Name: Flood in Colorado, July 16, 2002
Start: 2002-07-16T16:40
End: 2002-07-16T18:40
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

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.

Nuisance flooding and mudslides occured along interstate 70 in New Castle.

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 16, 2:08 PM MST, 2 hours 32 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 16, 2:08 PM MST, 2 hours 32 minutes before

WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
308 PM MDT TUE JUL 16 2002

WV IMAGERY CONTINUES TO SHOW A GOOD FETCH OF TROPICAL MOISTURE
STREAMING NORTH ACROSS THE DESERT SOUTHWEST AND UTAH. ENOUGH EASTERLY
COMPONENT IN THE FLOW ACROSS WESTERN COLORADO AND EASTERN UTAH TO
KEEP DEEP MOISTURE WEST OF THE AREA. CONVECTION STARTED UP A LITTLE
LATER THAN YESTERDAY. RADAR AND GROUND TRUTH INDICATE SOME
SUBSTANTIAL RAIN REACHING THE SURFACE ACROSS THE SOUTHERN ZONES.
SEE NO REASON FOR CONVECTION TO LAST MUCH BEYOND SUNSET.

UPPER HIGH REMAINS OVER THE AREA THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS BUT BECOMES
REPOSITIONED AS A TROUGH APPROACHES THE WEST COAST. THIS VEERS THE
UPPER FLOW MORE TO THE SOUTH ALLOWING AN EASTWARD SHIFT IN THE DEEPER
MOISTURE. HIGHER POPS AS THIS OCCURS WITH A BETTER CHANCE OF WETTING
RAINS. A GRADUAL INCREASE IN MOISTURE AND MORE CLOUDS WILL KNOCK
DOWN DAYTIME HIGHS A LITTLE EACH OF THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. TAL

FRI-TUE...THE LATEST MEDIUM-RANGE MODEL RUNS SHOW LESS PROGRESSION
OF THE RIDGE...NOW KEEPING A POSITION NEAR THE 4-CORNERS. THE GFS
SHOWS TROPICAL DISTURBANCES REMAINING IN THE PACIFIC AND NOT
PROVIDING A MOIST FETCH FOR THE GREAT BASIN/CENTRAL ROCKIES. LOW
CONFIDENCE WITH THESE CHANGES AND WILL LEAVE A BROADBRUSH MONSOON
FORECAST FOR THIS PACKAGE. WILL ADD MORE DETAIL WHEN WE ACHIEVE
SOME RUN-TO-RUN CONTINUITY.  RAMEY

.GJT...RED FLAG WARNING ABOVE 7000 FEET UNTIL 2200 MDT FOR WESTERN
       COLORADO FIRE ZONE 205...AND EASTERN UTAH FIRE ZONES
       442...444...445 AND THE LA SAL MOUNTAINS OF UTAH ZONE 448.

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, Garfield

When: July 16, 4:40 PM MST to 6:40 PM MST
Where: Garfield County, New Castle
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 39.599, -107.904 (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, 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: 5311497.