Name: Flood in Colorado, August 29, 2002
Start: 2002-08-29T17:10
End: 2002-08-29T17:50
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: 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 minor street flooding throughout the city.

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, 1:02 PM MST, 4 hours 8 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 29, 1:02 PM MST, 4 hours 8 minutes before

WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
202 PM MDT THU AUG 29 2002

...SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...

STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR
PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO THROUGH 800 PM THIS
EVENING. THIS WATCH INCLUDES THE TOWNS OF GRAND JUNCTION...RIFLE AND
CRAIG...AS WELL AS MOAB AND VERNAL IN EASTERN UTAH. THREAT WILL BE
LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND.

A POTENT NEGATIVE TILT UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL SWING ACROSS THE CWFA
THIS EVENING. VERTICAL WIND PROFILE FROM 12Z/KGJT SOUNDING INDICATED
GOOD SHEAR IN THE 0-6KM LAYER AS MOIST SOUTHERLY LOW LEVEL FLOW
MEETS UP WITH DRIER WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT. UPPER LEVEL JET SUPPORT
(70-90KT AT H3-H2) AIDING THUNDERSTORM GROWTH. AS A RESULT...LINE OF
STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING ALONG EASTERN WASATCH
FRONT IN CENTRAL/NORTHERN UTAH...AND THEY ARE MOVING EAST AT 15-20
MPH.  WFO SLC HAD CONFIRMED REPORT EARLIER OF GOLF BALL-SIZE HAIL
WITH STORM NORTHWEST OF PRICE...AND WE HAVE ISSUED SVR FOR STORM
NEAR ROOSEVELT UTAH. ADDITIONAL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL
AFFECT SOUTHERN ZONES (SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS) AND SOUTHWEST VALLEYS
THROUGH THIS EVENING. THESE STORMS WILL LIKELY REMAIN BELOW SEVERE
LIMITS DUE TO RAIN-COOLED AIRMASS IN PLACE AT THIS TIME.

TROUGH SWINGS BY TONIGHT WITH CLEARING WEST TO EAST. H7-3 QVECT
SHOW STRONG DIVERGENCE BEHIND TROUGH AXIS...LEADING TO DIMINISHING
TREND OF THUNDERSTORMS AND CLEARING OVERNIGHT. DRIER AIR AND WARMER
TEMPS ALOFT WILL CREATE MORE STABLE AIRMASS OVER THE FORECAST AREA
FRIDAY...WITH SCT AFTN FLAT CU FORMING OVER HIGH TERRAIN. BY
SATURDAY...UPPER LEVEL HIGH AND APPROACHING PAC NW TROUGH WILL PUT
AREA IN STRONGER SOUTHWEST FLOW. MID/HIGH LEVEL MOISTURE BEGINS TO
CREEP BACK FROM THE SOUTH WITH SLIGHT THREAT OF AFTN THUNDERSTORMS
IN THE MOUNTAINS. TROUGH SWINGS BY SUNDAY WITH DRIER AIR PUSHING IN
FROM THE WEST.  NADLER.83

EXTENDED (MON-THU)...THE AIR MASS BECOMES STABLE ON LABOR DAY AND
TUESDAY BEHIND A TRAILING SHORT WAVE.  THE ONLY THREAT OF
THUNDERSTORMS WOULD BE LIMITED TO THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS DUE TO
CONDITIONAL INSTABILITY...AND EVEN THERE IT WILL BE DOUBTFUL GIVEN
LITTLE MOISTURE.  BY WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY...THE FLOW ALOFT BECOMES
SOUTHWESTERLY WITH THE SUBTROPICAL JET NOSING INTO SOUTHWEST
COLORADO.  THIS WOULD INCREASE MOISTURE AND EMBEDDED IMPULSES MAY
TRIGGER AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS...PRIMARILY OVER
THE MOUNTAINS.

.GJT...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR NORTHWEST COLORADO AND
       NORTHEAST UTAH UNTIL 800 PM THIS EVENING...

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 29, 12:59 PM MST, 4 hours 11 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION, CO
159 PM MDT THU AUG 29 2002

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

1220 PM    DURANGO                   CO   TORNADO
08/29/02   LA PLATA                       *** 0 DEAD, 0 INJ ***
                                          REPORTED BY
OTHER

PF

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Mesa

When: August 29, 5:10 PM MST to 5:50 PM MST
Where: Mesa County, Grand Jct
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.018, -108.466 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

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, 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: 5320728.