Flash Flood, La Plata
- When
- August 29, 12:45 PM MST to 1:45 PM MST
- Where
- La Plata County, 8 mi N of Durango
- Property damage
- $20,000
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 37.287, -107.843 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Colorado, August 29, 2002
Heavy rainfall caused widespread mud and debris flows across the Missionary Ridge Burn area. Drainages affected by the flows included Jacks Creek, Shearer Creek, Stevens Creek, and Red 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
- $20,000
- 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 rainfall caused widespread mud and debris flows across the Missionary Ridge Burn area. Drainages affected by the flows included Jacks Creek, Shearer Creek, Stevens Creek, and Red Creek. Some of the worst flooding and debris flows occurred in the Stevens Creek drainage near the 6000 block of County Road 250. One house was slammed with mid and debris up to 8 feet deep. Fences, lawn furniture and other items were damaged or destroyed. At least one driveway was washed out.
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 29, 1:30 AM MST, 11 hours 15 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 29, 1:30 AM MST, 11 hours 15 minutes before
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
230 AM MDT THU AUG 29 2002
LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER THE WESTERN GREAT BASIN TO EJECT NORTH-
EASTWARD INTO THE NORTHERN PLAINS TODAY AND INTO TONIGHT. JET NOSING
INTO THE FOUR CORNERS ALREADY GENERATING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
ACROSS SOUTHWESTERN CWFA. SO FAR...RAINFALL LIGHT BUT WINDS GUSTY AS
MID-LEVELS STILL RATHER DRY. DEWPOINT VALUES HAVE COME UP FROM
YESTERDAY OVER THE FOUR CORNERS...EXTENDING NORTH TO THE GRAND VALLEY
THIS MORNING. AS A RESULT...EXPECT NOT ALL THUNDERSTORMS TO BE DRY.
NONETHELESS...FIRE WEATHER STILL A MAJOR CONCERN WITH WATCH ALREADY
IN PLACE APPEARING WELL WARRANTED. WILL LET DAY SHIFT SETTLE DETAILS
OF POSSIBLE RED FLAG WARNING.
PRESENT FORECAST FOR TODAY APPEARS ON TRACK. MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW
SHORTWAVE ENERGY AND JET INFLUENCE TO BE THE STORY TODAY. GIVEN
DEWPOINT FIELD ALLUDED TO ABOVE...WILL CONTINUE WITH BEST POPS OVER
THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS AND SCATTERED POPS ELSEWHERE. CLOUD COVER WILL
KEEP TEMPERATURES DOWN AND APPEARS MET DATA HAS GOOD HANDLE ON THE
SITUATION.
WAVE PUSHES EAST OF THE AREA TONIGHT...SO EXPECT SOME LINGERING
EVENING CONVECTION...THEN DRY AND CLEARING DURING THE REMAINDER OF
THE NIGHT TONIGHT. DRIER...SLIGHTLY MORE STABLE ENVIRONMENT IN PLACE
ON FRIDAY...THOUGH RESIDUAL MOISTURE AND INCREASED INSOLATION WILL
LIKELY YIELD SOME AFTERNOON/EVENING THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE HIGHER
TERRAIN. TEMPS SHOULD REBOUND WITH RETURN OF SUNSHINE AND MET
GUIDANCE AGAIN APPEARS TO HAVE GOOD HANDLE ON THE EVOLVING PATTERN.
LITTLE CHANGE INDICATED FOR SATURDAY. NL
EXTENDED (SUN-WED)...AVN HAS REMNANTS OF WESTERN TROF LIFTING
NORTHEAST ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA ON TUE...WHILE UPPER HIGH REMAINS
OVER NRN MEXICO/SRN NM THROUGH PERIOD. WILL CONTINUE WITH FORECAST OF
SWLY FLOW UNTIL THEN BASED ON AVN WITH SOME MID/HIGH LEVEL PACIFIC
MOISTURE ENTRAINED ACROSS THE AREA BEGINNING SUNDAY...AND THUS WILL
KEEP MENTION OF SLIGHT CHANCE FOR NOW ON SUN-MON ASSUMING ALSO SOME
WEAK EMBEDDED DISTURBANCES IN THE FLOW. THEN BETTER CHANCE FOR TUE AS
TROUGH LIFTS OUT. HOWEVER...ECWMF SHOWING MORE RIDGING OVER THE AREA
ON MONDAY WITH TROUGH NOW FARTHER WEST IMPLYING DRIER CONDITIONS...SO
WILL HAVE TO WATCH EVOLUTION. JAD
.GJT...FIRE WEATHER WATCH THURSDAY FROM 1100 THROUGH 2200 MDT
FOR ALL FIRE WX ZONES IN EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO.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
- Wildfire in California, August 29 to 30, 2002
- Tornadoes and Hail in Colorado, August 29, 2002
- Flash Flood in Utah, August 29, 2002
- Lightning Strike in Alabama, August 29, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Nebraska, August 29 to 31, 2002
- Flash Flooding in South Carolina, August 29, 2002
- Flash Flood and Hail in Montana, August 29, 2002
- Waterspouts in Gulf of Mexico, August 29, 2002
- Flash Flooding in New York, August 29, 2002
- Flash Flooding in South Carolina, August 29, 2002
- Funnel Clouds in Colorado, August 29, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Idaho, August 29, 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: 5320727.