Strong gusty winds developed over the eastern plains late in the morning on the 14th and continued into the afternoon hours as well. S.
Every event with a place to put it; 10 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 BOU wrote it up.
Strong gusty winds developed over the eastern plains late in the morning on the 14th and continued into the afternoon hours as well. Some roads were closed across southeast Colorado including U.S. 40 on Lincoln County.
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 Mar 14, 8:45 AM MST, 21 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO 945 AM MDT Fri Mar 14 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Potent, quick moving storm system moves across the region today. Gusty winds expected to develop later this morning and early afternoon. - Rain and snow showers to shift over eastern Colorado by noon. - Mountains snow showers to slowly decrease through the day with slowly improving road conditions. - Warmer and drier for Sunday and Monday with increasing fire danger. - Monitoring another potential impactful system by mid-week next week. && .UPDATE... Issued at 945 AM MDT Fri Mar 14 2025 Current forecast on track with only minor temperature changes to line up with current observations. Water vapor satellite imagery currently showing the strong upper level low crossing the Oklahoma panhandle. The surface low continues to strengthen over southeast Colorado. Observations show the surface pressure has dropped to 979MB at KLHX and KLAA. The heaviest rain (mixed with wet snow above 5500 feet at times) will continue to transition eastward this morning. By noon, the rain will be focused over the eastern plains with some wet snow mixed in towards the higher elevations of Elbert and Lincoln counties. Increasing downslope flow will dry out the I-25 corridor westward into the foothills. For the mountains, radar and webcams continue to show snow showers and slippery roads, especially over the passes. The snow decreases through the day and road conditions will slowly improve beginning around noon. && .SHORT TERM /Through Tonight/... Issued at 323 AM MDT Fri Mar 14 2025 One of the more impressive water vapor satellite loops of the season this morning. A well organized shortwave is tracking just south of the Four Corners this morning, with the broader scale trough becoming more deeply negatively tilted. A lee cyclone continues to deep across northeastern Colorado this morning, with surface observations and the latest SPC objective analysis placing a 983mb low near Akron/Sterling. The storm system should continue to strengthen today, as the upper trough becomes deeply negatively tilted as it ejects into Kansas this afternoon. By all metrics, this will be one of the strongest March storms across the central CONUS. Both 500mb heights and SLP standardized anomalies are near -4 sigma, which both fall out the CFSR climate period. With the surface low strengthening to around 975mb later this afternoon, there are only a handful of stronger storms on record (3/13/1973, 3/26/1950, and 3/13/2019) per WPC minimum SLP records. However... ...despite the impressive strength of this storm, impacts across our CWA will be limited to some light to moderate mountain snow accumulations, and a lot of wind today. A few reasons for why this is the case, (1) the lack of a cold/moist air source, (2) the quick storm motion through tonight, and (3) the rapid deepening of the trough occurs too far east for most of the CWA. That being said, there are still a few impacts worth discussing for today. Mountains... Radar and satellite show a well defined band of moisture stretching from northwest CO into the northern San Luis valley, which is expected to reach our mountain zones over the next few hours. A quick burst of moderate snow, along with an increase in winds, will likely lead to a difficult morning drive across the mountain passes, where several inches of snow are forecast this morning into the early afternoon. Even as snow tapers off, increasingly gusty winds will lead to some blowing snow through the afternoon and evening hours, with a few gusts of 60 mph possible over the higher mountain passes. Urban Corridor/Plains... A little more uncertainty in the precipitation forecast for the lower elevations. Guidance has trended a little more bullish with the rain and snow potential across the urban corridor for mid/late morning, with a few recent HRRR cycles dropping a quick/slushy couple inches of snow southeast of Denver. Temperatures will generally be too warm to support accumulating snow across the metro. There are also some dry air concerns, especially west of I-25 where an increasing downslope component to the wind will work against any synoptic scale ascent. Overall the forecast hasn't changed significantly across the metro, but it wouldn't be surprising if there's a brief period of accumulating snow for areas like Parker/Elizabeth/Kiowa. That