Central Gunnison and Uncompahgre River Basin storm history
Storm events recorded in Central Gunnison and Uncompahgre River Basin, Colorado between 1950 and 2025.
406
Total events
0
Tornadoes
0
Hail
1
Floods
0
Deaths
$390K
Property damage
Most significant events
Strongest tornadoes, deadliest events, and biggest damage in this county. Up to 50 shown.
Winter Weather Winter Weather
Generally 2 to 5 inches of snow fell across the area, mainly the Paonia to Hotchkiss portion, with 5 inches reported at Hotchkiss 5.4 NE. Winds gusted to 25 mph at JAY RAWS site.
Winter Weather Winter Weather
Generally 2 to 5 inches of snow fell across the area, mainly the Paonia to Hotchkiss portion, with 5 inches reported at Hotchkiss 5.4 NE. Winds gusted to 25 mph at JAY RAWS site.
Drought Drought
The US Drought Monitor removed the last area of Extreme (D3) Drought from Colorado Zone 011 - Central Gunnison and Uncompahgre River Basin on October 14th, 2025. Extreme (D3) Drought did not reoccur for a month. Therefore this will be the last entry for this zone until such time …
Frost/Freeze Frost/Freeze
With eleven of the fourteen reporting stations available for verification recording temperatures at or below 32F for at least 3 hours, at least 50% of the zone experienced a freeze. Only five of the fourteen stations recorded temperatures at or below 28F for at least 3 hours, so …
High Wind High Wind
At approximately 9:26 AM PM MDT on the 4th, the KMTJ AWOS at the Montrose Regional Airport recorded a gust to 64 mph. Other sites around the zone recorded gusts to 45-50 mph during the late morning and afternoon hours. No reports of injuries, damages, or fatalities were received …
Drought Drought
At the beginning of the month of October, the US Drought Monitor analyzed an area of Extreme (D3) Drought as covering roughly 90% of Colorado Zone 011 - Central Gunnison and Uncompahgre River Basin, with the remaining 10% under Severe (D2) Drought conditions. Significant improvem…
Drought Drought
At the beginning of the month of September, the US Drought Monitor analyzed an area of Exceptional (D4) Drought that covered roughly 10% of Colorado Zone 011 - Central Gunnison and Uncompahgre River Basin, with the remaining 90% under Extreme (D3) Drought conditions. With the 9/3…
Drought Drought
At the beginning of the month of August, the US Drought Monitor analyzed an area of Extreme (D3) Drought that covered roughly 2/3 of Colorado Zone 011 - Central Gunnison and Uncompahgre River Basin. With the 8/13/25 US Drought Monitor update, an area of Exceptional (D4) Drought w…
Drought Drought
The US Drought Monitor analyzed an area of Extreme (D3) Drought in Colorado Zone 011 - Central Gunnison and Uncompahgre River Basin. This area of Extreme (D3) Drought remained largely unchanged throughout the month. No reports of crop damage or failures, or other drought related …
Drought Drought
The majority of the zone has been analyzed as having Extreme (D3) Drought conditions, and this situation did not change appreciably during the month of June.
Drought Drought
The Central Gunnison and Uncompahgre River Basin (CO Zone 011) started the month of May with Extreme (D3) Drought analyzed across over 75% of the zone. By the end of the month, this area of Extreme (D3) Drought had expanded to cover over 90% of the zone.
Drought Drought
The US Drought Monitor update on April 29th added a large pocket of Extreme (D3) Drought to central Western Colorado, including portions of Mesa, Delta, and Montrose Counties. This area, combined with the small sliver of D3 conditions in the southern San Juans, put just under 6.5…
Frost/Freeze Frost/Freeze
The minimum temperature recorded at the KMTJ ASOS at the Montrose Regional Airport was 28F, while the minimum recorded at any of the available 14 sensors was 23F. A total of 13 out of the 14 sensors recorded at least 3 hours of temperatures at or below 32F, with an average durati…
Frost/Freeze Frost/Freeze
The minimum temperature recorded at the KMTJ ASOS at the Montrose Regional Airport was 28F, while the minimum temperature at any of the available 13 sensors was 27F. A total of 8 of the available 13 sensors recorded at least 3 hours at or below 32F, with an average duration of 4.…
High Wind High Wind
The KMTJ ASOS at the Montrose Regional Airport recorded a gust to 60 mph at approximately 6:45 PM local time. Wind gusts across the zone ranged from 45 mph to the peak gust of 60 mph over the course of the afternoon and early evening on the 17th. Winds began to diminish through t…
Winter Weather Winter Weather
Generally 2 to 5 inches of snow fell across the Hotchkiss to Paonia area with less elsewhere. 5 inches of snow was reported at Paonia 2.0 SE. Winds generally gusted in the 25 to 40 mph range.
