Flash Flood, La Plata
- When
- September 21, 3:50 PM MST to 4:30 PM MST
- Where
- La Plata County, Durango
- Property damage
- $4,000
- Coordinates
- 37.287, -107.843 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Colorado, September 21, 1997
Over an inch of rain with small hail fell in Durango within a 40 minute period. 1 to 2 feet of water swept through a mobile home park along Junction Creek, and 2 to 3 feet of water backed up and flooded a motel laundry.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $4,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
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.
What happened
The episode as NWS GJT wrote it up.
Over an inch of rain with small hail fell in Durango within a 40 minute period. 1 to 2 feet of water swept through a mobile home park along Junction Creek, and 2 to 3 feet of water backed up and flooded a motel laundry. A mud slide covered a section of highway 550 on the north side of town, closing one lane for two days before road crews were able to completely clear the road.
The radar
The Grand Junction radar (KGJX), 200 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:50 UTC.
Event by event
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
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.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flash Flood in New Mexico, September 21, 1997
- Flash Flood in Colorado, September 21, 1997
- Lightning Strike in Colorado, September 21, 1997
- Flash Flood in Colorado, September 21, 1997
- Flash Flood and Hail in Arizona, September 21, 1997
- Hail in Utah, September 21, 1997
- Heavy Rain in Colorado, September 21, 1997
- Lightning Strike in Colorado, September 21, 1997
- Flash Flood in Colorado, September 21, 1997
- Flash Flood in Colorado, September 21, 1997
- Flood in Hawaii, September 21, 1997
- Heavy Rain in Colorado, September 21, 1997
More
Every storm in Colorado in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, September 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: 5617293.