Flash Flood, Ouray
- When
- July 26, 4:00 PM MST to 4:30 PM MST
- Where
- Ouray County, 3 mi SW of Ouray
- Property damage
- $20,000
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 38.156, -107.769 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Colorado, July 26, 1998
Heavy rainfall caused a wall of water filled with boulders, logs, and sediment to race down Weehawken Creek, then into Canyon Creek, and finally into Box Canyon. A parked car near the Weehawken trailhead was half buried in mud and a 20-foot section of catwalk near Box Canyon Falls was destroyed.
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
- $20,000
- 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 rainfall caused a wall of water filled with boulders, logs, and sediment to race down Weehawken Creek, then into Canyon Creek, and finally into Box Canyon. A parked car near the Weehawken trailhead was half buried in mud and a 20-foot section of catwalk near Box Canyon Falls was destroyed. The flash flood also cut out a new channel near Box Canyon Falls.
The radar
The Grand Junction radar (KGJX), 108 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:00 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
- Heat in Oregon, July 26 to 28, 1998
- Heat in Texas, July 26, 1998
- Flooding in Missouri, July 26 to 30, 1998
- Flash Flood in Kansas, July 26, 1998
- Flash Flooding in Missouri, July 26, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, July 26, 1998
- Flash Flooding in Missouri, July 26, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, July 26, 1998
- Flash Flood in Missouri, July 26, 1998
- Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, July 26, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Kansas, July 26, 1998
- Damaging Winds in Texas, July 26, 1998
More
Every storm in Colorado in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, July 1998
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: 5662813.