 70 mph at times were noted over southern Colorado. Wind gusts between 58 and 60 mph with this system were recorded near Canon City, the Colorado Springs Airport and the La Junta Airport.
Every event with a place to put it; 10 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 70 mph at times were noted over southern Colorado. Wind gusts between 58 and 60 mph with this system were recorded near Canon City, the Colorado Springs Airport and the La Junta Airport. Wind gusts between 61 and 70 mph were measured near Walsenburg, Westcliffe, Hoehne, the Pikes Peak Summit and La Veta. Finally, wind gusts of 71 mph were noted both near Stonewall and Wolf Creek Pass with this event.
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 Apr 12, 10:32 AM MST, 2 hours 38 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pueblo CO 1132 AM MDT Thu Apr 12 2018 .UPDATE... Issued at 1017 AM MDT Thu Apr 12 2018 Upgraded high wind watch for Friday/Saturday to a warning, as band of 60-70 kt winds at 700 mb rotates southward across the area. Winds may decrease prior to warning expiration along the I-25 corridor Sat as low pulls away, but will late later shifts fine tune ending time as system wraps up over the High Plains. && .SHORT TERM...(Today and tonight) Issued at 358 AM MDT Thu Apr 12 2018 ...Volatile Fire Conditions Through This Evening... Currently...flow is transitioning southwesterly early this morning as an upper level disturbance moves into the Great Basin. This has spread mid and high level clouds across Southern Colorado. Temperatures have remained mild with 40s and 50s across the region. Wind observations indicate southwesterly flow mixing to the surface in many areas, with speeds in the 15 to 25 mph range so far early this morning. Today...volatile fire weather conditions are expected by mid morning and will persist into this evening. Expect relative humidity values to fall rapidly by mid morning to near 5 percent for almost all of southern Colorado. This will combine with very strong winds and dry fuels to produce extremely dangerous fire weather conditions. Winds, sustained at 30 to 40 mph with gusts to 50 to 60 mph are likely, and should a fire start, will cause it to spread very quickly. Models indicate the strong winds will exist over the San Luis Valley, east into the Interstate 25 corridor. These areas are also under a high wind warning through this evening. Dangerous cross winds are expected on Interstate 25, and those traveling in high profile or light vehicles will be prone to blowing off the Interstate. Extreme caution is advised and all north and south highways across the region. In addition, these strong winds will likely loft dust into the air over the San Luis Valley, along with the Eastern Plains. This will cause areas of reduced visibility adding to the hazardous travel conditions. Temperatures will once again be warm with near record highs over the Plains. Highs in the lower to mid 80s, with perhaps a couple low 90s are possible across the far Eastern Plains. Tonight...expect snow to move into the Continental Divide by late afternoon and persist overnight. Snow accumulations through Friday morning will likely be in the 1 to 4 inch range, primarily over the Central Mountains north of Cottonwood Pass. Over the Plains, expect the strongest winds to subside for several hours ahead of a cold front that will drop south by Friday morning. As the cold front surges south, winds will once again increase heading into the morning hours. In addition, expect snow and rain to develop over the Palmer Divide late tonight, and spread south and east across the Eastern Plains by morning. Snow will depend highly on temperatures, which will fall into the 30s over El Paso County, and likely remain in the lower 40s further south. There may be minor accumulations over the southern Interstate 25 corridor heading into Friday morning. Mozley .LONG TERM...(Friday through Wednesday) Issued at 358 AM MDT Thu Apr 12 2018 ...High winds and rounds of showers expected for the plains Friday- Saturday... Upper low will track across Colorado early Friday then deepen across NE CO/NW KS/SW NE by Friday afternoon. Initial round of precipitation will spread southward behind the front across the plains early on Friday in area of isentropic lift around north/west side of upper low. Model soundings suggest most areas will see rain across the lower elevations, but the two divides (Palmer and Raton) could pick up a quick inch of snow during the early morning hours. Of greater concern however will be the winds...which will gust out of the north around 35 to 45 mph with gusts up to around 65 mph by afternoon as the surface low intensifies and deep mixing potentially taps northwest winds around 50-60 kts at the top of the mixed layer. Meanwhile, wrap around precipitation will shift eastward towards the KS border by afternoon falling as rain as winds and mixing rebound temperatures into the 40s to near 50. Given the strong winds, there could be some blowing dust across the plains on Friday, but much of this will depend on how much precipitation falls Friday morning. With models looking wetter than previous runs as the upper low closes off farther west along the CO border, think this may diminish threat for blowing dust some. But will need to watch how this evolves. There will also be some blowing snow along the Palmer and Raton ridges Friday morning, but given the warm ground and potential for accumulations to remain confined to the grassy and cold surfaces do not think its impact will be all that great. Central mountains will also continue to pick up some wind driven snow through the day given favorable orographics. Have hoisted a winter weather advisory as totals will approach 4 to 8 inches...mainly north of Cottonwood pass. Elsewhere mainly isolated showers expected across the high valleys with not much in the way of QPF as upper low intensifies a tad too far east. Upper