High winds occurred across the southeast mountains during this period, with gusty winds observed over much of southern Colorado. Isolated stronger wind gusts, ranging from 60 mph to 75 mph, were observed over portions of the I-25 corridor.
Every event with a place to put it; 13 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.
High winds occurred across the southeast mountains during this period, with gusty winds observed over much of southern Colorado. Isolated stronger wind gusts, ranging from 60 mph to 75 mph, were observed over portions of the I-25 corridor.
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 Jan 10, 4:14 AM MST, 5 hours 44 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pueblo CO 414 AM MST Tue Jan 10 2023 .SHORT TERM...(Today and tonight) Issued at 411 AM MST Tue Jan 10 2023 Key Messages: 1) High winds are expected for the Southern Sangres and Huerfano County, with gusty winds expected for the rest of the high country and across our mountain adjacent plains. 2) Above normal temperatures expected again for this afternoon. 3) Snow tapers off for several hours this afternoon and this evening across the Continental Divide, but picks back up again later tonight, when a Winter Weather Advisory goes into effect. Currently.. The backside of a ridge is pushing into the western half of Colorado this morning, bringing moist southwesterly flow and jet energy to our forecast area. Temperatures are hovering near freezing for most on the plains this morning, with even warmer temperatures still present for mountain adjacent locations. The Air Force Academy is still sitting in the low 40s with gusty northwesterly winds as of 3am. A High Wind Warning is in effect over our Southern Sangres and Huerfano County, where winds are expected to gust up to 75 mph in higher terrain and 65 mph in lower terrain. Today.. Gusty winds are expected through this morning across the high country and mountain adjacent plains, with highest winds expected over the Southern Sangres. Cross sections through this area show an reverse shear profile until around noon today. This set up could lead to dangerous cross winds across southern portions of the I-25 corridor this morning, especially for high profile vehicles. We could also see some spotty near critical fire weather conditions early this afternoon through eastern Huerfano and northern Las Animas counties, though winds are expected to weaken before relative humidities fall into the low 20s. As favorable jet placement pushes eastward early this afternoon, winds are expected to decrease. Mostly sunny sky conditions and strong downsloping winds will allow us to warm up even more than the past few days, with most of the plains getting into the mid 60s, and mountain valleys getting into the upper 40s and low 50s. In the high country, light to moderate snow continues this morning, and tapers off for several hours this afternoon and into this evening, before picking up later tonight. Tonight.. A quick moving trough pushes onshore and into the Great Basin by this evening, bringing more moisture and better chances for moderate to heavy snowfall along the Continental Divide late tonight and into tomorrow morning. A Winter Weather Advisory goes into effect at 8pm this evening for our eastern San Juan Mountains, and at 11 pm for the Sawatch Mountains, where gusty winds and moderate to heavy snowfall is expected. Heavy and blowing snow could reduce visibility at times, making travel very difficult, especially across Wolf Creek and Monarch Pass. As the system advances eastward tonight, snow spreads across the Continental Divide. .LONG TERM...(Wednesday through Monday) Issued at 411 AM MST Tue Jan 10 2023 Key messages: 1) The low pressure system will produce strong and gusty winds over the plains Wednesday afternoon, and some blowing dust will be possible. 2) A few snow showers will be possible, mainly over the mountains, through Thursday morning. 3) Temperatures will rebound nicely by the end of next week with mostly dry conditions warmer temperatures through Saturday. 3) Snow will begin late Saturday evening over the ContDvd with the next approaching and spread eastward over the higher elevations through Tuesday. Detailed discussion: Wednesday through Thursday... As the major shortwave trough moves over the region, the associated low pressure will undergo lee-side cyclogenesis as it establishes itself over the southeastern plains by later in the afternoon. As this occurs, there will be a tightening of the surface pressure gradient, which will allow for winds to become very strong out of the northwest on the backside of the low. The winds could even get strong enough for some blowing dust over the eastern plains by later in the afternoon. The highest winds look to occur over Huerfano, Las Animas, and Baca counties, making this the likely area for there to be some areas of blowing dust, although there could be some patchy areas of blowing dust over Pueblo, Otero, and Bent counties as well. Snow showers over the plains and whether or not there will be enough to accumulate will depend on how much moisture content is in the deformation zone. The Palmer Divide will likely receive up to an inch or possibly more on the northern side, due to upsloping winds. The latest GFS and ECMWF models reflect somewhat of agreement on the placement of the low at around 11 AM on Wednesday. The GFS still keeps the position the further to the south, yet it has weakened slightly with the lowest height at the 500 mb level, of 547 dm now, versus 545 dm in the 12Z model run yesterday. This is still a little deeper than the ECMWF model. The NAM12 keeps this trough as an open wave at the 500 mb level, and the Canadian has this barely closing off, but both models put the position much further ahead and northeastward with respect to the GFS and ECMWF. The high res ARW is also placing the low much further to the north, over northeastern Colorado, which also coincides with the HRRR and the NAM Nest to some extent. The difference also with the higher resolution models is that they have the low tracking more in a northwest to southeast direction, and not in a more direct west to east direction as the deterministic models do. If the higher resolution models have a better handle on the direction of the low pressure center movement, this many allow stronger winds on the backside of the low to stick around longer over the eastern plains. Some of the strongest winds where the tightest pressure gradient are also appearing over Baca County in these particular models, but have the