High Wind — Central Gunnison and Uncompahgre River Basin, Colorado

2025-04-17 · Central Gunnison and Uncompahgre River Basin, Colorado

Event narrative

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 the evening as the cold front moved through. No reports of injuries, damages, or fatalities were received in association with this event.

Wider weather episode

As is often the case with high wind events across eastern Utah and western Colorado, this event was driven by an approaching low pressure system that was tightening the pressure gradient aloft ahead of it. A potent jet streak was moving through the southwesterly flow ahead of this system as well, and with a dry streak moving into the region, deep mixing during the day on the 17th was anticipated to tap into the stronger winds of this jet and mix them down. A third contributing factor to the strong winds on the 17h was the approaching cold front, which had stalled out over northeast Utah and northwest Colorado, driving strong southwesterly surface winds out ahead of it. All together, this event led to widespread gusts of 45-55 mph across eastern Utah and the lower elevations of western Colorado, with several gusts of 60 mph or better.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1257585. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.