Damaging Wind in Colorado, July 14, 2002

Name: Damaging Wind in Colorado, July 14, 2002
Start: 2002-07-14T16:41
End: 2002-07-14T16:41
Location: Colorado

July 14, 2002 · NWS GJT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Outflow from a thunderstorm picked up 900 pounds of tie downs at Walker Field Airport and threw them across the ramp.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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: 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.

Outflow from a thunderstorm picked up 900 pounds of tie downs at Walker Field Airport and threw them across the ramp.

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 Jul 14, 11:45 AM MST, 4 hours 56 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 14, 11:45 AM MST, 4 hours 56 minutes before

WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
1245 PM MDT SUN JUL 14 2002

HIGH PRESSURE CENTERED OVER UTAH WITH 20+ 700 MB TEMPERATURES WILL
PERSIST THROUGH NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS WITH TEMPERATURES FALLING OFF
JUST A BIT MON AND TUE. MOISTURE INCREASED IN THE MID LEVELS
OVERNIGHT AND CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT BEGAN LATE THIS MORNING. WILL
KEEP ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE MOUNTAINS THIS
EVENING WITH BEST AREA OVER THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS. GUSTY WINDS BUT
LITTLE RAIN IS EXPECTED FOR FIRE WEATHER CONCERNS.  A RED FLAG
WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR CO FIRE ZONES 205 AND 207 AND UT FIRE
ZONE 448 ABOVE 7000 FEET FOR WIDELY SCATTERED DRY LIGHTNING...VALID
UNTIL 1000 PM MDT THIS EVENING.

ON WATER VAPOR A COUPLE OF FEATURES OF INTEREST STAND OUT. FIRST IS A
NORTHEAST PUSH INTO EASTERN CO AROUND A HIGH CIRCULATION OVER THE
NORTHWEST PLAINS. THE OTHER FEATURE IS A DEVELOPING TROUGH OFF THE
WEST COAST WITH A GOOD SHORTWAVE MOVING INTO NORTHERN CA. THIS
SHORTWAVE IS BEING STRETCHED AND ENTRAINED IN THE SOUTH-SOUTHWEST
FLOW AROUND THE UTAH HIGH. AHEAD OF THE WEST COAST TROUGH/CA
SHORTWAVE...THE MOIST SOUTHERLY FLOW ACROSS NV WILL SHIFT TO THE EAST
AND BE SQUEEZED AGAINST THE DRIER AIR PUSHING ACROSS EASTERN CO. AS
THIS HAPPENS...EXPECT A CONTINUED INCREASE OF MOISTURE UNDER THE HIGH
PRESSURE RIDGE OVER THE FORECAST AREA. PLENTY OF DIURNAL HEATING WILL
PROVIDE LIFT FOR AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS...MAINLY
MOUNTAINS. ALSO AS THE SHORTWAVE RIDES ACROSS THE TOP OF THE RIDGE IT
WILL ADD SOME LIFT TO THE POT ON MONDAY.

TO SUMMARIZE...A LITTLE MORE CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY AND SLIGHTLY COOLER
TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED EACH DAY.  HEFFERNAN

EXTENDED (WED-SUN)...REGION WILL CONTINUE TO BE DOMINATED BY RIDGE
OF HIGH PRESSURE EARLY THIS PERIOD AS AS TROUGH SITS OFF THE WEST
COAST. HOWEVER...WITH LOWER HEIGHTS COMPARED TO CURRENT PATTERN
EXPECT MORE SEASONAL TEMPERATURES. MAIN STORY WILL BE CONVECTIVE
POTENTIAL EACH DAY. MOISTURE INCREASING FROM SOUTHWEST WILL LIKELY
RE-CIRCULATE AROUND THE AREA EACH DAY AS FLOW REMAINS WEAK. AFTERNOON
HEATING WILL LEAD TO SCT TSTMS ORIGINATING OFF HIGH TERRAIN. TOO
EARLY TO TELL IF LOW LEVELS WILL MOISTEN ENOUGH TO GET WETTING RAIN.
IN ADDITION...WILL BE WATCHING ANOTHER POTENTIAL TROPICAL SYSTEM LATE
IN PERIOD TAKING SIMILAR PATH TO PRESENT T.S. CRISTINA.  DJN.83

.GJT...RED FLAG WARNING ABOVE 7000 FEET FOR CO FIRE ZONES 205 AND
207 AND UT FIRE ZONE 448...VALID UNTIL 1000 PM MDT THIS EVENING.

The radar

The Grand Junction radar (KGJX), 27 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:40 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Mesa

When: July 14, 4:41 PM MST
Where: Mesa County, (Gjt)walker Arpt
Measured: 59 kt (68 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 39.117, -108.517

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

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: 5311498.