duration of the strongest winds lasting into the late evening hours, at around 9 PM. The deterministic models have these winds weakening earlier. It could also keep wrap around moisture out of the north over the eastern plains for a longer period, due to the winds having more of a northerly component, rather than a more northwesterly and downsloping (drying) wind component as what is appearing in the deterministic models. Either way, snow should taper off by early morning over both the mountains and eastern plains. The colder air advection on the backside of this low will also give way to cooler temperatures for highs on Thursday, and much closer to the seasonal average for this time of year. Skies will continue to clear and winds will be on a calming trend over the plains throughout the day as the trough continues to move east and high pressure subsequently builds in behind it. Friday through Saturday... A well-amplified ridge will move over by the end of the week with a rebound in warmer than average temperatures over southeast Colorado for Friday. It will be even warmer on Saturday due to downsloping winds, especially over the plains, with highs in the low to mid 60s for most locations. It will also remain mostly dry for all of the CWA during this period in the forecast, with only some high elevation mountain snow beginning to move over the Continental Divide by later in the evening on Saturday as the next longwave trough upstream begins to advance towards the region. Sunday through Tuesday... Ensembles and deterministic models alike are still showing a rather elongated and slower progressing longwave trough moving in over the inner mountain west and then breaking up and becoming more discombobulated as it does. There will be multiple embedded waves associated with this longwave trough that will continue to move other the region and provide the higher terrain with a continuous amount of snow throughout the course of the three day period in the forecast. It will also help to keep things mostly cloudy and with a cooling trend. The plains will have a very little chance of receiving any precip, given the orientation of these waves, and only the best chance will be as a surface low undergoes lee-side cyclogenesis over Kansas for late Sunday evening, which is only reflected in the ECMWF model at this time. -Stewey && .AVIATION...(For the 12Z TAFS through 12Z Wednesday morning) Issued at 411 AM MST Tue Jan 10 2023 At KCOS and KPUB.. VFR conditions are expected for the next 24 hours. Gusty westerly and northwesterly winds are expected at both stations this afternoon, with mid and upper-level cloud cover. Chances for precipitation in the vicinity of KCOS are possible very late in the period, mainly north of station. Better chances for rain and snow at both locations move in later tomorrow morning, just outside of this TAF period. At KALS..Breezy southerly and southwesterly winds are expected to persist through the day today, becoming more southerly and a bit lighter after sunset. Chances for snow on station begin after 06Z, and persist into tomorrow morning. MVFR ceilings and visibilities are expected late in the period, with brief periods of IFR conditions possible tomorrow morning as well. && .PUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory from 11 PM this evening to 5 PM MST Wednesday for COZ060. Winter Weather Advisory from 8 PM this evening to 2 PM MST Wednesday for COZ068. High Wind Warning until noon MST today for COZ074-075-087. && SHORT TERM...EHR LONG TERM...STEWARD AVIATION...EHR
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Pueblo CO 521 AM MST Tue Jan 10 2023 COZ058>089-093>099-111230- 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- 521 AM MST Tue Jan 10 2023 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of central...east central...south central and southeast Colorado. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Gusty west winds will spread down the eastern slopes of the Sangre De Cristo mountains into portions of the southern I-25 corridor through this morning. Gusts up to 75 mph will be possible across the higher elevations, with gusts up to 65 mph possible across the wind prone areas of the I-25 corridor from south of Colorado City to around Walsenburg. Dangerous cross winds are possible across the southern I-25 corridor. Winds are expected to decrease throughout the early afternoon hours, when spotty near critical fire weather conditions are possible across portions of Huerfano and Las Animas counties. Light to moderate snowfall across the central mountains tapers off for several hours this afternoon and into this evening, before better chances for moderate to heavy snowfall along the Continental Divide move in later tonight and into tomorrow morning. Highest snowfall amounts are expected across the eastern San Juans and eastern Sawatch mountain ranges. Heavy and blowing snow could reduce visibility at times in these areas, making travel very difficult, especially across Wolf Creek and Monarch Pass. As the system advances eastward tonight, snow spreads across the Continental Divide. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Wednesday through Monday Strong and gusty northwesterly winds across the plains could possibly produce areas of blowing dust across the southern plains during the afternoon on Wednesday. Snow showers will continue over the mountains and over portions of the plains, mainly north of the lower Arkansas River Valley, and will taper off going into the early morning hours on Thursday. Snowfall totals will be anywhere from 8 to 12 inches in the Eastern San Juan Mountains, to 4 to 7 inches in the Sawatch Range, and 1 to 3 inches in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Lesser amounts of maybe up to an inch are expected in the San Luis Valley and Palmer Divide area. There will be snow moving in over the Continental Divide beginning late Saturday evening and then filling in across the higher terrain from Sunday through Monday. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Weather conditions that meet reporting criteria for spotters will be likely over portions of the region. EHR/STEWARD
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
13 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Red Creek.
Apache City.
Colorado City.
Pueblo Airport.
Aguilar.
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, January 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: 1077933, 1077930, 1077940, 1077935, 1077937, 1077932, 1077945, 1077942, 1077947, 1077950, 1077944, 1077948, 1077951.