Flash Flood, Pitkin
- When
- July 28, 12:30 PM MST to 1:15 PM MST
- Where
- Pitkin County, 6 mi NNE of Redstone
- Property damage
- $30,000
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 39.217, -106.917 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Colorado, July 28, 1999
A photographer was out of his vehicle taking pictures on the flanks of Mount Sopris and became trapped by a flash flood which inundated his van with water and mud. The flash flood also washed out the road.
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
- $30,000
- 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 photographer was out of his vehicle taking pictures on the flanks of Mount Sopris and became trapped by a flash flood which inundated his van with water and mud. The flash flood also washed out the road. The initial wall of water was 10 feet high, while the crest of the flash flood was about 15 feet high. The water and debris crashed into several culverts, causing them to explode; eight-inch steel I-beams were twisted like straws.
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
- Heat in Illinois, July 28 to 31, 1999
- Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Ohio, July 28, 1999
- Heat in Illinois, July 28 to 31, 1999
- Damaging Winds in Virginia, July 28, 1999
- Heat in Wisconsin, July 28 to 30, 1999
- Heat in Minnesota, July 28 to 30, 1999
- Heat in Nebraska, July 28 to 29, 1999
- Heat in Arkansas, July 28, 1999
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Pennsylvania, July 28, 1999
- Tornado and Hail in Michigan, July 28, 1999
- Heat in Iowa, July 28 to 29, 1999
- Flash Flood and Damaging Wind in Arizona, July 28, 1999
More
Every storm in Colorado in 1999Every state in 1999This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, July 1999
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: 5715330.