A strong system moving across the region brought high winds to much of southern Colorado. While it was windy everywhere on this day, the strongest winds of 80 to 90 mph occurred over the southern I-25 corridor from just south of Pueblo down to the New Mexico border.
Every event with a place to put it; 18 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.
A strong system moving across the region brought high winds to much of southern Colorado. While it was windy everywhere on this day, the strongest winds of 80 to 90 mph occurred over the southern I-25 corridor from just south of Pueblo down to the New Mexico border.
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 11, 10:30 PM MST, 1 hour 4 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pueblo CO 1130 PM MDT Mon Apr 11 2022 .UPDATE... Issued at 847 PM MDT Mon Apr 11 2022 Red Flag Warning for this evening has expired. Quick look at incoming 00z data suggests forecast is on track, with strongest winds still progged late tonight/Tue morning over the southern Sangres/srn I-25 corridor. && .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Tuesday) Issued at 326 PM MDT Mon Apr 11 2022 Key Messages: 1) Quick increases in speeds/gusts expected this evening and tonight, with a High Wind Warning effect and now starting this evening for the San Luis Valley, southeast mountains and adjacent lower elevations, lower Chaffee and Teller. 2) High winds with light to moderate, occasionally heavy, snow across the Continental Divide tonight. Another day of high fire danger across southern Colorado, with many places across southern Colorado gusting up to 35 to 45 mph and with RH values right around 15 percent. Flow will continue to strengthen this afternoon and as additional pressure falls are noted lee of the mountains. This will support additional increases in winds and gusts this afternoon, especially over Fremont and Pueblo counties where a more relaxed gradient has supported lighter winds. With RH values falling to the 10-15 range this afternoon into this evening, high fire danger will continue over much of southern Colorado. No change to the Red Flag Warning end time this evening, with RH values expected to steadily improve through the mid evening time frame. Did make some bigger changes to the High Wind headlines, by first replacing the High Wind Watch with a High Wind Warning. Through tonight, this includes the San Luis Valley, southeast mountains and adjacent lower elevations, lower Chaffee, and Teller county. A quicker arrival of the approaching system and strong flow aloft is now expected, with most guidance really showing this trend. Did bring up the start time for the San Luis Valley and Teller county given this trend, while also increasing winds and gusts. Winds of 60- 70 mph will be possible tonight for the mountain valleys, with highest gusts across the higher elevations quite possibly reaching 90 to 100 mph. Did debate starting the High Wind Warning for El Paso county tonight, as flow is rapidly increasing overnight. Given most of the county will decouple tonight, should not see widespread gusts at or above 60 across El Paso. That being said, I do think occasional gusts up to around 60 will be possible tonight for locations in El Paso county immediately adjacent to the higher terrain. Will continue to closely monitor though. Increases in mountain snow expected this evening, and especially later tonight across the Continental Divide. As flow strengthens and large scale forcing increases ahead of an approaching trough, snow intensity will increase late tonight. Moderate, occasionally heavy, snow will be possible. Conditions will likely deteriorate tonight, under this heavier snow and strengthening winds/gusts. .LONG TERM...(Tuesday through Monday) Issued at 326 PM MDT Mon Apr 11 2022 Long term AFD: ...Damaging winds along the southern I-25 corridor and a high risk of critical fire weather conditions on Tuesday... Key messages: 1) Critical fire weather concerns are going to be in place across most of the plains tomorrow, and damaging high winds could be possible, especially over Huerfano County and along the southern I- 25 corridor. Areas of blowing dust will more than likely occur along the I-25 corridor. 2) The threat of critical fire weather will continue throughout the week and weekend over areas of the plains and San Luis Valley, becoming more spotty by Thursday through Friday, more widespread on Saturday, and then more spotty again Sunday through Monday. 2) Higher elevation snow showers, heavy at times over the Central Mountains, and lower elevation rain showers will continue to fill in over the mountains, San Luis Valley, and over the adjacent plains of the eastern mountains on Tuesday. Some thunder will be possible. 4) On Wednesday, the precipitation will spread across the plains and transition over to snow after much colder air infiltrates over the southeast Colorado. Temperatures will be much cooler and below the seasonal average for highs. It will also be very windy. 5) From Thursday through Monday, there could be some snow showers over the mountains, mainly the northern Continental Divide and Rampart Range, and rain/snow over the Palmer Divide. There will be more of a break in the precipitation on Friday. 6) On Sunday, some of the snow showers over the mountains look to spread over the plains and be either rain or a rain/snow mix for the higher elevations of the plains. Detailed discussion: Tuesday... On Tuesday, as the major shortwave trough continues to deepen and move over the region, with the associated low pressure center ejecting out over the plains of northeastern Colorado. As a fairly significant mid-level jet maxima moves over the area, coupled with the tightening of the surface pressure gradient, very strong southwesterly surface winds will develop over much of the region. Some of the model guidance, even the NBM 4.0, has been showing excessively strong wind gusts for certain locations, such as the Walsenburg area in Huerfano County, where max wind gusts could reach speeds above 100 mph. Due to this, a blend using the NBM 90th percentile has been utilized to increase the winds, especially emphasizing the increased flow over Huerfano County where