Tornado and Flash Flood in Colorado, July 30, 1997

Name: Tornado and Flash Flood in Colorado, July 30, 1997
Start: 1997-07-30T14:25
End: 1997-07-30T19:00
Location: Colorado

July 30, 1997 · NWS BOU · 5 events in 3 counties and zones

2 hail, 1 flash flood, 1 lightning, 1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 1
Property damage: $100,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 hail, 1 flash flood, 1 lightning, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Boulder

When: July 30, 2:25 PM MST to 4:30 PM MST
Where: Boulder County, Boulder
Property damage: $100,000
Coordinates: 40.093, -105.358 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy rain and hail triggered a flash flood which sent a wall of water through the window of the financial aid office at the University of Colorado campus. In addition, ceiling tiles, carpets and dressing rooms were damaged at the Coors Event Center when a pipe draining rainwater broke during the downpour. In all, 10 buildings at CU received water damage causing an estimate $100,000 in damage.

Hail, Boulder

When: July 30, 2:42 PM MST
Where: Boulder County, Boulder
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Coordinates: 40.020, -105.270

Hail, Boulder

When: July 30, 2:53 PM MST
Where: Boulder County, Boulder
Measured: 1.25 in hail
Coordinates: 40.020, -105.270

Lightning, Denver

When: July 30, 3:45 PM MST
Where: Denver County, Denver
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Coordinates: 39.762, -104.876 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

One man was killed, his girlfriend critically injured, when they were struck by lightning at the Kennedy Golf Course. Both were struck in the head when they took refuge under a tree during a downpour.

Tornado, Weld

When: July 30, 6:55 PM MST to 7:00 PM MST
Where: Weld County, 15 mi ESE of Rockport
Rating: F1
Path length: 0.1 mi
Path width: 50 yd
Coordinates: 40.820, -104.520

A tornado touched down ripping a portion of the roof and porch off a house.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Lightning, Denver	1997-07-30	27	Male	Under Tree	Direct

What these are

Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.
Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Colorado in 1997 Every state in 1997 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Colorado, 1997 Warnings in Colorado, July 1997

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5607436, 5607513, 5607514, 5607516, 5607515.