Flood, Rio Blanco
- When
- July 26, 5:00 PM MST to 5:30 PM MST
- Where
- Rio Blanco County, 12 mi W of Meeker
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 39.980, -108.217 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flood in Colorado, July 26, 2001
A couple of mud slides closed portions of Highway 64 after a series of slow moving thunderstorms moved through the area.
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.
A couple of mud slides closed portions of Highway 64 after a series of slow moving thunderstorms moved through the area.
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 26, 1:24 PM MST, 3 hours 36 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 26, 1:24 PM MST, 3 hours 36 minutes before
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 224 PM MDT THU JUL 26 2001 ACTIVE AFTERNOON UNDERWAY ACROSS EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO AS SUB-TROPICAL MOISTURE INTERACTS WITH STRONG SHRTWV TROUGH NOW PUSHING INTO THE REGION. COOLER AND DRIER AIR ALOFT HAS COMBINED WITH GOOD SURFACE HEATING THIS AFTERNOON TO GENERATE A FEW STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN...HAIL AND STRONG WINDS THE THREATS. THE STORM WE WARNED ON EARLIER WAS IN ONE OF OUR DATA SPARSE AREAS AND WILL REQUIRE SOME BACK- COUNTRY EXPLORING TO VERIFY...BUT STORM WAS TURNING RIGHT OF THE FLOW. WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THIS EVENING AS THE SHRTWV AND ASSOCIATED SPEED MAX LIFT NE THROUGH THE AREA. CLEARING CONDITIONS ANTICIPATED LATE TONIGHT AS SYSTEM EXITS THE REGION. DRY AND WARMER CONDS THEN MOVE IN FOR FRIDAY AND SATURDAY WITH ONLY ISOLATED SHOWERS CONFINED TO THE HIGHER MTNS OF WESTERN COLORADO. JDC EXTENDED (SUN-THU)...BROAD UPPER HIGH WILL SHIFT EAST IN RESPONSE TO A DEEPENING PACIFIC NORTHWEST TROUGH...WHICH WILL MOVE OVER THE GREAT BASIN TUESDAY. NARROW PLUME OF SUB-TROPICAL MOISTURE WILL REMAIN OVER THE REGION LEADING THE THREAT OF SCATTERED AFTN/EVE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EACH DAY. POTENTIAL FOR ENHANCEMENT OF CONVECTION POSSIBLE MON/TUE AS UPPER TROUGH APPROACHES. TEMPS WILL BE SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL SUN AND MON BEFORE COOLER AIR INVADES FOR TUE. BY THU...THE UPPER HIGH AXIS SHIFTS BACK WEST OVER SRN COLORADO RESULTING IN WARM CONDITIONS. DJN.83 .GJT...NONE.
In the hours before
Local storm report, Jul 26, 3:19 PM MST, 1 hour 41 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION, CO
419 PM MDT THU JUL 26 2001
TIME(MDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0330 PM 10 W DELTA CO .88 INCH HAIL
07/26/01 DELTA REPORTED BY
PUBLIC
DJNThe radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Flood
- Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Lightning Strike in Florida, July 26, 2001
- Flash Flooding in West Virginia, July 26, 2001
- Flash Flooding in Virginia, July 26 to 27, 2001
- Flash Flooding in Mississippi, July 26 to 27, 2001
- Flood in North Dakota, July 26, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Georgia, July 26, 2001
- Flash Flood in Kentucky, July 26 to 27, 2001
- Flash Flood in West Virginia, July 26, 2001
- Flash Flood in Nebraska, July 26 to 27, 2001
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Montana, July 26, 2001
- Flash Flood in Illinois, July 26, 2001
- Flood in Kentucky, July 26, 2001
More
Every storm in Colorado in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5257744.