Flash Flood, Pitkin
- When
- September 4, 5:30 PM MST to 6:00 PM MST
- Where
- Pitkin County, 4 mi NW of Snowmass
- Property damage
- $3,000
- Coordinates
- 39.217, -106.917 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Colorado, September 4, 1997
A flash flood produced a mud slide which completely buried a 30 foot stretch of high 82 near Basalt with mud 2 to 4 feet deep. It took state road crews nearly seven hours to clear the highway.
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
- $3,000
- 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.
A flash flood produced a mud slide which completely buried a 30 foot stretch of high 82 near Basalt with mud 2 to 4 feet deep. It took state road crews nearly seven hours to clear the highway.
The radar
The Grand Junction radar (KGJX), 113 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:29 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 Flooding and Hail in Kansas, September 4 to 15, 1997
- Flash Flood and Hail in California, September 4, 1997
- Cold in West Virginia, September 4 to 5, 1997
- Flash Flood in Utah, September 4, 1997
- Cold in Ohio, September 4 to 5, 1997
- Cold in Kentucky, September 4 to 5, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Nebraska, September 4, 1997
- Cold in Virginia, September 4 to 5, 1997
- Hail in Colorado, September 4, 1997
- High Wind in Alaska, September 4 to 5, 1997
- Funnel Cloud in Florida, September 4, 1997
- Waterspout in Florida, September 4, 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: 5617316.