A dangerous wind event occurred during this period, affecting much south central and southeast Colorado. While most of the higher terrain was impacted, these stronger winds did impact much of the southern I-25 corridor and plains.
Every event with a place to put it; 35 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 dangerous wind event occurred during this period, affecting much south central and southeast Colorado. While most of the higher terrain was impacted, these stronger winds did impact much of the southern I-25 corridor and plains. Highest wind gusts during this period were in the 80 to 100 mph range, with a report of 105 mph observed across Cheyenne Mountain.
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 Dec 1, 3:49 PM MST, 3 hours 46 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pueblo CO 349 PM MST Thu Dec 1 2022 .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Friday) Issued at 344 PM MST Thu Dec 1 2022 Key Messages: 1. Potentially damaging winds expected along the I-25 corridor eastward tonight into tomorrow afternoon. 2. Red flag warning in the Plains from 5 AM to 5 PM Friday. Tonight... As the high velocity jet moves over the area, this will mix down and begin the anticipated strong winds just leeward of Pikes Peak, the Wet Mountains and the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range. Winds can be expected to be as strong as 100 MPH in the southern portion of the I- 25 corridor, and as high as 80 MPH along the rest of the I-25 corridor adjacent to the eastern mountain slopes. This necessitated the issuance of High Wind Warnings along the I-25 corridor. This will highly impact travel on roads going North and South due to strong west crosswinds. Low temperatures tonight will in the 30s and 40s along the I-25 corridor eastward, and in the teens and 20s in the Mountains and Mountain Valleys. Friday... As westerly winds continue to increase, there will be some moist upsloping in the Sawatch and Mosquito Mountains. This will produce snowfall, which brought on a Winter Storm Warning put into effect from midnight tonight until 5 pm Friday. Additionally, a Winter Weather Advisory will be in effect for the San Juan Mountains from 5 AM to 5 PM Friday, as moist upsloping will occur there as well. Snow accumulations in the San Juan, Sawatch and Mosquito Mountains are expected to be as high as 5 to 7 inches. Along with humidities lowering to 15 percent or below throughout the plains, the higher winds have brought on issuance of a Red Flag Warning for counties from Southern El Paso, southward along the I-25 corridor to the New Mexico State Line, and eastward to the Kansas State Line. The Red Flag Warning will be in effect from 5 AM to 5 PM Friday. As the winds continue to downslope and increase in speed, the High Wind Warnings will spread east from along the I-25 corridor to the Kansas State Line. Along the I-25 corridor, winds can be expected to be mainly 60 to 80 MPH, with localized wind speeds of up to 100 MPH, especially in Western Las Animas County. Impacts of these winds will be the same as the previous evening, and will be extremely dangerous for high profile vehicles. High temperatures Friday will be in the 60s from the I-25 corridor eastward, and in the 30s and 40s in the Mountains and Mountain Valleys. -Riser .LONG TERM...(Friday night through Thursday) Issued at 344 PM MST Thu Dec 1 2022 Key Messages: 1) Relatively quiet weekend for most of southern Colorado, with light snow showers along the central and western mountains. Saturday - Sunday... The weekend will bring a downtick in active weather, with relatively quieter weather expected for southern Colorado. Ensemble model guidance is in good agreement about flow becoming more zonal and even minor ridging developing over the Colorado region. This pattern will bring a modest increase in synoptic subsidence to the area, which will keep precipitation chances low and most of southern Colorado dry. The area with higher precipitation chances will be along the central and western mountains, where orographic forcing and a minimal uptick in moisture will allow for light snow showers to develop along the aforementioned mountains. Looking at temperatures, Saturday will remain below average thanks to a cold front pushed southward late Friday. Sunday will warm back closer to average values this year, but another weak cold front will keep temperatures cooler again. Monday - Thursday... For the rest of the long term period, more relatively quiet weather is expected. The GEFS and EPS ensemble model guidance are in strong agreement about keeping overall westerly flow across the region while troughing develops further west. This pattern will keep most of southern Colorado dry, though the increased orographics along the central and western mountains will help to spark more precipitation along those areas. More windy conditions will be possible as well, particularly Monday and Tuesday, given the placement of the jet stream over the region. As for temperatures, Monday will likely be above seasonal values given westerly winds causing compressional warming across southern Colorado. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday will see a cool down, as a cold front is pushed southward Tuesday from a larger long wave trough to the north of Colorado. && .AVIATION...