Funnel Cloud, Mesa
- When
- July 30, 12:35 PM MST to 1:10 PM MST
- Where
- Mesa County, 4 mi E of Molina
- Reported by
- AMATEUR RADIO
- Coordinates
- 39.018, -108.466 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Funnel Cloud in Colorado, July 30, 1998
Three funnel clouds spawned by the same thunderstorm cell developed over the same general location. The first funnel cloud was described by many eyewitnesses as a "midwest type" funnel cloud, unusually large for western Colorado.
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
- None recorded
- 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.
Three funnel clouds spawned by the same thunderstorm cell developed over the same general location. The first funnel cloud was described by many eyewitnesses as a "midwest type" funnel cloud, unusually large for western Colorado. The duration of the first funnel cloud was 18 minutes and it extended no more than a third of the way to the ground. The first funnel cloud was followed immediately by two smaller funnel clouds occurring simultaneously and close together. The hang distance of the two smaller funnel clouds was about the same as the first. The duration of the smaller funnel clouds was 12 minutes for one and 17 minutes for the other.
The radar
The Grand Junction radar (KGJX), 22 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:33 UTC.
Event by event
1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Funnel Cloud
- A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Heat in Oklahoma, July 30, 1998
- Tornado and Hail in West Virginia, July 30, 1998
- Damaging Winds in Idaho, July 30, 1998
- Flash Flooding and Hail in New Mexico, July 30, 1998
- Flash Flooding in Kentucky, July 30, 1998
- Damaging Winds in Tennessee, July 30, 1998
- Flood in Florida, July 30, 1998
- Tornado and Flood in Maryland, July 30, 1998
- Flash Flooding and Flood in Tennessee, July 30, 1998
- Flash Flooding in Missouri, July 30, 1998
- Damaging Wind in Missouri, July 30, 1998
- Lightning Strike in Kentucky, July 30, 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: 5662887.