band of precipitation should shift eastward through the day as the surface low races northeastward during the afternoon, with rain (mixed with a few wet snowflakes) spreading into the plains during the early afternoon. In addition to the precipitation, the other remaining question is how strong winds get across the lower elevations. One interesting trend in high-resolution guidance overnight was to develop a brief period of mountain wave enhancement close to midday today. Cross- sections show a well defined critical layer between 500-300mb, with a modest stable layer. There is just enough cross-barrier flow to support a few gusts of 55-65 mph across the Foothills and the adjacent windy spots in the west metro, but confidence is low here. Stronger gradient winds are also forecast east of the I-25 corridor this afternoon. As the 700mb low deepens, the flow is expected to increase to around 50-60kt. BUFKIT profiles support mixing down 40-50kt winds through most of the afternoon, and at least a few gusts of 60-65 mph will be possible in the High Wind Warning area. Areas that don't receive significant precipitation today will likely see some blowing dust given how dry it's been in recent days. As mentioned earlier, this storm system will be quick to exit the region, and impacts should diminish quickly this evening into tonight. There will still be some gusty winds across the plains overnight, along with a few orographic snow showers across the higher mountains... but quieter weather is forecast overall as we head into the weekend. && .LONG TERM /Saturday through Thursday/... Issued at 323 AM MDT Fri Mar 14 2025 As Friday's weather system quickly pulls away and the pressure gradient continues to slacken, winds will continue to decrease across the plains Saturday. With WNW flow aloft and residual moisture in place, conditions will be favorable for light orographic snow showers to continue through the morning across the mountains. Cross-sections show moisture deepen through the morning, and with a weak shortwave progged to pass through the WNW flow aloft, there will be a resurgence in mountain snow showers for the afternoon and evening, with only light accumulations expected. Moisture will push east off the terrain in the form of mid- and upper-level clouds, but with dry lower levels in place, the lower elevations are expected to remain dry. Highs across the plains will be in the 40s and 50s, while the mountains stay in the teens and 20s, 30s for the mountain valleys. We will see much warmer and drier conditions for Sunday and Monday, as upper ridging is still on track to push across the west. The concern for increased fire weather remains for both days as low relative humidities and sufficient mixing allow stronger winds to mix down to the surface. Much of the plains will see elevated fire weather conditions with some patchy critical fire weather conditions on Sunday, and with warmer, drier, and windier conditions expected on Monday, widespread critical fire weather conditions will be likely. Temperatures will warm into the 70s on Monday and with the current forecasted high for KDEN being 73 degrees, that puts us within 3 degrees of the current record high of 76 for this date, which was last set in 2012. With westerly downsloping winds and 700mb temps ranging from 7 to 8C, there is a decent shot at getting close to this record. At this point in the week, model solutions begin to diverge. While there is a clear signal that the ridging will shift east and a trough will enter the Rockies, there are some uncertainties with how the trough evolves. The CMCE, EPS, and GEFS ensemble means all show snow developing across western Colorado by Tuesday, however, the GEFS is the more progressive solution that pushes the trough axis out of Colorado by Tuesday evening, while the CMCE and EPS lag behind by about 12 hours, keeping precipitation in place across the forecast area through late into Wednesday. The latest operational models show surface cyclogenesis start to take hold Tuesday morning over eastern Colorado, with an associated cold front sliding south into Colorado by the evening. Like the ensembles, the GFS is the more progressive solution and its timing of the front would also impact high temperatures for Tuesday. Due to the differing solutions, have gone with the NBM for this time period, as its output seems to be a reasonable outcome until details become more clear. && .AVIATION /12Z TAFS through 12Z Saturday/... Issued at 535 AM MDT Fri Mar 14 2025 Main TAF question is how precip/winds evolve at the terminals through 18z today. Guidance is a little more bullish on developing some RA/SN at DEN/APA this morning, along with more of a turn to a N/NNE wind for a few hours between 14-18z. As a result, there's also a better chance for a few hours of MVFR/ILS cigs this morning. Accumulating snow still looks unlikely at DEN/BJC, but wet bulb temperatures would at least support a brief mix. Precipitation should quickly move east of the terminals by the afternoon hours, as gusty northwesterly winds develop. Still a good signal for 30-40kt gusts at all of the terminals, with some potential for a few stronger gusts up to 45kt for DEN/BJC. Winds will be slow to diminish this evening and we'll likely hold on to some sort of northwest or north through the first half of the night, before winds become light and variable closer to 12z Saturday. