Intense rainfall and hail due to slow moving thunderstorms fell on steep slopes composed of loose soil and rock. The worst rock and landslides in decades occurred on county road 306, which is in the Cottonwood Creek drainage north of Mt.
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.
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.
The episode as NWS PUB wrote it up.
Intense rainfall and hail due to slow moving thunderstorms fell on steep slopes composed of loose soil and rock. The worst rock and landslides in decades occurred on county road 306, which is in the Cottonwood Creek drainage north of Mt. Princeton. The debris on county road 306 was one mile long and over 10 feet deep in spots. An elderly couple was swept to the side of county road 306, and mud and rock flowed into their van. They suffered hypothermia and abrasions and bruises. County road 306 was closed for clean up for two weeks. County road 162, in the Chalk Creek drainage south of Mt. Princeton also experienced several mud and rock flows.
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 Pueblo, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 22, 12:52 PM MST, 6 hours 8 minutes earlier.
SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST COLORADO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO COLORADO 140 PM MDT MON JUL 22 2002...CORRECTED DATE MAIN PROBLEMS ARE AMOUNT OF PRECIPITATION. CURRENTLY...CLOUDS GRADUALLY DISSIPATING OVER BACA AND LAS ANIMAS COUNTIES. IN THE CLEAR AREAS...SOME CB AND TCU ARE DEVELOPING. LOW LEVEL MOISTURE MADE IT WESTWARD THROUGH NORTHERN NEW MEXICO. THIS MOISTURE IS MOVING NORTH AND HELPING TO FIRE THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND HIGH VALLEYS. FOR TONIGHT...CAPE AND SHEAR DOES NOT LOOK VERY IMPRESSIVE AND I CANNOT FIND MUCH IN THE WAY OF UPPER LEVEL FORCING TO CONTINUE PAST THE EVENING. I WILL CHANGE GRIDS FOR PRECIP TO END BY 10 PM AND SKIES GO PARTLY CLOUDY. WITH WEAK SHEAR AND MODEST CAPES...THERE IS A VERY MINIMAL THREAT FOR SEVERE CONVECTION. MAIN THREATS WILL BE SLOW MOVING STORMS WITH SOME LOCAL DOWNPOURS. I WILL WAIT UNTIL NEAR ISSUANCE TIME TO DECIDE ON WHETHER OR NOT TO INCLUDE LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN IN ZONES. FOR TUESDAY...SHORTWAVE WILL MOVE WELL NORTH OF THE AREA DEVELOPING LOW PRESSURE TO OUR NORTH. SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST WINDS WILL DEVELOP ON THE PLAINS DURING THE DAY. ONCE AGAIN...SOUNDINGS DO NOT SHOW SPECTACULAR CAPES AND SHEAR. DRYING IN MID LEVELS OF ETA SUGGESTS THAT SUBSIDENCE ON EAST SIDE OF UPPER RIDGE WILL HELP CAP CONVECTION. BUFKIT SOUNDINGS SHOW 500MB TEMPERATURES AROUND -6 TO -8C OVER THE PLAINS. THERE WILL BE ENOUGH MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY AROUND TO GET SOME CONVECTION GOING IN THE AFTERNOON. CURRENT FORECAST HAS 30 POPS ON THE PLAINS FOR TOMORROW. IF THE WARMING ALOFT OCCURS AS INDICATED IN THE MODELS...THIS MAY BE A BIT TOO HIGH. SINCE THIS A ONLY A MINOR CHANGE...I WILL LEAVE THE POPS ALONE. OVER THE MOUNTAINS...THERE WILL CONTINUE TO BE ENOUGH MOISTURE FOR SCATTERED AFTERNOON AND EVENING CONVECTION. TEMPERATURES LOOK OK...AND I WILL DECREASE TEMPS BY A FEW DEGREES OVER PORTIONS OF THE PLAINS. FOR WEDNESDAY...ANOTHER SHORTWAVE WILL TOP THE RIDGE. AVN SHOWING A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF DRYING IN THE MIDDLE LEVEL OVER THE EASTERN PLAINS AS THE RIDGE RETROGRADES. THERE WILL BE ENOUGH MOISTURE TRAPPED IN THE RIDGE FOR SOME DIURNAL CONVECTION OVER THE MOUNTAINS...BUT NOTHING SPECTACULAR. OVER THE PLAINS...THERE WILL BE MORE DRYING OF THE LOWER LEVELS WITH SOME MOISTURE POSSIBLY LINGERING NEAR THE BORDER. CURRENT FORECAST HAS 20 POPS EVERYWHERE. I WILL REMOVE THE POPS FROM THE ZONES ON THE PLAINS AWAY FROM THE MOUNTAINS...BUT I WILL LEAVE SOME POPS IN THE KANSAS BORDER ZONES AS MOISTURE IS DEEPER. THURSDAY...SHORTWAVE CONTINUES MOVING TO THE EAST. AVN SHOWING DRYING ALOFT OVER THE SOUTHERN HALF OF COLORADO ASSOCIATED WITH DEEP EASTERLY FLOW. OVER NORTHERN COLORADO...AVN IS MORE GENEROUS WITH THE MOISTURE WITH THE WEST TO SOUTHWEST FLOW. THERE MAY BE A WEAK SURGE ON THE PLAINS AS A WEAK SHORTWAVE MOVES SOUTHEAST. I THINK THE AVN MAY BE TOO DRY ALOFT ON THURSDAY...AND UPSLOPE FLOW MAY PROVIDE ENOUGH MOISTURE FOR SOME AFTERNOON CONVECTION. CURRENT THURSDAY GRIDS LOOK GOOD AND I WILL ONLY MAKE SOME MINOR ADJUSTMENTS. POPS OVER THE ENTIRE REGION ARE 20 PERCENT...WHICH IS A GOOD MIDDLE GROUND BETWEEN THE DRYING ALOFT IN THE AVN AND POTENTIAL UPSLOPE MOISTURE. IN THE EXTENDED (FRI-MON)...MRF ENSEMBLES TEND TO SHOW A SLOWER AND DEEPER TROUGH ON SATURDAY THROUGH MONDAY THAN THE OPERATIONAL MRF. MRF ENSEMBLES ARE MORE IN LINE WITH ECMWF...WITH THE TROUGH ALONG THE WEST COAST. IF THIS PATTERN VERIFIES...THE CHANCES FOR UPSLOPE SURGES SIGNIFICANTLY MOISTENING THE EASTERN PLAINS ARE SMALL. HOWEVER...A SOME RESIDUAL MOISTURE WILL REMAIN ON THE PLAINS AS ENSEMBLE LEE TROUGH IS LIKELY TOO STRONG. WITH THE TROUGH THAT FAR WEST...I SUSPECT A MONSOON PLUME OF SOME MOISTURE WILL CONTINUE. EXTENDED FORECAST WILL REFLECT CONTINUED MODEST MONSOON PLUME WITH RESIDUAL MOISTURE ON THE PLAINS...THAT IS SLIGHT CHANCE POPS WITH NEAR CLIMATOLOGY TEMPS. CURRENT EXTENDED LOOKS GOOD AND ONLY MINOR CHANGES ARE ANTICIPATED. .PUB...NONE. PGW
The Pueblo radar (KPUX), 178 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:00 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, July 2002
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: 5309353.