Alert archive / Colorado / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 13, NWS Pueblo, CO

August 9, 2003Rio Grande County, Colorado

NWS Pueblo, CO issued this flash flood warning at Aug 9, 2003, 1:46 PM MDT for Rio Grande County, Colorado. It was in force for 3 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 9, 2003, 1:46 PM MDT (19:46 UTC)
Expired
Aug 9, 2003, 4:45 PM MDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Pueblo, CO
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Rio Grande County, CO

The radar

The Grand Junction radar (KGJX), 212 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:49 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Grand Junction, CO (KGJT), launched 12:00Z, 7.8 hours before the alert went out and 234 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Grand Junction, CO at 12:00Z on 2003-08-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Grand Junction, CO at 12:00Z on 2003-08-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 4 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
2496 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
4 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-5 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
WGUS55 KPUB 091953
FFWPUB
COC105-092245-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
146 PM MDT SAT AUG 9 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PUEBLO HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  MILLION BURN SCAR IN RIO GRANDE COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL COLORADO

* UNTIL 445 PM MDT

* A STRONG THUNDERSTORM...PRODUCING LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...WILL MOVE 
  ACROSS THE MILLION BURN SCAR THROUGH 545 PM.  THIS AT 148 
  PM...THIS STORM WAS LOCATED 2 MILES SOUTHEAST OF SOUTH FORK...AND
  WAS MOVING SLOWLY TO THE EAST AT 5 MPH.

* THE HEAVIEST RAINFALL IS EXPECTED TO OCCUR ACROSS THE EASTERN HALF OF
  THE BURN SCAR...AFFECTING THE WILLOW CREEK AREA.  RAINFALL RATES 
  OF UP TO AN INCH PER HOUR IS POSSIBLE IN THIS AREA.  PEOPLE IN OR 
  NEAR THE MILLION BURN SCAR...ESPECIALLY NEAR THE WILLOW CREEK 
  AREA...SHOULD MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY.

IF YOU ARE IN OR CLOSE TO THE WARNED AREA GO TO HIGHER GROUND 
IMMEDIATELY. PEOPLE ALONG CREEKS AND DRAINAGE AREAS SHOULD TAKE 
IMMEDIATE PRECAUTIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO
CROSS SWIFTLY FLOWING WATER OR STILL WATER OF UNKNOWN DEPTH ON FOOT 
OR BY VEHICLE. AS LITTLE AS 6 INCHES OF WATER MAY CAUSE YOU TO LOSE 
CONTROL OF YOUR VEHICLE...AND 2 FEET OF RUSHING WATER CAN CARRY AWAY 
MOST VEHICLES...INCLUDING SUVS AND PICKUPS. NEARLY HALF OF ALL FLOOD 
FATALITIES ARE VEHICLE RELATED. IF YOUR VEHICLE STALLS IN WATER 
ABANDON IT IMMEDIATELY AND GO TO HIGHER GROUND.

LAT...LON 3769 10652 3760 10652 3759 10669 3769 10667

$$
2 follow-up statements
000 
WGUS75 KPUB 092052
FFSPUB
COC105-092245-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
245 PM MDT SAT AUG 9 2003

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 445 PM MDT SATURDAY 
AFTERNOON FOR THE MILLION BURN SCAR IN RIO GRANDE COUNTY...

A STRONG STORM...WHICH PRODUCED LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...HAS MOVED 
ACROSS EASTERN PORTIONS OF THE MILLION BURN SCAR BETWEEN 140 PM AND 
210 PM. RADAR ESTIMATED THAT UP TO 0.30 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN 
ACROSS EASTERN PORTIONS OF THE BURN SCAR DURING THIS TIME 
FRAME...HOWEVER LOCALLY HEAVIER AMOUNTS ARE POSSIBLE.

THIS STORM HAS MOVED EAST OF THE AREA...AND IS LOCATED 4 MILES 
NORTHEAST OF DEL NORTE.  HOWEVER...NEW THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT WAS 
OCCURRING WEST OF THE BURN SCAR.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY MOVE INTO 
THE AREA SHORTLY AFTER 300 PM...AS THEY MOVE SLOWLY TO THE EAST AT 5 
TO 10 MPH.

ALTHOUGH RAINFALL HAS TEMPORARILY ENDED ACROSS THE MILLION BURN 
SCAR...MORE THUNDERSTORMS MAY BRING ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINFALL TO THE 
AREA AFTER 300 PM.  CREEKS AND DRY WASHES...ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE 
EASTERN PORTIONS OF THE BURN SCAR MAY EXPERIENCING FLASH FLOODING 
AND MUD AND ASH FLOWS THROUGH 445 PM...ESPECIALLY ALONG THE WILLOW 
CREEK DRAINAGE.  

BE ALERT FOR FAST RISING WATER AND BE READY TO TAKE QUICK ACTION IF
NECESSARY. DO NOT DRIVE OR WALK INTO WATER OF UNKNOWN DEPTH. AS
LITTLE AS 6 INCHES OF WATER MAY CAUSE YOU TO LOSE CONTROL OF YOUR
VEHICLE...AND 2 FEET OF RUSHING WATER CAN CARRY AWAY MOST VEHICLES...
INCLUDING SUVS AND PICKUPS. NEARLY HALF OF ALL FLOOD FATALITIES ARE
VEHICLE RELATED. KEEP CHILDREN AND OTHERS AWAY FROM FAST FLOWING
WATER. FLOODING WILL OCCUR ALONG CREEKS...IN DRAINAGE AREAS...OVER
RURAL ROADS...IN NORMALLY DRY WASHES AND ARROYOS...AND OVER LOW LYING
LAND ALONG CREEK BANKS.

LAT...LON 3768 10654 3762 10655 3759 10668 3767 10668

$$
000 
WGUS75 KPUB 092152
FFSPUB
COC105-092215-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
350 PM MDT SAT AUG 9 2003

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING WHICH WAS IN EFFECT FOR THE MILLION BURN 
SCAR IN RIO GRANDE COUNTY...

HAS BEEN CANCELED.

THUNDERSTORMS HAVE MOVED EAST OF THE AREA AND ADDITIONAL HEAVY 
RAINFALL IS NO LONGER EXPECTED. THUS THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING HAS 
BEEN CANCELLED.

RADAR ESTIMATED THE HEAVIEST RAINFALL OCCURRED ACROSS THE EASTERN 
HALF OF THE BURN SCAR...ALONG AND EAST OF THE WILLOW CREEK AREA.  
HOWEVER...SPOTTERS IN THE AREA REPORTED THAT THE HEAVIER RAINFALL 
OCCURRED JUST EAST OF THE MILLION BURN SCAR. NO FLASH FLOODING WAS 
REPORTED...HOWEVER...REMOTE AREAS ON THE EASTERN EDGE OF THE BURN 
SCAR MAY HAVE EXPERIENCED WASH OUTS...AND MINOR MUD AND ASH FLOWS.  
USE CAUTION IF YOU WILL BE IN THIS AREA THIS EVENING...AS ROADS AND 
TRAILS MAY HAVE EXPERIENCED SOME MINOR WASH OUTS. 

LAT...LON 3767 10653 3761 10657 3759 10668 3767 10667

$$

The office that day

Everything else NWS Pueblo, CO issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 9, 2:28 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBEl Paso92 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Colorado, 2003Every flash flood warning in 2003

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.