Winter Weather — Jackson County Below 9000 Feet, Colorado

2011-11-12 to 2011-11-13 · Jackson County Below 9000 Feet, Colorado

Wider weather episode

Hurricane force winds, up to 115 mph, downed trees in and power lines across the Front Range Mountains and Foothills. Numerous trees were downed in Rocky Mountain National Park. Sprague Lake was closed until crews could clear the access road of several fallen trees. Numerous outages were reported with some damage to homes and vehicles. In Estes Park, a total of 3,000 customers lost power, with up to 1,500 customers affected at Allenspark and Glen Haven. In Park County, nearly 1,800 homes in the Alma and Fairplay areas were without power. Thirty access roads around Park County had to be cleared of fallen trees. Scattered outages were also reported in Gilpin County.

In Boulder, a woman received minor injuries when she was struck in the head by a falling tree limb. Three women near Georgetown received minor injuries when they were pelted by glass shards after a barrage of wind driven rocks and dirt shattered their windshield. The strong winds forced the closure of State Highway 287 from Ted's Place to Laramie, Wyoming.

Peak wind gusts included: 115 mph, 5 miles south of Frisco; 113 mph at Mines Peak Summit, 109 mph, 6 miles north-northwest of Berthoud Pass; 101 mph atop Kenosha Pass, 100 mph, 2 miles south-southwest of Loveland Pass; 99 mph, 7 miles west- northwest of Berthoud; 92 mph at Blackhawk; 90 mph, 3 miles south-southwest of Boulder; 87 mph, 2 miles west-northwest of Aspen Springs and at Pickle Gulch; 84 mph at Loveland Pass and Lyons; 82 mph at the National Wind Technology Center; 80 mph at Dumont, 78 mph near Rollinsville and Ward; and 77 mph, 2 miles east-northeast of Estes Park.

The storm also produced heavy snow in parts of western Jackson and Grand Counties. Storm totals included: 13 inches at Zirkel SNOTEL, 12 inches near Rabbit Ears Pass, 10 inches at Columbine SNOTEL, 8 inches at Rand and 5.5 inches near Grand Lake.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 353086. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.