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
The KMTJ ASOS in Montrose recorded an approximately 1.5 hour period where temperatures were below 25F and wind chills were below 15F. Winds were below the 10 mph threshold, however the wind chill values produced by even these weak winds were sufficient to warrant inclusion. Tempe…
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
The KMTJ ASOS in Montrose recorded an approximately 4 hour period where temperatures were below 25F and wind chill values were below 15F. Wind were consistently at or above 10 mph for around an hour of this period, but even weaker winds produced sufficiently cold wind chills. Tem…
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
Between the KMTJ ASOS in Montrose and the KAJZ AWOS in Delta, an approximately 11 hour period of temperatures below 25F and wind chill values below 15F. The majority of the period saw winds below 10 mph, although around 3 hours of the period saw winds consistently at or above 10 …
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
Between the KMTJ ASOS in Montrose and the KAJZ AWOS in Delta, a period of approximately 6 hours with temperatures below 25F and wind chill values below 15F were recorded. Only about half of the period saw winds consistently at or above 10 mph, though winds weaker than 10 mph stil…
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
Between the KMTJ ASOS in Montrose and the KAJZ AWOS in Delta, an approximately 15 hour period of temperatures below 25F and wind chill values below 15F was recorded. Although winds were weaker than 10 mph for the majority of the period, the wind chill values produced were cold en…
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
The KMTJ ASOS in Montrose recorded an approximately 1.5 hour period where temperatures were below 25F and wind chill values were below 15F. Winds were, for the most part, weaker than 10 mph, and inconsistently above 10 mph. Even with the weaker winds, wind chill values recorded w…
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
Between the KMTJ ASOS in Montrose and the KAJZ AWOS in Delta, an over 24 hour period of temperatures below 25F and wind chill values below 15F was recorded. Winds were at or above 10 mph for a substantial portion of the period, but even those periods that saw winds weaker than 10…
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
The KMTJ ASOS in Montrose reported an approximately 5 hour period where temperatures were below 25F and wind chill values were below 15F. The majority of the period saw winds either below 10 mph or winds inconsistently above 10 mph, however the last hour of the period did see win…
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
The KMTJ ASOS in Montrose recorded an approximately 2.5 hour period where temperatures were below 25F, wind chill values were below 15F, and winds were, for the most part, at or above 10 mph, either gusting or sustained. Even the periods where winds were weaker than 10 mph, or in…
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
The KMTJ ASOS in Montrose and the KAJZ AWOS in Delta recorded an approximately 14 hour period of temperatures below 25F and wind chill values below 15F. Winds were, during this period, generally weaker than 10 mph or inconsistently above 10 mph. That said, the wind chill values p…
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
The KMTJ ASOS in Montrose reported a period of about 4 hours where temperatures were below 25F and wind chill values were below 15F. Winds were generally weaker than 10 mph, and when they did go above 10 mph, it was not consistently enough to meet requirements. That said, the win…
Dense Fog Dense Fog
Around 3AM local time, the KMTJ ASOS at the Montrose Regional Airport began reporting visibilities of 1/4 mile or less. Additionally, satellite imagery indicated that the dense fog was more than localized. As the sun rose, airfield cameras provided by the Federal Aviation Adminis…
Dense Fog Dense Fog
As the sun began to rise, road cameras provided by the Colorado Department of Transportation began showing areas of dense fog along US Highway 50 between Olathe and Montrose, CO. The KMTJ ASOS did not record visibilities below 1/2 mile, but the visual confirmation of widespread d…
Winter Weather Winter Weather
Generally 3 to 4 inches of snow fell across the area with 4.2 inches of snow reported at Paonia 2 SE.
Winter Weather Winter Weather
Generally 3 to 6 inches of snow fell across the area with locally higher amount of 6.7 inches at Montrose 1.6 E. Winds generally gusted in the 10 to 20 mph range with peak gust of 33 mph at the Montrose Regional Airport and near the Mesa-Delta county line.
