Flood, Mesa
- When
- September 13, 1:30 PM MST to 2:00 PM MST
- Where
- Mesa County, Palisade
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 39.018, -108.466 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flood in Colorado, September 13, 2001
Heavy rain from a slow moving thunderstorm triggered a mudslide near a highway on ramp next to Interstate 70 in Palisade. Water backed up over the roadway resulting in the flooding of an intersection.
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.
Heavy rain from a slow moving thunderstorm triggered a mudslide near a highway on ramp next to Interstate 70 in Palisade. Water backed up over the roadway resulting in the flooding of an intersection. The water quickly ran off shortly after the heavy rain ended.
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 Sep 13, 1:16 PM MST, 14 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Sep 13, 1:16 PM MST, 14 minutes before
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 216 PM MDT THU SEP 13 2001 UPR LOW CIRCULATION OVER NE NEVADA WILL CONTINUE TO TRACK NORTHEAST THIS EVENING. STRONG LINE OF SHRA/TSRA NOW ENTERING WRN COLORADO BEING SUPPORTED BY H3 SPEED MAX AND ASSOCIATED MID LVL ENERGY. THIS AREA ALSO SAW GOOD SURFACE HEATING THIS MORNING...DESTABILIZING AN ALREADY MOIST/UNSTABLE AIRMASS. ELSEWHERE...SCT TSTMS DEVELOPING AHEAD OF THIS PRIMARY LINE...MAINLY OVER THE HIGH TERRAIN. THIS TREND WILL CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING...WITH EMBEDDED STRONG TO POSSIBLY SEVERE TSTMS PRODUCING LARGE HAIL AND GUSTY OUTFLOW WIND. MID LVL SOUTHWEST FLOW 20-30KTS WILL PROPAGATE STORMS QUICK ENOUGH TO AVOID POTENTIAL OF FLASH FLOODING...THOUGH LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN POSSIBLE AS 12Z/THU KGJT SOUNDING INDICATED PWAT VALUES AROUND 1.00 INCH. H85 LOW OVER CENTRAL UTAH CREATING GOOD LOW LVL MOISTURE CONVG (SEEN IN ASSOC WITH LINE OF STORMS). MUCH OF CONVECTION WILL WEAKEN AFTER SUNSET WITH LOSS OF SOLAR HEATING AND DRIER AIR PUNCHING IN FROM THE WEST. AS THE MAIN UPR LOW MOVES ACROSS ID/MT...S/W ENERGY MAY SUSTAIN ISOLD SHOWERS THROUGH DAYBREAK...ESPECIALLY NORTH. THEREAFTER...DRY WESTERLIES TAKE OVER LATE FRIDAY...WITH H7 TEMPS WARMING 1-3C BY 00Z/SAT. THIS WILL INHIBIT ANY AFTN CONVECTION WITH MNLY SCT CU FIELD OVR THE CENTRAL/NRN MOUNTAINS. FRIDAY NIGHT/ SAT MORNING APPEAR TO BE COOLEST MORNING THROUGH PERIOD WITH A DRY AND STABLE AIRMASS IN PLACE...PRIME FOR RADIATIONAL COOLING. SATURDAY...WE TURN OUR ATTN TO SOUTHWEST AS SUB-TROPICAL MOISTURE AND ASSOCIATED MID LVL S/W BUILD NORTH FROM PACIFIC. POTENTIAL FOR SCT CONVECTION OVR SRN MTNS OF UT/CO POSSIBLE LATE SAT. EXTENDED (SUN THRU THU)...FLOW ALOFT WL TRY TO BECOME MORE ZONAL BY LATE THIS WEEKEND/EARLY MONDAY. HOWEVER...SUB-TROPICAL MOISTURE WILL CONTINUE TO LIFT ENE THROUGH THE SRN HALF OF THE FA. MINOR DISTURBANCES EMBEDDED IN THE FLOW WL KEEP THE THREAT OF CONVECTION IN THE FCST FOR SUN AND MON...WITH MON ACTIVITY CONFINED MAINLY TO THE MTNS. AS FLOW SHIFTS TO MORE ZONAL PATTERN MON...ANOTHER STRONG WAVE WL MOVE ONSHORE IN THE PAC NW. GENERAL TREND IN MEDIUM RANGE MODELS IS SIMILAR...ALTHOUGH THE MRF/CANADIAN SPECTRAL MODELS MAINTAIN A STRONGER/DEEPER WAVE INTO THE CENTRAL ROCKIES FOR TUE. UKMET TAKES A MORE NORTHERLY TRACK...WHILE ECMWF IS THE WEAKEST OF THE BUNCH. WL LEAN MORE TOWARD THE MRF/CANADIAN SOLUTIONS...BRINGING IN A CHANCE OF SHOWERS/TSTMS TO MOST OF THE AREA ON TUE. COOLER TEMPERATURES WILL ALSO BE MOVING IN AS STRONGER PAC FRONT MOVES THROUGH. MAY EVEN SEE SOME SNOW IN THE NRN MTNS TUE AS H7 TEMPS FCST TO FALL TO NEAR 0C... BUT WL HOLD OFF INTRODUCING THIS FOR NOW AS SOME UNCERTAINTY STILL EXISTS. JDC NADLER.83/COLTON.07 .GJT...NONE.
The 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
- Tropical Storm in Florida, September 13, 2001
- Rip Current in Alabama, September 13, 2001
- Lightning Strike in Pennsylvania, September 13, 2001
- Tropical Storm in Florida, September 13 to 14, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Tennessee, September 13, 2001
- High Surf in Florida, September 13, 2001
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Kansas, September 13, 2001
- Heavy Rain in New Jersey, September 13 to 14, 2001
- Tornado and Waterspout in Florida, September 13, 2001
- Hail in Pennsylvania, September 13, 2001
- Tornado in Mississippi, September 13, 2001
- Waterspout in Florida, September 13, 2001
More
Every storm in Colorado in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, September 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: 5268604.