Name: Dust Storm in Colorado, April 7, 2002
Start: 2002-04-07T12:35
End: 2002-04-07T12:45
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.

Tornadoes
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: 19
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.

North winds gusting to near 50 mph in the desert north of Grand Junction created a duststorm which reduced visibility to zero as it crossed Interstate 70. The resulting 30-car pileup injured 19 motorists and passengers, but none seriously.

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 Apr 7, 2:23 AM MST, 10 hours 12 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 7, 2:23 AM MST, 10 hours 12 minutes before

WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
323 AM MDT SUN APR 7 2002

...CORRECTED FOR TIME CHANGE TO DAYLIGHT TIME...

LIGHT PRECIPITATION CONTINUES TO FALL EARLY THIS MORNING OVER THE
SAN JUANS AND SOME OF THE LOWER ELEVATIONS IN THE 4-CORNERS
REGION.  THE UPPER LEVEL LOW RESPONSIBLE FOR BRINGING THE LIGHT
PRECIP TO OUR SOUTHERN ZONES WILL SLOWLY HEAD EAST INTO NEW MEXICO
THIS MORNING AND WILL BE DEPARTING OUR AREA BY EARLY THIS
AFTERNOON. WEAK SFC FRONT WORKING SLOWLY THROUGH THE AREA AS MAIN
TROUGH AXIS HEADS EAST. H7 TEMPS WL BE A COUPLE DEGREES COOLER
TODAY...WHICH WL KNOCK OUR TEMPS BACK A FEW DEGREES. AS FOR THE
CONTINUED THREAT OF PRECIP...LOOKS LIKE OUR SOUTHERN ZONES WILL
AGAIN BE FAVORED...WITH SCT ACTIVITY THROUGHOUT THE DAY. DECENT
SURFACE HEATING...COOLER TEMPS ALOFT AND WEAK OROGRAPHICS SHOULD BE
ENOUGH TO KEEP THE SHOWERS GOING...ALTHOUGH WE WILL BE FIGHTING
INCREASING SUBSIDENT FLOW ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE TROUGH IS IT SLIDES
THROUGH THIS MORNING. NORTHERN ZONES WL AGAIN MISS OUT FOR THE MOST
PART WITH ONLY A FEW DIURNALLY DRIVEN SHOWERS TODAY.

BY TONIGHT...DRIER NW FLOW DEVELOPS. H7 TEMPS WARM SLIGHTLY ON MONDAY
UNDER WEAK SHRTWV RDG. THIS WL BE SHORT-LIVED AS NEXT SYSTEM
CONTINUES TO TAKE SHAPE AND TARGET THE MID-WEEK TIME PERIOD.  AVN
BRINGS IN SOME HIGH LEVEL MOISTURE TUE AS FLOW ALOFT BACKS AROUND TO
THE SOUTHWEST IN RESPONSE TO NEXT SHRTWV TROF DIGGING INTO THE GREAT
BASIN.  THIS ONE WILL ARRIVE WED/THU...BRINGING ANOTHER SHOT OF
PRECIP TO THE REGION.

WESTERN COLORADO AND EASTERN UTAH EMERGENCY MANAGERS SHOULD MAINTAIN
A NORMAL LEVEL OF WEATHER AWARENESS TODAY.

JDC

.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 dust storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Dust Storm, Grand Valley

When: April 7, 12:35 PM MST to 12:45 PM MST
Where: Grand Valley forecast zone
Injuries: 19 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 39.308, -108.185 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Dust Storm: Blowing dust that reduced visibility to a quarter mile or less.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Colorado in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Colorado, April 2002

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: 5289459.