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 254 PM MDT Thu Mar 13 2025 Fire weather concerns will ramp up over the weekend as a prolonged period of breezier winds aligns with progressively warmer and drier conditions through at least Monday. Marginal humidity and more inconsistent wind patterns should keep most of the region out of any critical fire weather levels Saturday, but winds will strengthen notably overnight and into Sunday. Winds alone should support locally critical conditions across portions of the northern plains, and possibly parts of the foothills and Park County, although humidity values remain uncertain enough to preclude specifics on the spatial extent of this. The greater concern will focus on Monday, when humidity is expected to fall to or below 15% for all of the lower elevations and portions of the foothills and South Park. Gusts are likely to exceed 40 mph (85% chance) above 6,500 ft, and breezy conditions may extend into the plains. HDWI plumes show every single member exceeding the 95th percentile on Monday in Park County, which would certainly push us into critical territory even under marginal fuel conditions. We'll thus need to keep a close eye on the incoming moisture and any potential impacts to fuel susceptibility. There's potential for fire weather concerns to extend into Tuesday if the next system slows down as well, primarily for the southern half of our forecast area, but that's quite uncertain at this point. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory until 2 PM MDT this afternoon for COZ031- 033-034. High Wind Warning until 8 PM MDT this evening for COZ042-044- 046>051. && UPDATE...Meier SHORT TERM...Hiris LONG TERM...Bonner AVIATION...Hiris FIRE WEATHER...Rodriguez
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO 345 AM MDT Fri Mar 14 2025 COZ030>051-150945- 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- 345 AM MDT Fri Mar 14 2025 This hazardous weather outlook is for northeast and north central Colorado. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight A strong, quick moving storm system will track across the area today. Mountain snow is expected through the day, with snow and blowing snow likely leading to hazardous travel at times. Across the plains, rain and snow showers are likely at times, with strong wind gusts also developing. Gusts of 55 to 65 mph will be possible this afternoon. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Saturday through Thursday Warm, dry and breezy conditions may lead to areas of critical fire weather conditions Sunday and particularly Monday. Another storm system looks slated to impact the state Tuesday into Wednesday, with snow for the mountains and potential for winter weather impacts to the lower elevations as well. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed today or tonight, but reports of snowfall and high wind gusts will be appreciated.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
9 high wind, 1 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
An 82 mph wind gust was recorded at 8 miles NNW of Boyero. Also, a gust to 64 mph was reported in the Hugo area.
Winds topped out 67 mph 3 miles south of Cedar Point. Gusts to 60 mph were reported in and hear Limon, including at the Limon airport.
Winds gusted in the 55-70 mph range with a CDOT sensor recording a 70 mph wind gust near Sterling. Other weather stations in Logan County reached 58 mph as well (Sterling ASOS and military observations over the norther part of the county).
Winds reached 63 mph 10.7 miles south of Holyoke and also at weather station near Holyoke.
Winds across the zone gusted to 50 to 60 mph with the strongest gust being 61 mph near Briggsdale.
Widespread gusts of 40-55 mph were reported. A few higher gusts were reported to the northeast of Fort Collins over the open plains where gusts reached 58-65 mph.
Wind gusts mostly range 45 to 65 mph across the zone with the strongest gust being 70 mph near Dearfield.
A 64 mph wind gust was recorded near Wiggins.
A CDOT sensor along I-76 near Julesburg reported a peak wind gusts of 58 mph.
Winds across Washington County reached 50 to 60 mph including a 60 mph at the ASOS in Akron.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2025Every state in 2025This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, March 2025
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: 1242157, 1242156, 1242184, 1242210, 1242162, 1242159, 1242176, 1242178, 1242190, 1242188.