Flash Flood, Ouray
- When
- July 31, 2:00 PM MST to 7:00 PM MST
- Where
- Ouray County, 8 mi W of Ridgway
- Property damage
- $1.3 million
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 38.156, -107.769 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Colorado, July 31, 1999
Heavy rainfall at the headwaters of Dallas Creek and Pleasant Valley Creek resulted in flash flooding all the way downstream to Ridgway Reservoir. In some areas the rushing water was nearly 20 feet higher than the normal stream flow.
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
- $1.3 million
- 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 at the headwaters of Dallas Creek and Pleasant Valley Creek resulted in flash flooding all the way downstream to Ridgway Reservoir. In some areas the rushing water was nearly 20 feet higher than the normal stream flow. The flash flooding damaged or destroyed several county bridges, destroyed a foot bridge, damaged about two miles of County Road 24, flooded a few residences, damaged a number of outbuildings, and carried away or flooded several vehicles. The water also flooded part of a golf course. A family was rescued from the loft of a barn from which they were trapped by the rising flood waters. Miraculously, the only livestock fatalities were a chicken and an ostrich. The USGS stream gage on Dallas Creek was washed away and never found. The estimated peak flow of water in Dallas Creek was 2300 cubic feet per second (cfs), which is more than double the previous record flow of 1120 cfs previously set in August of 1923. Rainfall measurements in the area ranged from 1.84 inches in Ridgway to 3.77 inches in Pleasant Valley, most of which came within a two hour period.
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
- Damaging Winds in New York, July 31, 1999
- Heavy Rain in New Mexico, July 31, 1999
- Heat in Arkansas, July 31, 1999
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Michigan, July 31, 1999
- Flooding in Iowa, July 31, 1999
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Ohio, July 31, 1999
- Damaging Winds in Pennsylvania, July 31, 1999
- Damaging Winds in Virginia, July 31, 1999
- Damaging Winds in Ohio, July 31, 1999
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in Ohio, July 31, 1999
- Damaging Winds in West Virginia, July 31, 1999
- Damaging Winds in Pennsylvania, July 31, 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: 5715322.