most of both the deterministic and ensembles have been pinging as the area for strongest wind gusts. Even the HRRR is displaying a very strong band of winds extending from the Wet Mountains and down along and west of the southern I-25 corridor all the way to the New Mexico border and Raton Pass with sustained winds above 50 mph by early tomorrow morning. It cannot be stressed enough that with winds of this strength, and from a southwesterly direction which will be perpendicular at times to the I-25 corridor, that there could be severe implications for high-profile vehicles due to these potentially very strong crosswinds. Moreover, given the time that the winds are expected to increase over areas of the I-25 corridor during the early morning hours, there could be a greater number of impacts to travel since traffic is expected to be heavier due to rush hour. With the nature of the very strong winds, along with very low relative humidity values, as low as 10 percent over much of the plains by later in the afternoon and throughout the early evening hours, critical fire weather conditions will be likely across most areas of the plains. It has been noted as well with a recent update to the fuels that conditions are critical for zone 225, therefore this will be added to the Red Flag Warning for tomorrow. These conditions should subside by later in the evening as winds drop below the threshold and RH recoveries improve to above 15 percent. It is important to note that the forecast high wind speeds could rapidly spread any fire initiation within a short period of time, and also cause burning embers to be carried downwind over far distances. For this reason, any hot spots that could appear need to be carefully monitored. Along with potentially damaging winds and the fire weather concerns over most of the plains, winds will become strong enough that there could also be areas of patchy or even widespread blowing dust throughout the late morning and into the early evening hours, especially along the southern I-25 corridor, where winds are anticipated to be the strongest. This could result in temporarily reduced visibilities down to a less than a mile for areas along the southern I-25 corridor. The blowing dust could also spread downwind across areas of the lower Arkansas River Valley and reduce visibilities for places such as La Junta and Lamar. As winds weaken later in the afternoon and by early evening, the impacts with blowing dust will likely diminish. Up until this time, if you are in one of these locations impacted by blowing dust and are sensitive to allergens, it is advised to stay indoors as much as possible. A third component with this low pressure system will be areas of snow over the Central mountains, heavy at times, impacting travel across locations such as the Wolf Creek Pass, where as much as a foot of snow or more will be possible throughout the day on Tuesday. The winds will also make travel conditions very treacherous over the passes, with occasional whiteout conditions anticipated. The models have been consistent with the Eastern San Juan Mountains receiving the most total snowfall with this storm system, however, the northern Continental Divide could also receive amounts as high as a foot in certain locations along the western facing slopes. The Sangre de Cristo Mountains will also receive some snowfall, although there is not expected to be nearly as much snowfall due to the orientation of this trough. The northern areas of this mountain range will see as much as 4 inches of snow, but the bigger impact for the Sangre de Cristo Mountains will be the winds, which some model guidance suggests that gusts could reach in excess of 115 mph across the tops of some of the highest peaks. It is also possible to see some more convective showers with period of heavy snow and thunder possible. NAM is showing highest CAPE values of around 150 to 200 J/kg tomorrow afternoon over the southern Central Mountains, so this area would be the most likely at seeing some thundersnow. Snow will continue to increase over the mountains by later in the evening, yet due to the orientation of this trough, the plains and San Luis Valley/Upper Arkansas River Valley should remain relatively dry. The downsloping winds will allow temperatures to become quite warm over the eastern plains, with high temperatures getting above the 80 degree mark in the lower Arkansas River Valley. Depending on how much mixing is occurring within the PBL over the I-25 corridor will depend on how much it will adiabatically warm at the surface, therefore high temperatures could vary either above or below of what the NBM guidance is displaying for high temperatures across these areas. With fire weather conditions expected, the most significant determining factor of this could be how much of a dewpoint depression there is and how low relative humidity values get by mid afternoon. Temperatures over the higher mountain valleys will not get quite as warm, and therefore the dewpoint spread will allow for RH values to be above the threshold, which is why fire weather conditions are not anticipated for the San Luis Valley or the upper Arkansas River Valley. Passage of a cold front with southwesterly winds backing to a northwesterly direction right around midnight will allow temperatures to drop off rather quickly. Lows will drop into the 20s over the plains, to the teens in the upper mountain valleys, and down to the single digits for high country. Wednesday... The low pressure system will continue to move east but the northwesterly winds, along with some residual moisture on the backside of the system, will allow more much colder air advection and an increasing chance of precipitation over the plains. This precip may initially begin as rain, but then transition will to snow over most areas of the plains throughout the early morning hours. Winds will also increase out of the west over the San Luis Valley, and northwest over the plains throughout the day. With drier air infiltrating in behind the system as subsidence occurs, there will be areas of widespread fire weather concerns possible over most areas of the plains and the San Luis Valley by later in the afternoon and throughout