Drought in Colorado, July 1 to 31, 2002

Name: Drought in Colorado, July 1 to 31, 2002
Start: 2002-07-01T00:00
End: 2002-07-31T23:59
Location: Colorado

July 1 to 31, 2002 · NWS GJT · 21 events in 21 counties and zones

Extreme to exceptional drought conditions continued throughout western Colorado during the month of July. Water restrictions became common across much of the area.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 21 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 21

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.

Extreme to exceptional drought conditions continued throughout western Colorado during the month of July. Water restrictions became common across much of the area. The persistent drought continued a heightened risk for wildfires and caused problems for agricultural interests. See the August 2002 Storm Data publication for a continuation report on the drought in western Colorado.

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 Jun 30, 3:35 PM MST, 8 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 30, 3:35 PM MST, 8 hours 25 minutes before

WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
435 PM MDT SUN JUN 30 2002

DRY AND HOT CONDITIONS TO CONTINUE THRU TUE AS RIDGE DOMINATES. FLOW
ALOFT WILL BE VERY LIGHT...VARYING BETWEEN WEST AND NORTHWEST MON AND
TUE. VERY UNSTABLE WITH LITTLE OR NO CAP EVIDENT ON FCST SOUNDINGS
SO PLUME-DOMINATED WILDFIRE GROWTH SHOULD NO ABATE NEXT 2 DAYS. TUE
MODELS SHOW MOISTURE INCREASING FROM THE SE AS THERMAL SFC LOW SETS
UP OVER DESERT SW AND HIGH PRESSURE CENTERED OVER WRN GULF OF MEX.
TUE EVENING THIS APPEARS CONCENTRATED ALONG THE CONT DVD AND FRONT
RANGE...THEN WED THIS FLOW INCREASES AND MOVES FURTHER WEST. THUS
AFFECTING MORE OF WESTERN COLORADO. WILL EMPHASIZE THE SOUTHERN HALF
OF THE AREA WED. WILL GO WITH PERSISTENCE HOT AND DRY CONDITIONS AS
IN THE MODEL GUIDANCE THRU TUE...THEN AS MOISTURE/CLOUDS INCREASE
SHOULD SEE SOME COOLING WED. CJC

.EXTENDED (THU-SUN).. GULF OF ALASKA LOW PROGGED TO MOVE INTO CANADA
WITH A CA BAJA LOW COUPLING WITH HIGH IN SE US BRINGING A MORE SOUTH
FLOW AND AN INCREASE IN MOISTURE TO THE CWFA. AS NEXT WEST COAST
TROUGH TIGHTENS UP BY THE WEEKEND WILL SEE A DRYER SW FLOW ON SUNDAY.
CURRENT FORECAST HAS GOOD HANDLE ON THIS SO WILL ADD SUNDAY WITH
SLIGHT CHANCE OF PCPN. TEMPS TO REMAIN AT OR ABOVE NORMAL THROUGH THE
PERIOD. DJC/21

.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

21 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Animas River Basin

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Animas River Basin forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 37.287, -107.843 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Central Colorado River Basin

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Central Colorado River Basin forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 39.481, -107.172 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Central Gunnison and Uncompahgre River Basin

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Central Gunnison and Uncompahgre River Basin forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 38.737, -107.907 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Central Yampa River Basin

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Central Yampa River Basin forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 40.361, -107.805 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Debeque to Silt Corridor

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Debeque to Silt Corridor forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 39.308, -108.185 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Elkhead and Park Mountains

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Elkhead and Park Mountains forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 40.552, -107.599 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Flattop Mountains

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Flattop Mountains forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 40.062, -107.603 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Four Corners / Upper Dolores River Basin

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Four Corners / Upper Dolores River Basin forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 37.698, -108.507 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Gore and Elk Mountains/Central Mountain Valleys

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Gore and Elk Mountains/Central Mountain Valleys forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 39.481, -107.172 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Grand and Battlement Mesas

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Grand and Battlement Mesas forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 39.159, -108.078 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Grand Valley

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Grand Valley forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 39.308, -108.185 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Lower Yampa River Basin

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Lower Yampa River Basin forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 40.066, -108.109 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Northwestern San Juan Mountains

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Northwestern San Juan Mountains forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 38.210, -107.755 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Paradox Valley / Lower Dolores River Basin

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Paradox Valley / Lower Dolores River Basin forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 38.294, -108.414 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Roan and Tavaputs Plateaus

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Roan and Tavaputs Plateaus forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 39.532, -108.196 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, San Juan River Basin

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: San Juan River Basin forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 37.194, -107.048 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Southwestern San Juan Mountains

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Southwestern San Juan Mountains forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 37.594, -107.912 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Uncompahgre Plateau and Dallas Divide

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Uncompahgre Plateau and Dallas Divide forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 38.488, -108.155 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Upper Gunnison River Valley

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Upper Gunnison River Valley forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 38.535, -107.650 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Upper Yampa River Basin

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Upper Yampa River Basin forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 40.485, -106.991 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, West Elk and Sawatch Mountains

When: July 1, 12:00 AM MST to July 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: West Elk and Sawatch Mountains forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 38.643, -107.721 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Drought: A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Colorado in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Colorado, July 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: 5311391, 5311392, 5311393, 5311394, 5311395, 5311396, 5311397, 5311398, 5311399, 5311400, 5311401, 5311402, 5311466, 5311467, 5311468, 5311469, 5311470, 5311471, 5311472, 5311473, 5311474.