Gusty to strong west downslope winds developed along the east slope of the Front Range Mountains and Foothills during the morning of the 25th. Windy conditions spread east across the plains with gusts of 45 to 55 mph with a few local gusts reaching 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 BOU wrote it up.
Gusty to strong west downslope winds developed along the east slope of the Front Range Mountains and Foothills during the morning of the 25th. Windy conditions spread east across the plains with gusts of 45 to 55 mph with a few local gusts reaching 65 mph. The strong winds combined very warm and dry conditions fuel two wildfires. One on the north Denver metro area and a second in northern Logan 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 Feb 24, 12:34 AM MST, 3 hours 26 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO 1234 AM MST Tue Feb 24 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Well above-normal temperatures continue for the week. - Strong winds expected along the east slopes of the Front Range Mountains and foothills on Tuesday. - Snow returns to the mountains Tuesday night through early Thursday. - Elevated to critical fire weather conditions possible across the plains through the week (Friday). && .DISCUSSION /Through Monday/... Issued at 1134 PM MST Mon Feb 23 2026 It will be windy and warm across much of the forecast area on Tuesday, with a High Wind Warning in place for the Front Range Mountains, elevations mainly above 7,000 feet, and a Red Flag Warning in place for the urban corridor and parts of the northeast plains. Winds are forecast to really ramp up early Tuesday morning as a mountain wave develops with increasing cross-barrier flow. Models have stayed fairly consistent in the strongest winds starting out at the ridgetops, then gradually migrating down the lee of the Front Range into areas down to around 7,000 feet (think our typical windy spots like Jamestown, Coal Creek Canyon, and Buckeye) by late morning. West winds ranging from 35 to 50 mph will be possible, with gusts as high as 80-85 mph in the aforementioned areas. While the strongest winds are expected to remain at elevations above 7,000 feet, there will likely be fingers of stronger winds (35-45 mph) that do make their way into the lower elevations that will coincide with low RH values (10-15%), leading to critical fire weather conditions developing from late morning through the afternoon. Winds are expected to retreat back up to the higher elevations Tuesday evening. High temperatures are forecast to come within reach of record values (current DIA record is 71F, current forecast temp is 69F), which gives us a fair shot at tying the current record if things warm slightly more than expected. Wednesday will be brought to you by the letter W, for windy, warm, and winter weather. A plume of Pacific moisture will stream into the mountains beginning Tuesday afternoon/evening ahead of our next approaching shortwave. Moderate amounts of new snowfall is expected across the Front Range Mountains and Mountains of Summit County, where a Winter Weather Advisory is in place for new snowfall totals between 5-12 inches will be possible. With a slightly more favorable flow regime for the Park Range, a winter storm warning has been issued for where heavier accumulations between 8 and 18 inches are expected through early Thursday morning. With strong winds around 55 to 65 mph possible, blowing snow will lead to significantly reduced visibilities, making for very difficult travel despite snowfall rates generally remaining light. Be prepared for winter driving conditions if heading into the mountains from Tuesday evening through early Thursday. Across the lower elevations, well above-normal temperatures are expected once again, with gusty winds expanding over much of the plains, as a 75-80 kt, 500 mb jet drops south over the Wyoming border. Winds will be strongest along the Wyoming border where 40 to 55 mph gusts will be possible, with lighter gusts (35-45 mph) from the Palmer Divide to just north of DIA. It's looking like there will be enough moisture to make it off the mountains that relative humidities should stay above 20% (20- 25%) where winds strongest, however, if RH were to drop even a little under what is forecast, conditions would quickly reach critical thresholds, so will still keep on eye on this to see how hi-res models handle tomorrow's conditions to see if any fire weather highlights are needed. A few light showers will be possible Wednesday evening as QG fields show some weak upwards motion and a cold front slides south across the forecast area, though anything that falls will be light, with the highest PoPs over the Palmer Divide, where northerly winds behind the front could bring some upslope conditions. Warm, windy, and dry conditions will continue on Thursday and Friday. Despite wind speeds being lighter than Wednesday, RH looks to drop to 15% or lower