Flash Flood, Custer
- When
- July 31, 4:00 PM MST to 7:20 PM MST
- Where
- Custer County, 5 mi NE of Westcliffe
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 38.109, -105.367 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Colorado, July 31, 1998
Slow moving thunderstorms brought heavy rain to parts of Custer county in the evening. Radar-estimated rainfall rates of 3 to 5 inches fell near the town of Westcliffe, washing out parts of Highway 255, 5 miles northeast of Westcliffe.
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 PUB wrote it up.
Slow moving thunderstorms brought heavy rain to parts of Custer county in the evening. Radar-estimated rainfall rates of 3 to 5 inches fell near the town of Westcliffe, washing out parts of Highway 255, 5 miles northeast of Westcliffe. In addition, heavy rain and 1/2 inch diameter hail, 5 inches deep on the ground, closed Highway 165 between mile marker 8 and 10 in eastern Custer county.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
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
- Flood and Hail in Montana, July 31, 1998
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Colorado, July 31, 1998
- Damaging Wind in North Carolina, July 31, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Florida, July 31, 1998
- Damaging Wind in North Carolina, July 31, 1998
- Damaging Wind in North Carolina, July 31, 1998
- Drought in New Jersey, July 31, 1998
- Flash Flood in Idaho, July 31, 1998
- Drought in Pennsylvania, July 31, 1998
- Damaging Winds in Georgia, July 31, 1998
- Lightning Strike in Florida, July 31, 1998
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in South Carolina, July 31, 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: 5662992.