Very strong winds developed across eastern Elbert, northern Lincoln, Logan, Sedgwick, Phillips and Washington counties. Peak wind gusts up to 70 mph were observed.
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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.
Very strong winds developed across eastern Elbert, northern Lincoln, Logan, Sedgwick, Phillips and Washington counties. Peak wind gusts up to 70 mph were observed. A large tree was knocked down at Columbine Park in Sterling.
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 Apr 6, 4:20 AM MST, 4 hours 32 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO 520 AM MDT Wed Apr 6 2022 .SHORT TERM...(Today and tonight) Issued at 439 AM MDT Wed Apr 6 2022 Today will be pretty similar to yesterday as the system over the Northern Plains moves east slowly. Strong northwesterly flow aloft will persist and synoptic subsidence will become strong. Forecast soundings show deep mixing to around 600 hPa, into strong mid- level winds of 40 to 60 knots. There is also still a strong pressure gradient between that system and high pressure building over the Rocky Mountains ahead of the ridge moving over the western states. We maintained our High Wind Warning an also extended the area a few zones further west, now including the northern urban corridor southeast through the plains just past the Denver metro. Continue to expect strong northwesterly winds 30 to 40 mph gusting up to 65 mph in many areas, from late morning through early evening. The airmass also remains very dry and there will be near-critical afternoon minimum humidity of 15 to 20 percent across most of the eastern plains. It will be drier closer to the foothills due to persistent downsloping winds and humidity will become critical there. We maintained our Red Flag Warning for all of our plains, also late morning through early evening. There will be decreasing moisture and snowfall, probably just a few, very light showers lingering in the mountains through the day. Cold air advection will keep temperatures cooling, with highs in the upper 40s and lower 50s across the plains and teens and 20s in the high country. The flow aloft should start to turn more northerly tonight as the system drifts to the Great Lakes and the ridge moves over the west coast. .LONG TERM...(Thursday through Tuesday) Issued at 439 AM MDT Wed Apr 6 2022 A strong, broad trough will nearly stall out and expend in size on Thursday as it encompasses the eastern two-thirds of the contiguous US. There will be a north-northwesterly jet stream on the western side of this trough that will be over Colorado. Near the surface, there will be a strong pressure gradient as well as weak cold air advection. The winds at 700 mb will be impressively strong with speeds over 60 knots across the far northeastern plains Thursday morning. With mostly sunny skies expected, there will be steep low level lapse rates that will aid in producing deep mixing within the boundary layer. This deep mixing will bring down some of the stronger winds to the surface and gusts are expected to be as high as 65 mph across the far eastern plains. Therefore, a High Wind Watch was issued for northeast Weld, eastern Elbert, and all counties east of those locations. Across the I-25 corridor and Denver metro, the pressure gradient will be weaker and the strong winds in the low to mid levels will be weaker as well. This should keep gusts below High Wind Warning criteria so no wind highlights were issued although gusts could reach up to 50 mph there. The strong gusts and dry conditions will lead to another day of critical fire weather conditions and this is discussed further in the fire weather section below. Another thing to note about the weather on Friday will be the potential for blowing dust. Considering there was blowing dust occurring on Tuesday, the soil conditions are conducive for blowing dust. The strong winds and steep low level lapse rates are great indicators that blowing dust will be an issue so it was added to the forecast across the far eastern plains. Otherwise, high temperatures will be below normal with highs in the 50s to upper 40s across the plains. The broad trough will drift eastward on Friday and the jet stream aloft will move eastward with it. Wind speeds throughout the troposphere will decrease as a ridge aloft builds in. Warm air advection will increase high temperatures above normal with the mid 60s expected in Denver. There will be sunny and dry conditions due to the subsidence from the ridge. The ridge will pass overhead Friday night and into Saturday as a trough moves into the Pacific Northwest area. Another day of warm air advection and subsident flow will increase temperatures to the mid 70s across the plains. Critical fire weather conditions are a legitimate threat as winds increase with an emerging surface low pressure center over the northern High Plains. The trough over the Pacific Northwest along with another trough over the northern Pacific Ocean will be the focus for next week. Models have come into slightly better agreement that the first trough will push a cold front through our area Saturday night into Sunday with a possible chance of precipitation occurring along the front. The best chance for precipitation would be in the mountains due to the westerly, upslope flow. Global models and their ensembles are showing the secondary trough digging into the Desert Southwest region on Monday and it eventually will move towards our forecast area Tuesday and Wednesday. Ensemble guidance for the ECMWF and GFS indicates the Tuesday and Wednesday period will be one that needs to be monitored for a potential of an impactful weather event. There is decently high confidence that this period will see impactful snow in the mountains as all the ensemble members have snow at Berthoud Pass with an average of 10 inches of accumulation by Wednesday night. There is lower confidence in the precipitation potential for the I-25 corridor and eastern plains. Some ensemble member are very excited about the potential for snow in Denver and it wouldn't be a stretch given the likely positioning of the trough over eastern Colorado. There's not much more detail we can provide about this system at this time other than saying the potential exists for a big system. && .AVIATION...