the early evening hours. All precip should come to an end by later in the evening over most of the CWA, although there could still be a few lingering snow showers still occurring over the northern Continental Divide. Much colder temperatures will be felt for afternoon highs on Wednesday, and below the seasonal average for much of the CWA. Thursday through Monday... This period in the forecast has continued to be where the deterministic models have differed quite a bit with respect to some shortwaves well upstream, and even the GEFS and EPS ensemble members have also continued to display a wider range of variability, alluding to higher uncertainty. The NBM shows that snow showers could continue to be possible, especially over the northern Continental Divide and Rampart Range, from Thursday though Saturday due to a generally mid level northwesterly flow, and some of this moisture could move out over the plains on Sunday. Friday looks to be the best chance for a break in any precipitation over the CWA as some weak ridging occurs over the region. There could also be spotty critical fire weather concerns for each day through Sunday as well through due to downsloping winds. Temperatures now look to continue to warm going into the weekend over the plains with the downsloping winds as well, with a cooldown on Monday after a cold front moves through. -Stewey && .AVIATION...(For the 06Z TAFS through 06Z Tuesday night) Issued at 1109 PM MDT Mon Apr 11 2022 Potent system will track across the region through the forecast period, producing strong and potentially damaging west to southwest winds to much of the area through 02z, including the three main TAf sites of KCOS, KPUB and KALS. Areas of blowing dust will be a concern for KALS next 24 hrs, as well as locations across the eastern plains during the aftn. KCOS & KPUB: VFR conditions expected next 24 hrs. Brisk southerly flow overnight until around 15z, with wind shear forecast. After 15z, W-SW winds gusting to 50 kts forecast, then a shift to the northwest between 00z-02z. KALS: Generally VFR, though areas of blowing dust may produce localized MVFR or even IFR conditions due to low vsby. Anticipate W-SW winds gusting as high as 55 kts, as well as some VCSH by midday. && .PUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... High Wind Warning from 9 AM to 8 PM MDT Tuesday for COZ089- 093>099. Red Flag Warning from 11 AM to 8 PM MDT Tuesday for COZ221-222- 224>237. Winter Weather Advisory until noon MDT Wednesday for COZ059-061- 065-067. High Wind Warning until 8 PM MDT Tuesday for COZ069>075-078>080- 087. Winter Weather Advisory until noon MDT Wednesday for COZ058. High Wind Warning until 8 PM MDT Tuesday for COZ076-077-081>083. High Wind Warning from 6 AM to 8 PM MDT Tuesday for COZ084>086- 088. Winter Storm Warning until noon MDT Wednesday for COZ060-066-068. High Wind Warning until 6 PM MDT Tuesday for COZ062. && UPDATE...PETERSEN SHORT TERM...RODRIGUEZ LONG TERM...STEWARD AVIATION...MOORE
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Pueblo CO 607 AM MDT Mon Apr 11 2022 COZ058>089-093>099-121215- 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- 607 AM MDT Mon Apr 11 2022 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of central...east central...south central and southeast Colorado. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Critical fire weather conditions are expected today across plains, the San Luis Valley and Fremont county. Please do NOT burn today or do anything that could cause a spark which could start a wildfire. Snow will move into the Continental Divide tonight, with several inches of snow expected over the southwest mountains and the central mountains. Very strong winds are expected to develop after midnight tonight over all of the mountains, with the strongest winds occurring over the eastern mountains. Winds of up to 100 mph will be possible in the mountains. The strong winds are expected to work onto the plains around the Walsenburg area prior to sunrise, with winds of 40 to 80 mph possible. Dangerous driving conditions will occur late tonight along I-25 south of Pueblo to the New Mexico border. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday Strong to severe winds and low relative humidity values will continue on Tuesday, bringing Critical Fire Weather conditions across the I-25 corridor and eastern plains. Critical Fire Weather conditions remain possible Wednesday through Sunday over the San Luis Valley, the I-25 corridor, and the eastern plains. Precipitation chances and strong to severe winds will increase Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday is currently the day of greatest concern. The greatest chance of precipitation remains over the mountains at this time. Snow is expected over the mountains and rain/snow at lower elevations at this time. Winds will increase in magnitude starting Tuesday morning. Winds the strongest winds will be along the mountains, with gusts 80+kts, and the lower elevations will see gusts 30-60kts, with the highest gusts across the eastern plains. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Weather conditions that meet reporting criteria for spotters will be imminent over the mountains and immediate adjacent plains tonight. 34/SIMCOE
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
18 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Wolf Creek Pass.
Colorado Springs airport.
Four miles north Walsenburg.
Six miles southwest Westcliffe.
Six miles south southwest Colorado Springs.
Nine miles north northwest Walsenburg.
One mile north Pikes Peak.
Apache City.
Five miles north Walsenburg.
Four miles north Stonewall.
Eight miles west northwest San Isabel.
Trinidad airport.
Pueblo airport.
Two miles south southwest Spanish Peaks.
Air Force Academy.
Alamosa airport.
La Junta airport.
One mile west northwest Colorado City.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2022Every state in 2022This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, April 2022
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: 1029297, 1029304, 1029306, 1029292, 1029298, 1029294, 1029295, 1029290, 1029296, 1029293, 1029289, 1029299, 1029303, 1029291, 1029307, 1029300, 1029302, 1029301.