Colorado, 2001

Hail in Colorado, September 17, 2001

September 17, 2001 · NWS GJT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 hail, 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 17, 1:45 PM MST, 1 hour 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 17, 1:45 PM MST, 1 hour 25 minutes before
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
245 PM MDT MON SEP 17 2001

FORECASTS ON TRACK WITH MINOR CHANGES OR TWEAKS NEEDED FOR THE
AFTERNOON ZONE PACKAGE.  TROUGH AXIS SITUATED ON THE BORDER OF UTAH
AND COLORADO EARLY AFTERNOON WITH STRONG CONVECTION OVER PARTS OF
NORTHWEST COLORADO.  ONE REPORT OF THREE QUARTERS INCH HAIL AT
RIFLE FALLS STATE PARK.  EXPECT SECONDARY BUT WEAK VORTICITY MAXIMA
MOVING ACROSS THE NORTHERN ZONES TONIGHT.  THIS MAY KEEP SOME
SHOWERS AND THUNDER LASTING THROUGH THE NIGHT.. BUT THE OVERALL
TREND WILL BE DECREASING ACTIVITY OVERNIGHT.  WARMING ALOFT BEHIND
TROUGH AXIS WILL PLACE A CAP ON ANY MOISTURE TRAPPED UNDERNEATH
SUBSIDENCE INVERSION TUESDAY AFTERNOON.  ANY THUNDER ON TUESDAY WILL
BE LIMITED TO THE EASTERN FRINGE OF FORECAST AREA.. OTHERWISE
CLEARING FROM THE WEST WILL OCCUR DURING THE DAY AS DRY WEST
NORTHWEST FLOW DEVELOPS.  THIS PATTERN HOLDS INTO THE EXTENDED PERIOD
WITH TEMPERATURES REBOUNDING TO AROUND SEASONAL VALUES.  FRISBIE

IN THE EXTENDED...
FLAT RIDGE TRANSITIONS TO A SOMEWHAT WEAK ZONAL PATTERN BY SATURDAY
WITH A SLIGHT INCREASE IN MOISTURE ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS OF WESTERN
COLORADO. WITH NOTHING ORGANIZED...WILL WAIT TO SEE IF NEXT MODEL RUN
KEEPS THE SAME TREND BEFORE INTRODUCING MOUNTAIN SHOWERS INTO THE
FORECAST FOR THIS WEEKEND. BROADER RIDGE PATTERN DEVELOPS OVER THE
WESTERN US BY MONDAY. WILL CONTINUE DRY FORECAST THROUGH MONDAY...
TEMPS LOOK GOOD. MPM

.GJT...NONE.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Sep 17, 2:52 PM MST, 18 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION, CO
352 PM MDT MON SEP 17 2001

TIME(MDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0110 PM    RIO BLANCO                CO   60 MPH TSTM WIND GUST
09/17/01   RIO BLANCO

0140 PM    15 NE RIFLE               CO   0.75 INCH HAIL
09/17/01   GARFIELD                       REPORTED BY
SPOTTERS

0301 PM    MESA                      CO   WIND DAMAGE
09/17/01   MESA                           TREE LIMBS DOWNREPORTED BY
                                          OTHER

0345 PM    PALISADE                  CO   0.75 INCH HAIL
09/17/01   MESA
Local storm report, Sep 17, 2:52 PM MST, 18 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...COR
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION, CO
352 PM MDT MON SEP 17 2001

TIME(MDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0110 PM    RIO BLANCO                CO   60 MPH TSTM WIND GUST
09/17/01   RIO BLANCO

0140 PM    15 NE RIFLE               CO   0.75 INCH HAIL 09/17/01
09/17/01   GARFIELD                       REPORTED BY SPOTTERS

0301 PM    MESA                      CO   WIND DAMAGE 09/17/01
09/17/01   MESA                           TREE LIMBS DOWN

0345 PM    PALISADE                  CO   0.75 INCH HAIL
09/17/01   MESA

The radar

The Grand Junction radar (KGJX), 7 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:11 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Mesa

When
September 17, 3:10 PM MST to 3:15 PM MST
Where
Mesa County, 6 mi S of Mesa
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
NWS EMPLOYEE(OFF DUTY)
Coordinates
39.083, -108.133

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

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: 5264835.