(For the 12Z TAFS through 12Z Thursday morning) Issued at 518 AM MDT Wed Apr 6 2022 Expect VFR conditions through the TAF period. Winds will increase quickly this morning and by afternoon there will be northwesterly winds 20 to 30 knots gusting 40 to 50 knots. Winds should decrease through evening but remain breezy with intermittent gustiness overnight. It will be dry again and there may be more areas of blowing dust in the vicinity. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 439 AM MDT Wed Apr 6 2022 Strong northwesterly winds 30 to 40 mph gusting up to 65 mph in many areas will be coincident with near-critical humidity of 15 to 20 percent across the eastern plains and critical humidity of 10 to 15 percent on the plains closer the foothills, from late morning through early evening. We maintained our Red Flag Warning for all of our plains, also late morning through early evening. The strong winds will be the main factor increasing fire danger on Thursday with gusts up to 65 mph expected over the far eastern plains. There will be a bit of a direct relationship between wind speeds and minimum relative humidity since areas with less wind will be able to have warmer temperatures and lower relative humidity. The I-25 corridor will have relative humidity drop to 11-15 percent with gusts up to 50 mph. The far eastern plains will have gusts up to 65 mph with minimum relative humidity between 15-20 percent. If a fire were to start, it would likely spread rapidly due to the strong wind gusts even though the relative humidity isn't below the red flag threshold of 15 percent. Therefore, a Red Flag Warning was issued for the entire plains from the city of Boulder to the Kansas and Nebraska borders. There will be pockets of elevated fire weather conditions on Friday across the plains and critical fire weather conditions may return on Saturday as winds pick up ahead on an incoming system while relative humidity drops to the low teens. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... High Wind Warning from 9 AM this morning to 8 PM MDT this evening for COZ038-042>051. Red Flag Warning from 9 AM this morning to 9 PM MDT this evening for COZ238>251. Red Flag Warning from 11 AM to 8 PM MDT Thursday for COZ238>251. High Wind Watch from Thursday morning through Thursday evening for COZ042-044-046>051. && SHORT TERM...EJD LONG TERM...Danielson AVIATION...EJD FIRE WEATHER...EJD/Danielson
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO 451 AM MDT Wed Apr 6 2022 COZ030>051-071100- 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- 451 AM MDT Wed Apr 6 2022 ...HIGH WINDS AND FIRE DANGER AT LOWER ELEVATIONS TODAY AND THURSDAY... This hazardous weather outlook is for northeast and north central Colorado. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Expect strong northwesterly winds 30 to 40 mph gusting up to 65 mph across the plains this afternoon and evening. We maintained our High Wind Warning an also extended the area a few zones further west, now including the northern urban corridor southeast through the plains just past the Denver metro. These strong winds will be coincident with near-critical to critical humidity of 10 to 20 percent across the plains. We maintained our Red Flag Warning for all of our plains, from late morning through early evening. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday Strong winds are expected to continue on Thursday with gusts up to 65 mph across the far eastern plains. A High Wind Watch was issued for areas east of a line from Greeley to Kiowa. The strong winds combined with the minimum relative humidity in the teens, will create critical fire weather conditions across the plains. A Red Flag Warning was issued from the city of Boulder east to the Nebraska and Kansas borders. Winds will weaken on Friday with dry conditions and warming temperatures. Critical fire weather conditions are possible on Saturday across the plains as temperatures warm further and gusty winds develop. A potentially significant system will impact our forecast area early next week with heavy snowfall in the mountains and precipitation possible across the plains. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed but snowfall and high wind reports would be appreciated.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
6 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Peak wind gusts included 58 mph at Fort Morgan Municipal Airport.
Peak wind gusts included 60 mph near Cedar Point and Hugo, with 58 mph at Limon Municipal Airport.
Peak wind gusts included: 70 mph near Sterling, 67 mph near Iliff, 63 mph, 5 miles north of Pawnee Pass; with 59 mph near Peetz.
Peak wind gusts included 69 mph at Akron Municipal Airport.
Peak wind gusts included 68 mph near Julesburg.
Peak wind gusts included 69 mph, 8 miles south of Holyoke and 60 mph at Holyoke Municipal Airport.
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: 1012254, 1012255, 1012256, 1012257, 1012258, 1012259.