Heavy Rain, La Plata
- When
- September 21, 4:00 PM MST to 4:30 PM MST
- Where
- La Plata County, Tacoma
- Property damage
- $10,000
- Coordinates
- 37.287, -107.843 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Rain in Colorado, September 21, 1997
Heavy rains resulted in rock and mud slides covering railroad tracks of the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad through the Animas Canyon. The railroad was shut down for three days to allow crews to clear debris and make repairs to the railroad tracks.
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
- $10,000
- 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.
Heavy rains resulted in rock and mud slides covering railroad tracks of the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad through the Animas Canyon. The railroad was shut down for three days to allow crews to clear debris and make repairs to the railroad tracks.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Heavy Rain
- Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.
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
- Flash Flood 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: 5617292.