Above normal moisture ahead of a strong cold front that pushed southward across the western Colorado Divide resulted in light to moderate snowfall accumulations across the western Colorado mountains along the Divide with locally heavier accumulations and rates. Better snowfall accumulations and impacts occurred above 9000 feet with some gusty winds to 50 mph at higher elevations along the cold…
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The episode as NWS GJT wrote it up.
Above normal moisture ahead of a strong cold front that pushed southward across the western Colorado Divide resulted in light to moderate snowfall accumulations across the western Colorado mountains along the Divide with locally heavier accumulations and rates. Better snowfall accumulations and impacts occurred above 9000 feet with some gusty winds to 50 mph at higher elevations along the cold front.
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 Grand Junction, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 4, 10:37 PM MST, 4 hours 23 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Grand Junction CO
1137 PM MDT Mon May 4 2026
.KEY MESSAGES...
- Rain/snow showers and thunderstorms will persist in the
forecast through Wednesday.
- Winter Weather Advisories are in effect for the areas along
the Continental Divide Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
- Freeze Watch in effect for northwest Colorado valleys Tuesday
night with potential for more widespread sub-freezing
temperatures Wednesday night.
- High pressure will return temperatures back above normal late
week.
- Another disturbance could bring additional showers to the
northern mountains this weekend.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
Issued at 1058 PM MDT Mon May 4 2026
WINTER RETURNS TO THE REGION:
Showers are continuing across the central portions of the
forecast area with light to moderate rates. Roads have remained
wet much of the day but expect that to change Tuesday as colder
air starts to push in from the north. The frontal boundary looks
to lift northward towards our northern border as the cut off low
moves across the Great Basin into Arizona and a deeper and
colder trough pushes southward across the Northern Rockies and
Northern Plains. We will see this frontal boundary draped across
the north by late Tuesday morning into the afternoon with steep
lapse rates, CAPE around 200 to 400 J/kg and low and mid level
convergence along it. Frontogenesis fields are fairly robust so
anticipating convection with moderate to heavy precipitation
rates at times during the afternoon. The northern Park Range
will be cold enough to produce snow at this point with snow
levels around 9000 feet. Moisture is pretty robust for this time
of year across the north with PWAT anomalies up to 180 to 200
percent of normal along this frontal boundary so there is good
moisture to work with, hence why the precipitation rates and
amounts good be quite beneficial. This frontal boundary will
push southward across the central corridor by late Tuesday
afternoon into Tuesday evening and down towards the central and
southern areas by Wednesday afternoon before moving out of here.
H7 temps drop into the -8C to -10C range across the central and
northern areas Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, which is
about the period in time where roads at the higher passes could
become slick and travel looks to be impacted, especially over
Rabbit Ears and Vail Passes. Current Winter Weather Advisories
look on track but decided to push up the start time for the
northern and central divide mountains (COZ004 and COZ010) to
noon Tuesday as dynamics will be enhanced here with the front
and convection could drive snow levels lower for some impacts.
The Sawatch and West Elks (COZ012) still start at 6 pm Tuesday
with the arrival of the front pushing southward so that seemed
reasonable. Expect snow totals of 5 to 10 inches across these
mountains with locally higher amounts possible over the Park
Range due to greater residence time of the frontal boundary and
colder air. Showers will gradually taper off Wednesday afternoon
up north and by Wednesday evening down south as this system
exits the region.
In addition to the Winter Highlights, decided to issue a Freeze
Watch for the northwest Colorado valley zones Tuesday night
into Wednesday morning as lows will drop into the 20s with the
cold front passage. There is potential for more areas to see
sub-freezing temperatures Wednesday night into Thursday morning
as this trough exits so stay tuned.
LATE WEEK AND NEXT WEEKEND:
High pressure builds back across the West and dries us out
further Thursday. After a couple of cool, cloudy afternoons on
Tuesday and Wednesday, Temperatures surge back above normal
Thursday and into the weekend. Models drop another disturbance
into the region from the PACNW on Saturday. This could return
some showers back to the forecast everywhere northeast of the
Four Corners. However, it does look like temperatures will trend
upward, despite some cloud cover next weekend.
&&
.AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z WEDNESDAY/...