low will be slow to eject eastward with another round of lift wrapping around the west side of the low across eastern CO Friday night. This will keep the potential for isolated to scattered showers across the plains with the best chance along the Palmer Divide and Kiowa counties. Temperatures will drop below freezing Friday night so this will be the best time for accumulating snow to occur. Although winds are likely to decrease some Friday night, with mixing Saturday morning we will once again be under the risk for tapping strong winds aloft with the potential for gusts to around 60 mph through the morning. For now main precipitation band associated with the Trowal stays off to the north and east so best chance for accumulating snows may be along the Palmer Divide Friday night. Accumulations still look light at this point, but have included some blowing snow in the grids. Precipitation will diminish quickly Saturday and winds will taper off through the afternoon as the intense low pulls away to the east. If the system intensifies a bit quicker or storm track shifts southward, its possible more of southeast CO could see some beneficial precipitation. As it stands now, it looks to be a brief couple rounds and the warm temperatures should mitigate against snow accumulations for much of the area. Main threat will be the winds with the potential for property damage and strong damaging cross winds on east west oriented roadways both Friday and Saturday. A bit of a reprieve expected for Sunday. Pattern will remain active with another system expected to pass well north of the area on Tuesday. This will bring another round of increasing winds and fire danger to southern Colorado for Monday and Tuesday. Majority of the precipitation will stay to the north of the area. The next system is advertised to drop into the southwest U.S for Thursday and could be our next weather maker towards the end of next week. -KT && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Friday afternoon) Issued at 1126 AM MDT Thu Apr 12 2018 Winds beginning to reach the surface at the taf sites as of 17z, and expect a very windy period this afternoon, with sw winds gusting to 40-50 kts at all terminals. Could see some blowing dust at times, especially at KALS, and included a tempo MVFR vis group to account for the possibility. Overnight, winds diminish briefly in the evening, then shift to the northwest and increase early Fri morning as a cold front moves through the area. Winds continue to increase during the day Fri, especially at KPUB and KCOS, where gusts to 40 kts will be possible through 18z, then up to 50 kts late Fri afternoon into Sat morning. Could see some rain and snow showers at all locations in the 06z-18z time period as front moves through, with some brief periods of MVFR vis possible. && .PUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... High Wind Warning from 9 AM Friday to 6 PM MDT Saturday for COZ084>086-089-093>099. Red Flag Warning until 9 PM MDT this evening for COZ220>222- 224>237. High Wind Warning until 9 PM MDT this evening for COZ069>071-077- 078-083-085>088-094. Winter Weather Advisory from 6 PM this evening to 9 PM MDT Friday for COZ058-060. && UPDATE...PETERSEN SHORT TERM...MOZLEY LONG TERM...KT AVIATION...PETERSEN
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Pueblo CO 534 AM MDT Thu Apr 12 2018 COZ058>089-093>099-131145- 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- 534 AM MDT Thu Apr 12 2018 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of central...east central...south central and southeast Colorado. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Strong westerly winds will combine with relative humidity values below 10 percent and dry fuels to produce dangerous fire weather conditions this afternoon and evening. Locations from the San Luis Valley, lower elevations of the Eastern Mountains, east across the Eastern Plains will see the most dangerous conditions as southwest winds gust up to 60 mph this afternoon. Any outdoor burning should be postponed due to the dangerous conditions. In addition, there may be areas of blowing dust in wind prone areas along Interstate 25 which could reduce visibilities. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday Strong and potentially damaging north winds will spread across the plains Friday and Saturday as a Spring storm system intensifies across western Kansas. North winds will gust up to 65 mph at times which may cause property damage and will result in dangerous cross winds along north south oriented roadways. This system will also produce snow along the Continental Divide through Friday evening with accumulations of 4 to 8 inches. A brief round of mixed rain and snow showers will spread across the plains Friday morning. There could be some brief accumulations of an inch or two on grassy surfaces along the Palmer Divide and Raton Ridges Friday morning. Some additional light snow will be possible across the Palmer Divide and Kiowa county Friday night as another wave of precipitation spreads southward across the plains. Unless this storm system drops farther south, or intensifies farther west, it appears the main impact for southern will be strong north winds with the potential for damaging gusts from Friday morning through mid day Saturday. Another storm system will spread gusty winds and high fire danger across the San Luis valley and portions of the southeast plains Monday and Tuesday. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Weather conditions that meet reporting criteria for spotters will be likely across the mountains, valleys and adjacent plains this afternoon through tonight. 88/31
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
10 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, April 2018
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: 750412, 750420, 750415, 750418, 750424, 750426, 750425, 750407, 750409, 750410.