across the majority of the plains both afternoons, which will bring potential for widespread elevated to critical fire weather conditions both days. Less wind and slightly cooler temperatures are expected for next weekend that should ease any fire weather conditions for at least a few days! && .AVIATION /06Z TAFS through 06Z Wednesday/... Issued at 1030 PM MST Mon Feb 23 2026 VFR through the TAF period. Drainage winds are likely to prevail overnight tonight. Can't rule out a brief westerly puff of wind at BJC but otherwise quiet conditions are expected. We should see a transition to gustier WNW winds as early as 18z Tuesday as deeper mixing develops. Boundary layer mean wind profiles would suggest generally 20-25KT gusts during the afternoon, which is largely supported by deterministic output and some statistical guidance. The best chance of a >30kt gust would be at BJC. Winds should diminish after 00z with a return to drainage by late Tuesday evening. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 1134 PM MST Mon Feb 23 2026 Another extended period with elevated to critical fire weather conditions will persist through Friday. Strong winds are expected to develop early Tuesday morning along the Front Range Mountains, with gusts to around 80 mph possible down to elevations around 7,000 feet. RH values will range between 15-25% in areas where winds are strongest (7,500-8,500 feet in elevation), while lower RH values, as low as 10% are expected across portions of the plains, where channels of winds gusting between 35-45 mph will be possible throughout the afternoon. The RFW has been expanded to now include Logan County where the latest guidance indicates critical fire weather conditions are likely to develop. Gusty winds will continue on Wednesday, but with RH values improving over Tuesday's with increasing Pacific moisture entering the region, RH will range between 20-25% where the strongest winds are expected to gust between 40-55 mph (generally along and north of US-34 across the plains), though fire weather conditions will be elevated across much of the plains due to the strong winds, no fire highlights are planned at this time. With continued warm, windy, and dry conditions expected again Thursday and Friday, critical fire weather concerns will remain elevated to critical for much of the plains as RH values are expected to be at or below 15% both days, coinciding with gusty winds. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Storm Warning from 8 PM Tuesday to midnight MST Wednesday night for COZ031. High Wind Warning from 8 AM to 6 PM MST Tuesday for COZ033>035. Winter Weather Advisory from 8 PM Tuesday to midnight MST Wednesday night for COZ033-034. Red Flag Warning from 10 AM to 5 PM MST Tuesday for COZ215-216- 238>240-242-243-248. && DISCUSSION...9 AVIATION...Hiris FIRE WEATHER...9
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO 449 AM MST Mon Feb 23 2026 COZ030>051-241200- 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- 449 AM MST Mon Feb 23 2026 This hazardous weather outlook is for northeast and north central Colorado. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Well above normal temperatures are forecast today, with highs in the mid 60s. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday Well above normal temperatures will continue through the week. Increasing winds Tuesday through Friday may lead to several days of elevated to critical fire weather conditions across the plains. Across the mountains, a storm system is forecast to bring light to moderate snow to the mountains late Tuesday through Wednesday. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 high wind, 2 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
Wind gusts above timberline reached gusts of 75 to 85 mph.
The fire burned across 10 acres of dry, grassy fields and charred about 150 vehicles as it produced billows of black smoke visible across the Denver area. Smoke reduced visibility on Interstate 25 to the point that state transportation officials closed the highway in both directions for more than an hour. Four firefighters and one other person were injured by the fire.
A wind gust of 71 mph was record at the Buckeye RAWS and a gust of 58 mph 4 south-southeast of Carr.
The wildfire was ignited by a motor vehicle accident at Highway 113 and Logan County Road 66, according to the Logan County Office of Emergency Management. The area is mainly grassland and rough terrain. Strong northwest to north winds fanned the fire burning 3,500 to 4,000 acres.
Several wind gusts in the 58 to 62 mph range were recorded including a 62 mph wind gust in Briggsdale.
A 60 mph wind gust was recorded at the Fort Morgan airport.
A 61 mph wind gust was reported at the Akron airport.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, February 2026
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: 1309296, 1309193, 1318197, 1309194, 1318198, 1318199, 1318200.