An rockfall and avalanche occurred near the Dreamweaver Couloir on Mt. Meeker.
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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.
An rockfall and avalanche occurred near the Dreamweaver Couloir on Mt. Meeker. Three climbers were involved in the incident, a female and two males. One of the male climbers was killed and recovered later that day. Due to the location and severity of injuries of the other male, Rocky Mountain National Park Search and Rescue requested assistance from a Colorado National Guard helicopter. The female suffered minor injuries.
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 May 29, 4:43 AM MST, 3 hours 17 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO 543 AM MDT Sun May 29 2022 .SHORT TERM...(Today and tonight) Issued at 335 AM MDT Sun May 29 2022 A surge of north and northeasterly winds pushed south- southwestward across the plains of the CWA early this Sunday morning. Dew point temperatures have come up into the mid 30s to lower 40s F since then. In the larger scale, there is an upper low/trough over eastern Oregon at this time. There is pretty decent lightning ongoing over northern Utah at this time. There are some light showers over western Colorado and even the northwestern corner of the CWA at this time. Models show the upper trough pushing east-southeastward through the day today and by 12Z Monday morning it is over the CWA. There is decent synoptic scale ascent for the forecast area today through this evening into early Monday morning. There is a strong west- southwesterly jet maximum over southern Colorado after midnight tonight. Moisture-wise, models show dew points to come up into the mid 40s to lowers 50s F over the northern two-thirds of the plains by late day today and this evening. The far northeast corner has the best moisture. The mean layer CAPE values get up to around 1000 J/Kg there late day. If there will be any severe storms today, the few occurrences would be over the far northeast corner. High Wind and large hail would be the issues. Overall, will go with "scattered" to "likely" pops for all the CWA save the southeast corner. The QPF fields show measurable precipitation for a good amount of the CWA later this afternoon and tonight. That would be good towards reducing our moisture deficit. Temperatures look about 10-15 degrees F cooler for the plains today compared to yesterday. .LONG TERM...(Monday through Saturday) Issued at 328 AM MDT Sun May 29 2022 Cool and unsettled weather will be the main story for most of the long term forecast period as an upper trough sits over the Western U.S. Scattered showers and storms will likely be ongoing across portions of the plains Monday morning as a closed 500mb low lifts into the Northern Plains. As this low departs the region, we'll be left with a much cooler and drier day. There will be some moisture embedded in the westerly flow aloft, so at least a few showers should continue across the high country through the day. However, with highs in the 60s and little instability to work with, the plains won't see much more than a stray shower or two during the day. Below normal temperatures will continue on Tuesday ahead of another shortwave trough. This shortwave will weaken/shear out as it approaches the area, but will still bring increased chances for precipitation late Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday morning. Guidance is slowly coming to a better consensus in this period, and now generally agree on a good surge of low-level moisture/upslope, coinciding with a period of QG ascent and upper jet support. There are still some disagreements in if QPF looks more like a "classic" upslope precipitation event (ECM) or banded (GFS), but at the very least confidence is increasing that much of the Front Range and urban corridor will see a good wetting rainfall. Wednesday is shaping up to be the coolest day of the week with highs near 60F across the plains, before a slow warming trend starts up for the end of the week. The GFS is a bit faster with the warmup but the overall pattern is well supported by the overnight operational and ensemble guidance. There are still hints of some low-level moisture making it into our plains Friday and Saturday with a few subtle shortwaves moving across the area... so isolated/scattered thunderstorms are in the forecast for next weekend. && .AVIATION...(For the 12Z TAFS through 12Z Monday morning) Issued at 545 AM MDT Sun May 29 2022 Currently, winds are trying to go to some form of drainage patterns at DIA. Models are still showing a northerly wind push around 21Z this afternoon. Will keep a TEMPO group in for -TSRA and some variable wind gusts to 35 knots from into early evening. I will then go with a couple of PROB30 groups to keep -SHRA in the TAF overnight. There could be some BKN040-050 ceilings from late afternoon through tonight. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 328 AM MDT Sun May 29 2022 Critical fire weather conditions are expected over southern Lincoln County this afternoon. I went with a Red Flag Warning there for low relative humidity values and gusty southwesterly winds. Dry and windy conditions are likely across far southern Lincoln county again on Monday. A cool front should provide more relief for the rest of the area. May need additional highlights for FZ247 if guidance holds on to the dry air there. Otherwise fire danger should decrease this week with cooler temperatures forecast. A widespread rainfall event is possible Tuesday into Wednesday, further limiting fire danger. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Red Flag Warning from noon today to 6 PM MDT this evening for COZ247. && SHORT TERM.....RJK LONG TERM......Hiris AVIATION.......RJK FIRE WEATHER...RJK/Hiris
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO 357 AM MDT Sun May 29 2022 COZ030>051-301000- 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- 357 AM MDT Sun May 29 2022 ...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 6 PM MDT THIS EVENING FOR SOUTHERN LINCOLN AND SOUTHEASTERN ELBERT COUNTIES... This hazardous weather outlook is for northeast and north central Colorado. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Critical fire weather conditions are expected over southern Lincoln and southeastern Elbert counties this afternoon, so a Red Flag Warning is in place there for low relative humidity values and gusty southwesterly winds. The rest of the forecast area can expected cooler temperatures today and good chance of showers and thunderstorms, especially later this afternoon and tonight. Some of the storms could approach severe limits with high winds and large hail, especially over the northeast corner of Colorado where conditons are the most favorable. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Monday through Saturday Cool weather is expected Monday through Wednesday, with scattered rain showers during this period. The best chance of rain will come late Tuesday into Wednesday, especially across the Front Range and urban corridor. A warming trend will begin Thursday and continue into next weekend, with scattered showers and storms returning to the forecast by Friday. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed, but reports of any high winds or hail will be appreciated.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 avalanche. Local standard time, as filed.
Three climbers were caught in a rockslide and avalanche.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avalanche, S & E Jackson / Larimer / N & Ne Grand / Nw Boulder Counties Above 9000 Feet | 2022-05-29 | 25 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
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, May 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: 1017473.