National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Slight Risk for Excessive Rainfall and Severe Thunderstorms Thursday

Additional rounds of thunderstorms are expected Thursday and Thursday night across Oklahoma and north Texas, with risks for both large hail and flash flooding. Strong winds may accompany any storms from east Texas northeast through the lower Great Lakes. Read More >

Overview

Two separate storm systems affected the Grand Junction forecast area during this timeframe. The first occurred Sunday, January 22nd and ended Monday the 23rd. The second storm started Monday evening and persisted through Wednesday. The first storm was in response to a passing upper level trough that provided enough lift and instability to provide snow across the region. Favorable south to southwest flow also provided enough orographic lift for snow to fall across mountainous areas. A 6 to 12 hour lull occurred late Monday night into Tuesday morning before the next system brought more snow.

The second storm was more potent as it tapped into the Pacific Ocean allowing anomalously high moisture to move into the region. Accompanying the moisture was a strong upper level jet which increased instability across the area while providing plenty of lift. The low pressure center of this system started off the Washington State coast and slowly dropped south and east through Tuesday. As this happened, south to southwest facing slopes were favored for snowfall, mainly the San Juans. Once the low moved over Colorado, flow switched to northwesterly allowing snowfall to favor the central and northern mountains through Wednesday afternoon.

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Storm Total Snowfall from January 22 - 25, 2017
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