Issued at 1133 PM MDT Mon May 4 2026
Low to midlevel ceilings will lift some overnight but KASE and
KHDN may stay MVFR as some showers and those lower ceilings hang
around. After daybreak, TAF sites should remain low end VFR but
showers and afternoon storms will return later in the morning
and in the afternoon. As a front approaches from the north,
conditions will be worst for KVEL and KHDN as the front
continues to drop south. ILS breakpoints will likely be met in
the afternoon and beyond as the front brings low cigs and vis to
much of the forecast area. More gusty winds of 20 to 25kts are
also expected with higher gusts possible near any showers and
storms.
&&
.GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
CO...Freeze Watch from late Tuesday night through Wednesday morning
for COZ001-002.
Winter Weather Advisory from noon Tuesday to noon MDT
Wednesday for COZ004-010.
Winter Weather Advisory from 6 PM Tuesday to 6 PM MDT
Wednesday for COZ012.
UT...None.
&&
DISCUSSION...MDA/LTB
AVIATION...TGJTHazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Grand Junction CO 225 AM MDT Tue May 5 2026 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-060830- Lower Yampa River Basin-Central Yampa River Basin- Roan and Tavaputs Plateaus-Elkhead and Park Mountains- Upper Yampa River Basin-Grand Valley-Debeque to Silt Corridor- Central Colorado River Basin-Grand and Battlement Mesas- Gore and Elk Mountains/Central Mountain Valleys- Central Gunnison and Uncompahgre River Basin- West Elk and Sawatch Mountains-Flat Tops-Upper Gunnison River Valley- Uncompahgre Plateau and Dallas Divide-Northwest San Juan Mountains- Southwest San Juan Mountains-Paradox Valley/Lower Dolores River- Four Corners/Upper Dolores River-Animas River Basin- San Juan River Basin-Southeast Utah-Eastern Uinta Mountains- Eastern Uinta Basin-Tavaputs Plateau-Arches/Grand Flat- La Sal and Abajo Mountains-Canyonlands/Natural Bridges- 225 AM MDT Tue May 5 2026 On Sunday, May 10, 2026, the Hazardous Weather Outlook will no longer be created or updated. The product has been replaced by a graphical version that is available on our webpage at weather.gov/erh/ghwo?wfo=gjt Any questions on the change can be directed to nws.grandjunction@noaa.gov ____________________________________________________________________ This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for northwest Colorado, southwest Colorado, west central Colorado, east central Utah, northeast Utah and southeast Utah. .DAY ONE...Today and tonight. Widespread showers, thunderstorms and mountain snows are possible through the day and overnight. Winter Weather Advisories are in place for the northern and central mountains for 4 to 8 inches of new snow, with locally higher amounts possible. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Wednesday through Monday. A Freeze Watch is in place for the northern valleys Wednesday morning where lows are expected to drop to the mid-20s. Rain and snow continues through Wednesday. A quick clipper may bring a few showers to the northern mountains early Friday morning. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time.
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Grand Junction CO
1024 PM MDT Mon May 4 2026
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0129 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 16 NW Moab 38.75N 109.75W
05/04/2026 M45 MPH Grand UT ASOS
ASOS station KCNY 16 NW Moab.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Generally 4 to 10 inches of snow fell across the area with locally higher amounts up to 20 inches at Tower.
Generally 4 to 7 inches of snow fell across the area with 6.9 inches of snow reported at Vail 2.6 E. Wind gusts were in the 45 to 50 mph range at elevations above 12,000 feet with a peak wind gusts of 52 mph at Snowmass Baldy.
Generally 3 to 6 inches of snow fell across the area with locally higher amounts of 12 to 15 inches of snow at Upper San Juan and Wolf Creek Summit on the eastern portions of the Southwest San Juan Mountains. Wind gusts were in the 45 to 50 mph towards the latter portion of the event.
Generally 3 to 7 inches of snow fell across the area with up to 9 inches at Porphyry Creek. Wind gusts were in the 45 to 50 mph range at elevations above 11,900 feet with a peak wind gust of 54 mph at Monarch Pass.
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, May 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: 1336525, 1336527, 1336530, 1336528.