Flash Flood, La Plata
- When
- August 21, 12:10 PM MST to 12:45 PM MST
- Where
- La Plata County, 11 mi N of Bayfield
- Reported by
- FIRE DEPT/RESCUE SQUAD
- Coordinates
- 37.287, -107.843 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Colorado, August 21, 2002
Heavy rain caused a mud flow 1 to 2 feet deep across County Road 501 near Jacks Creek.
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 caused a mud flow 1 to 2 feet deep across County Road 501 near Jacks Creek.
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 Aug 21, 2:08 AM MST, 10 hours 2 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 21, 2:08 AM MST, 10 hours 2 minutes before
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 308 AM MDT WED AUG 21 2002 DRIER CONDITIONS EXPECTED THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. A TROUGH WILL REMAIN CUTOFF FROM THE MAIN FLOW AND WILL SIT OVER THE PACNW AND NRN GREAT BASIN WITH HIGH PRESSURE OVER NMEX AND THE BIG BEND AREA THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT. ERN UT/WRN CO WILL BE UNDER A MODERATE WSW WIND BAND THAT WILL ALLOW BREEZY CONDITIONS TO DEVELOP EACH AFTERNOON...AND MODERATING TEMPERATURES. THOUGH TDAS HIGH TEMPS WILL BE SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER THAN YESTERDAYS...MAX TEMPS SHOULD NOT CHANGE MUCH IN DAY 2 AND 3. TWO SHORTWAVES EJECTING FROM THE WRN LOW WILL MOVE NE OF THE CWA BEFORE SUNRISE. SUBIDENCE AND DRYING WILL FALL THROUGH THE MORNING. ANOTHER LITTLE VORT MAX AND MINOR JET SPEED MAXIMA IS EVIDENT ON WV IMAGERY OVER SRN CA AND SHOULD ROTATE NE AND OVER THE SRN PART OF THE CWA THIS AFTERNOON. WILL KEEP CURRENT FORECAST AS IS WITH WDLY SCT TO SCT TSTMS THIS AFTERNOON ASSCTD WITH THIS WAVE AND AFTERNOON HEATING. THUR AND FRI SHOULD SEE ONLY DIURNAL TERRAIN-FOCUSED CONVECTION. CJC (SAT-TUE)...MOSTLY DRY. UPPER LOW LINGERING NEAR OR/CA/NV POINT EXPECTED TO TO LIFT OUT DURING THE WEEKEND AS UPPER HIGH BUILDS WEST ACROSS DESERT SOUTHWEST. DRIER SOUTHWEST FLOW SAT-SUN AS MOISTURE APPEARS LIMITED BELOW 500 MB. HOWEVER...POSSIBLE WEAK JET SUPPORT ASSOCIATED WITH EJECTING UPPER LOW PLUS DAYTIME HEATING AND ANY WEAK IMPULSES ENOUGH TO KEEP MENTION OF SLIGHT CHANCE OF AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS FOR THE MTNS SAT-SUN. ECWMF THEN KEEPS A TROUGH NEAR PAC NW COAST EARLY NEXT WEEK WHILE AVN HAS REMNANTS OF UPPER LOW OVER THE NORTHERN ROCKIES WITH WEAK TROUGHING FROM WY BACK TO SRN CA. WILL KEEP A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS FOR THE MTNS MON-TUE. LITTLE CHANGE IN TEMPS. JAD .GJT...NONE.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Flash Flood
- Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornado and Flooding in Wisconsin, August 21 to 22, 2002
- Rip Current in Florida, August 21, 2002
- Lightning Strike in Florida, August 21, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Nebraska, August 21, 2002
- Flash Flooding in Wisconsin, August 21, 2002
- Flash Flood in South Dakota, August 21, 2002
- Lightning Strike in Arkansas, August 21, 2002
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Texas, August 21, 2002
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Iowa, August 21, 2002
- Marine Thunderstorm Winds in Lake Michigan, August 21, 2002
- Damaging Wind in Michigan, August 21, 2002
- Lightning Strike in Florida, August 21, 2002
More
Every storm in Colorado in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, August 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: 5320723.