Name: Flash Flood in Colorado, July 10, 2001
Start: 2001-07-10T16:45
End: 2001-07-10T17:15
Location: 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.

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Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $10,000
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 nearly stationary thunderstorm over the Colorado National Monument produced heavy rain which resulted in a 2 to 3 foot wall of water running into the lower valley. The flash flood deposited 6 to 12 inches of mud in the front yards of a residential subdivision. Irrigation ditches in the subdivision were completely filled with mud and debris. There were also reports of some basement flooding.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Grand Junction, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 10, 1:00 PM MST, 3 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 10, 1:00 PM MST, 3 hours 45 minutes before

WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
200 PM MDT TUE JUL 10 2001

MOIST TAP STILL IN PLACE WITH SHORT WAVE VISIBLE ON WATER VAPOR TO
AID IN AFTERNOON...EVENING ACTIVITY.  50+DEW POINTS AND OVER ONE INCH
PW COMBINE WITH ACTIVITY THE PAST FEW DAYS TO BRING SCT/NMRS
TSRA. STORMS WILL MOVE ABOUT 15 KTS. THE FOUR CORNERS AREA IS NOW IN
EXCESSS RAINFALL. COULD ALSO SEE ISOLATED HAIL POTENTIAL TO AN INCH
THIS AFTERNOON. SLIGHT BREAK IN MOISTURE POSSIBLE FOR THURSDAY BUT
NOT ENOUGH TO REMOVE COMPLETELY. CLOUDS TO HELP KEEP HIGH TEMPS NEAR
NORMAL OR SLIGHTLY BELOW NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS.  DJC

IN THE EXTENDED...MOISTURE PLUME THAT WILL BE OVER THE CWFA INTO
THURSDAY WILL BE SHUNTED WEST OF THE REGION FRIDAY/SATURDAY AS UPPER
RIDGE RETROGRADES TO THE FOUR CORNERS. LOOKS AS THOUGH MONSOONAL
MOISTURE WILL BE TRAPPED UNDER THE RIDGE FRIDAY AND SATURDAY...SO
HAVE ADDED LOW POPS TO SOME VALLEY ZONES AND BUMPED MOUNTAIN POPS.
ATMOSPHERE WILL DRY TOWARD LATTER HALF OF THE WEEKEND AS RIDGE
BECOMES FIRMLY ENTRENCHED OVER FOUR CORNERS. AFTER SLIGHT COOL
DOWN...TEMPERATURES WILL RETURN TO NORMAL FOR THE WEEKEND.  CNJ

.GJT...NONE.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Mesa

When: July 10, 4:45 PM MST to 5:15 PM MST
Where: Mesa County, Redlands
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 39.018, -108.466 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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

More

Every storm in Colorado in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Colorado, July 2001

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: 5257654.