Colorado, 2001

Damaging Wind in Colorado, September 13, 2001

September 13, 2001 · NWS GJT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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

Open the live radar over this ground

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 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 Grand Junction radar (KGJX), 46 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:28 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Mesa

When
September 13, 1:30 PM MST to 1:31 PM MST
Where
Mesa County, 1 mi S of Fruita
Measured
52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.133, -108.733

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind
Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

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: 5264830.