(For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Friday evening) Issued at 344 PM MST Thu Dec 1 2022 VFR ceilings and visibility throughout the forecast period for KALS, KCOS and KPUB. Winds at KALS will be strong out of the southeast gusting to around 22 kts starting around 05Z, shifting to a westerly component gusting to around 35 kts around 10Z, and will remain westerly, with gusts between 35 and 42 KTS for the remainder of the forecast period. Winds at KCOS will also be strong, starting at 07Z, gusting out of a westerly component between 23 and 45 KTS until the end of the forecast period. Gusty winds at KPUB will start around 07Z early Friday morning out of a westerly component and gust up to 25 KTS, slowly increasing to 42 KTS and will remain at that speed through the end of the forecast period. -Riser && .PUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Storm Warning from midnight tonight to 5 PM MST Friday for COZ058>061-063. Winter Weather Advisory from 5 AM to 5 PM MST Friday for COZ068. High Wind Warning until 5 PM MST Friday for COZ072>076-079>082. High Wind Warning from 8 PM this evening to 5 PM MST Friday for COZ077-078-083>088. Red Flag Warning from 5 AM to 5 PM MST Friday for COZ227>237. High Wind Warning from 7 AM to 5 PM MST Friday for COZ089- 093>099. && SHORT TERM...RISER LONG TERM...SIMCOE AVIATION...RISER
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Pueblo CO 431 AM MST Thu Dec 1 2022 COZ058>089-093>099-021145- 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- 431 AM MST Thu Dec 1 2022 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of central...east central...south central and southeast Colorado. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight A wind storm is expected to affect parts of the region starting tonight. The greatest threat for damaging winds will occur from later this evening into the early morning hours Friday. The greatest threat areas will be all of the southern mountains, especially the east slopes of Pikes Peak, the east slopes of the Rampart Range, the Wet Mountains and the Southern Sangre De Cristo mountains. These strong winds will then push out east onto the plains during the pre- dawn hours Friday. The greatest impact areas on the plains will occur across northern El Paso county, and then areas from Colorado City southward to the New Mexico border. THIS HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE A DANGEROUS WIND STORM. Wind gusts above hurricane force are expected. Travel on I-25 later tonight will be extremely difficult. The probability of tractor trailers being blow over will be extremely high. Snow will develop along the Continental Divide late tonight. Wind driven snow will make travel across the mountain passes difficult. Several inches of new snow is likely across the central mountains with lesser amounts over the San Juans. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday Dangerous travel conditions are expected to occur over most of Friday due to strong west winds, gusting anywhere from 70 to over 100 mph. The strongest winds are expected to occur over the southern I-25 corridor. High-profile vehicles are extremely likely to get blown off of the roads and tipped over. These conditions will last through Friday evening. Critical Fire Weather conditions are expected over most of the eastern plains Friday afternoon, due to fairly dry conditions and the intense winds. Conditions will be very favorable for the rapid spread and intensification of any fires. Blowing dust over the plains and I-25 may also reduce visibility, further impeding travel. Snow and blowing snow are expected over the higher elevations of the Continental Divide and the eastern San Juan Mountains on Friday as well, leading to hazardous travel, especially over mountain passes. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Weather conditions that meet reporting criteria for spotters will be likely over portions of the region. 34/GARBEROGLIO
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
202 PM MST THU DEC 1 2022
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0146 PM NON-TSTM WND GST 6 WSW WESTCLIFFE 38.12N 105.57W
12/01/2022 M63 MPH CUSTER CO MESONET
MESONET STATION AV888 WESTCLIFFE.
&&PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
316 PM MST THU DEC 1 2022
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0300 PM NON-TSTM WND GST 5 SW LA VETA 37.46N 105.07W
12/01/2022 M72 MPH HUERFANO CO MESONET
MESONET STATION FW8680 LA VETA.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
34 high wind, 1 dust storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Air Force Academy.
South Ridge at Air Force Academy.
Community center at Air Force Academy.
Five northeast Manitou Springs.
Apache City.
Cheyenne Mountain Air Station.
Concrete shingles blown off of the house and scattered across the lawn.
Red Creek.
Large tree on home in Broadmoor area.
Semi blown over on I-25, in the vicinity of the Air Force Academy overlook.
Wolf Creek Pass.
Colorado City.
Colorado City.
Trinidad airport.
Lamar airport.
Blown over semi.
Granada.
Visibility below one quarter mile in blowing dust.
Semi roll over.
La Junta airport.
Gobblers Knob.
Eight south Springfield.
Pinon Canyon.
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, December 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: 1073210, 1073216, 1073191, 1073194, 1073193, 1073222, 1073224, 1073227, 1073200, 1073196, 1073180, 1073184, 1073228, 1073181, 1073186, 1073197, 1073188, 1073230, 1073232, 1073190, 1073212, 1073218, 1073213, 1073204, 1073220, 1073215, 1073207, 1073234, 1073226, 1073235, 1073237, 1073206, 1073221, 1073214, 1073217.