Colorado, 2023

Dust Storm and High Wind in Colorado, April 19, 2023

April 19, 2023 · NWS GLD · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

During the late afternoon and evening of April 19th, a cold front passed through East-Central Colorado producing strong and damaging wind gusts in the area. High wind gusts up to 67 mph were recorded in the region.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$4,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
2

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS GLD wrote it up.

During the late afternoon and evening of April 19th, a cold front passed through East-Central Colorado producing strong and damaging wind gusts in the area. High wind gusts up to 67 mph were recorded in the region. Blowing dust was also reported in the region due to these high winds that reduced visibilities down to one-quarter of a statute mile in some locations.

What forecasters said that day

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 Goodland, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 19, 1:57 PM MST, 2 hours 33 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 19, 1:57 PM MST, 2 hours 33 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 19, 4:30 PM MST, 0 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 high wind, 1 dust storm. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Cheyenne County

When
April 19, 4:30 PM MST to 5:59 PM MST
Where
Cheyenne County forecast zone
Measured
58 kt (67 mph) measured gust
Property damage
$4,000
Reported by
ASOS
Coordinates
38.828, -102.603 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High wind gusts of 58 mph or greater were observed in Kit Carson County. The highest wind gust recorded was 67 miles at the KITR ASOS located 4 miles south of Burlington, CO. These winds also lowered visibility down to one quarter of a statute mile near Burlington, CO. Damage caused by high winds included damage to a fence and windows on a trailer located 17 miles north of Flagler, CO along with equipment blown around and a gas tank on a stand being knocked over at the location.

Dust Storm, Kit Carson County

When
April 19, 5:42 PM MST to 6:05 PM MST
Where
Kit Carson County forecast zone
Reported by
Broadcast Media
Coordinates
39.305, -102.603 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Visibilities down to one-quarter of a statute mile was reported within Kit Carson County due to high winds causing blowing dust. The lowest visibility was seen on a Viaero weather camera located 1 mile east of Burlington, CO that showed visibility from around one-quarter to one-half of a statute mile due to blowing dust in the area. Nearby Mesonet station estimated wind gusts up to 49 mph during this time. Time range estimated using nearby KITR ASOS observations.

What these are

High Wind
Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.
Dust Storm
Blowing dust that reduced visibility to a quarter mile or less.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Colorado in 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, April 2023

Sources

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1095829, 1095995.