Frost/Freeze Frost/Freeze
Ten of the eleven reporting sites available for verification recorded temperatures at or below 32F for at least 3 hours, with six of the eleven recording temperatures at or below 28F for at least 3 hours. This means that at least 50% of the zone experienced a season-ending freeze…
High Wind High Wind
Wind gusts across the zone ranged from 45 mph to 60 mph, with the peak gusts of 60 mph both occurring at the Colorado Department of Transportation Mesonet site 050w054 Mesa County Line South on the afternoon of the 5th. The peak gust recorded at the KMTJ ASOS at the Montrose Regi…
Wildfire Wildfire
The Rattlesnake Gulch Fire started in mid April due to unknown causes 8 miles west of Delta in the Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area. The fire grew to 110 acres before it was contained in mid April. Seven power poles destroyed sending their lines into the Gunnison Ri…
High Wind High Wind
Wind gusts across the zone ranged from 45 mph to near 65 mph. The peak recorded gust of 61 mph occurred at the KMTJ ASOS at the Montrose Regional Airport. This was the only location to record gusts above 58 mph.
Winter Storm Winter Storm
Generally 6 to 12 inches of snow fell across the area with locally higher amounts of 15.8 inches reported at Crawford 3.6 SW. Wind gusts were in the 35 to 50 mph range during the event with peak wind gust of 51 mph at the Montrose Regional Airport at the start of the event.
High Wind High Wind
The peak gust of 62 mph was recorded twice, once at the ASOS KMTJ at the Montrose Regional Airport at 2:03 PM, and also at the mesonet site 2 NW Montrose, also at 2:03 PM. Other recorded gusts across the zone ranged from 45 mph to 60 mph. Reports of power outages in Montrose Coun…
Winter Weather Winter Weather
Generally up to 1 inch of snow fell across the area with 1.5 inches reported at Crawford 3.6SW. Winds gusted in the 35 to 45 mph range with a peak wind gust of 52 mph at Jay RAWS near Hotchkiss. The Montrose Regional Airport reported visibility less than 1 mile with gusts up to 4…
Winter Weather Winter Weather
Generally 5 to 8 inches of snow fell across the Hotchkiss and Paonia areas in the northern part of the zone with less than an inch from Delta to Montrose across the western and southern parts of the zone.
Winter Weather Winter Weather
Generally 3 to 6 inches of snow fell across the area. 8 inches reported at Paonia 1.5N.
Winter Weather Winter Weather
Generally 3 to 6 inches of snow fell across the area. 8 inches reported at Paonia 1.5N.
Frost/Freeze Frost/Freeze
Overnight lows ranged from 19 to 25 degrees F, including a low of 19 degrees F at Montrose Regional Airport. This constituted a season-ending freeze, as all reporting sites dropped below 28 degrees F for 3 hours or more.
High Wind High Wind
A peak wind gust of 62 MPH was measured by the automated weather station at the Montrose Regional Airport.
Frost/Freeze Frost/Freeze
Overnight lows ranged from 18 to 25 degrees across the area, including a low of 25 degrees at the Montrose Regional Airport.
Frost/Freeze Frost/Freeze
Overnight lows ranged from 22 to 28 degrees across the area, including a low of 28 degrees at the Montrose Regional Airport.
High Wind High Wind
A peak wind gust of 63 MPH was measured by the Jay RAWS automated weather station. The Montrose Regional Airport also measured a gust of 59 mph.
Winter Weather Winter Weather
A snow squall impacted the Montrose area, reducing visibilities to less than one quarter of a mile for around 30 minutes as it moved through. The Montrose Regional Airport reported wind gusts up to 33 mph with the squall.
High Wind High Wind
A peak wind gust of 59 MPH was measured at the Jay RAWS site.
Winter Storm Winter Storm
Generally 7 to 14 inches of snow fell across the area. Winds gusted up to 32 mph at times.
Dense Fog Dense Fog
Dense fog was observed across the Central Gunnison and Uncompahgre River Basin including at the Montrose Regional Airport as visibility was reduced to less than one quarter of a mile for a couple of hours.
Events by year
| Year | Events | Tornadoes |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 27 | 0 |
| 2024 | 12 | 0 |
| 2023 | 12 | 0 |
| 2022 | 21 | 0 |
| 2021 | 22 | 0 |
| 2020 | 19 | 0 |
| 2019 | 12 | 0 |
| 2018 | 22 | 0 |
| 2017 | 10 | 0 |
| 2016 | 5 | 0 |
| 2015 | 15 | 0 |
| 2014 | 5 | 0 |
| 2013 | 24 | 0 |
| 2012 | 21 | 0 |
| 2011 | 8 | 0 |
| 2010 | 9 | 0 |
| 2009 | 25 | 0 |
| 2008 | 12 | 0 |
| 2007 | 24 | 0 |
| 2006 | 23 | 0 |
| 2005 | 17 | 0 |
| 2004 | 23 | 0 |
| 2003 | 18 | 0 |
| 2002 | 10 | 0 |
| 2001 | 2 | 0 |
| 2000 | 1 | 0 |
| 1997 | 2 | 0 |
| 1996 | 5 | 0 |