During the afternoon of February 26th, high winds were observed in East-Central Colorado due to a passing cold front. The highest non-thunderstorm wind gust recorded in this region was 65 mph.
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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 GLD wrote it up.
During the afternoon of February 26th, high winds were observed in East-Central Colorado due to a passing cold front. The highest non-thunderstorm wind gust recorded in this region was 65 mph.
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 Feb 26, 2:47 AM MST, 12 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Goodland KS 247 AM MST Sun Feb 26 2023 .SHORT TERM...(Today and Monday) Issued at 246 AM MST Sun Feb 26 2023 Latest upper air analysis shows a closed low over California moving into Nevada. Ahead of it was an arc of cloud cover. Further downstream a ridge was present over the Plains. At the surface a warm front was positioned roughly over Southwest Kansas. Today the warm front will continue moving northward, ending up along the KS/NE border by the afternoon. South of the warm front a dry line will develop during the latter part of the afternoon. The better defined part of the dry line will be over West Central and Southwest Kansas. Instability will not develop until very late in the afternoon; this will be dependent on the dry line. Most of the instability will be south of the forecast area. Around 6 PM storms will be either moving into the forecast area or forming over the eastern part of the forecast area. Locations east of Highway 23 will be the most susceptible to strong/severe storms. The most likely window for severe storms looks to be 5 PM-10 PM CT. Storms will be moving quickly to the northeast (about 50 MPH). Due to the fast storm movement, severe winds can more easily occur. Confidence for severe wind gusts is on the low side due to the best time for storms occurring being as the sun is setting and the surface inversion beginning to form. However the threat for quarter size hail is looking more realistic. Soundings indicate elevated severe storms being possible along the cold front as it moves through. These elevated storms will be more favorable for producing large hail. The precipitation from these storms could help channel severe winds down to the surface too. Confidence for quarter size hail is between low and moderate. In addition, if a squall line of storms forms, there is a risk for brief tornadoes to form. The risk area for this would be Gove and Graham counties. Further north the dry line becomes less defined and therefore less likely for storms to be forming off it. Best time for any tornado development would be 5- 8 PM CT. The risk for brief tornadoes increases to the south. Confidence is on the low side for tornadoes to occur. However the environment is looking more favorable for them to occur. Taking a step back to look at the overall picture, there could be two areas of storms rather close together. The main round of storms firing off the dry line, with another round forming along the incoming cold front as it approaches the dry line. These two areas should quickly merge together as the cold front overtakes the dry line sometime mid evening. The cold front will move east of Norton/Graham counties by midnight. Storm activity will end behind the cold front. Northwest winds will become strong behind the cold front. However the CAA with the front will not be strong enough to form a mixed layer, which will prevent the high winds behind the front from reaching the ground. The tight surface pressure gradient will be the main reason for the strong winds. Am not expecting wind gusts of 60 MPH due to the inversion blocking those wind speeds from the surface. In addition to the storm activity, there continues to be a potential for blowing dust, mainly over Cheyenne County CO, Greeley, and Wichita counties. The threat will end as the sun sets. Monday morning the strong winds will continue. However as the day progresses the winds will decline as a surface high moves into Central Nebraska by early evening. Temperatures will be cooler due to the cold front passage. Monday night winds will turn to the south or southeast behind the exiting surface high pressure. This will allow lows to be similar to Saturday night. .LONG TERM...(Tuesday through Sunday) Issued at 239 AM MST Sun Feb 26 2023 A chance at snow accumulations starting Wednesday evening through Thursday is looking more possible. Temperatures on Tuesday will remain warmer than normal as a ridge allows for southwesterly flow into the Tri-State area. Wednesday, a trough will move through the area. This trough will cool temperatures off and give us another round of snow with some rain/snow mix possible at the start of the event Wednesday evening. Overnight Wednesday, as the temperatures cool, the rain/snow mix will become primarily snow. Guidance from the GFS, ECMWF, CMC-NH, and GEFS all suggest different paths that this system could take and varying amounts of moisture. These are some of the factors that will determine exactly how much snow the Tri-State area receives and where it will occur. To highlight the spread of model guidance, the 7Z NBM 25% of snow accumulation shows no snow in the CWA while there are 1-4 inches possible in the 75% of snow accumulation. The details of this system should clear up a bit more once the active weather in the short-term passes through the region. Thursday will also be much cooler than any of the other days in the long-term with high temperatures in the 30s. Starting Wednesday afternoon and lasting through Thursday, there will be a potential for blowing snow in areas that have fresh snowfall. Winds are forecast to be from the southeast Wednesday afternoon and slowly become northeasterly overnight, and more northerly during the day Thursday. Wind speeds look to be around 15 kts sustained throughout the event with gusts of 20-25 kts being possible. The GFS, ECMWF, and CMC-NH are beginning to agree on solutions from Thursday evening and beyond. They are showing a weak ridge will quickly move across the region and then another trough starts to impact the Tri-State area early Saturday morning. This will keep temperatures in the 40s and possibly low 50s, slightly cooler than normal. During the second half of Saturday, a pronounced upper-level trough will work its way into the area. As it does, it will bring warmer air into the region and we could see 50s and 60s across the CWA. && .AVIATION...(For the 06Z TAFS through 06Z Sunday night) Issued at 845 PM MST Sat Feb 25 2023 KGLD...VFR conditions are expected through the period. A southwest wind up to 10kts at taf issuance will continue through Sunday morning. From 19z-00z, south winds gusting up to 30kts are expected. After 01z, winds veer to the west then northwest, peaking after 03z with gusts up to 35kts expected as a cold front moves through. KMCK...VFR conditions are expected through the period. A light and variable wind is expected from taf issuance through 17z. From 18z-01, southeast winds up to 11kts back to the east-southeast ahead of an approaching cold front. After 02z, winds establish a northwesterly direction, peaking after 04z with gusts up to 30kts behind the cold front. There is a possibility of sub VFR conditions in br/fg and/or low cigs for a few hours either side of 03z Monday morning. At this time, confidence is not high enough to include its mention in the taf. && .GLD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KS...NONE. CO...NONE. NE...NONE. && SHORT TERM...JTL LONG TERM...CA AVIATION...99
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Goodland KS 900 PM MST Sat Feb 25 2023 COZ090>092-KSZ001>004-013>016-027>029-041-042-NEZ079>081-261400- Yuma-Kit Carson-Cheyenne-Rawlins-Decatur-Norton-Sherman-Thomas- Sheridan-Graham-Wallace-Logan-Gove-Greeley-Wichita-Dundy-Hitchcock- Red Willow- 900 PM MST Sat Feb 25 2023 /1000 PM CST Sat Feb 25 2023/ This hazardous weather outlook is for extreme southwest Nebraska... northwest Kansas and east central Colorado. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT... No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY... Areas of blowing dust will be possible from about 1 PM MST (2 PM CST) through 4 PM MST (5 PM CST) Sunday afternoon for those along and south of a line from Kit Carson, Colorado to Sharon Springs and Leoti, Kansas. Visibilities as low as a few miles are anticipated. Air quality will become poor. There is a chance for strong to severe thunderstorms Sunday evening, mainly southeast of a line from Oakley to Hoxie to Norton in Kansas. Wind gusts of 60 MPH and quarter size hail will be the primary threats. At this time confidence is on the low side for severe weather to occur. Elevated to Near Critical fire weather conditions are possible Tuesday afternoon south of a line from Kit Carson, Colorado to Gove, Kansas. Caution should be used if burning outdoors. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A non-thunderstorm wind gust of 65 mph was recorded one mile east of Cheyenne Wells, Colorado.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, February 2023
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: 1082031.