Flash Flood in Colorado, July 23, 2002

Name: Flash Flood in Colorado, July 23, 2002
Start: 2002-07-23T19:15
End: 2002-07-23T23:30
Location: Colorado

July 23, 2002 · NWS GJT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Flash floods with heavy debris content cascaded across County Road 240, near where the road intersects with County Road 243. A wall of water 12 to 15 feet high came roaring down Shearer Creek.

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.

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Floods
Wind
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Heat and drought
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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $400,000
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.

Flash floods with heavy debris content cascaded across County Road 240, near where the road intersects with County Road 243. A wall of water 12 to 15 feet high came roaring down Shearer Creek. Further down the road from Shearer Creek, five vehicles (four with occupants) were swept off the road and into flooded streams. The flash flood waters were accompanied by large trees up to 2 feet in diameter and boulders up to 4 feet in diameter. Debris up to 8 feet deep was deposited on the road and private properties. Debris four feet deep covered a bridge. At least one house was damaged and a parked truck was heavily damaged. The force of the water and debris tore out a 50 foot section of reinforced steel guard rail and carried away concrete road barricades. No injuries were reported, though at least 35 people had to be rescued or evacuated. Additional flash floods in the Missionary Ridge burn area occurred later in the evening and also produced large amounts of debris which closed many roads. The later flash flooding also resulted in some property damage in the Vallecito Lake community.

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 23, 12:42 PM MST, 6 hours 33 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 23, 12:42 PM MST, 6 hours 33 minutes before

WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
142 PM MDT TUE JUL 23 2002

PW DECREASED OVERNIGHT...MAINLY FROM THE MID AND UPPER LEVELS...WITH
SFC DEW PTS REMAINING HIGH...IN THE LOWER 50S SOUTH OF GJT AND CNY
AND THE MID 40S TO THE NORTH. A SHORTWAVE TROF IS SKIMMING THROUGH
DAGGETT COUNTY UT AND WILL CONTINUE PRODUCING THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH
THE EARLY EVENING. NO ORGANIZED DYNAMICS ELSEWHERE IN THE CWA TO
PULL THE CONVECTION OFF THE MOUNTAINS...WITH BEST CONCENTRATION
CLOSE TO THE EASTERN CWA BORDER/CONT DVD.

HIGH CONTINUES OVER CO WED WITH MOST OF THE ACTIVITY SEEMING TO BE
FORCES SOUTH AND WEST...ALONG WITH LESS MOISTURE...SO WED SHOULD SEE
LESS ACTIVITY. ON THURS THE AVN WANTS TO BRING A TROF THRU THE RIDGE
AND INTO THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE AREA. SINCE THE MODELS SHOWS THIS
FEATURE IN OTHER FIELDS BESIDES VORTICITY IT DOESNT LOOK LIKE
CONVECTIVE FEEDBACK...THOUGH IT STILL APPEARS TOO STRONG. WILL KEEP
THE UPTURN IN POPS IN CURRENT ZONES.  CJC

...EXTENDED (FRI-TUES)
WEAK TROF MOVES INTO GREAT BASIN REGION WITH FLAT RIDGE OVER CWA.
WITH RESIDUAL SOUTHERLY FLOW OF MOISTURE HAVE KEPT CHANCE POPS OVER
MTNS WITH SLIGHT CHANCE OVER LOWER ELEVATIONS ON FRIDAY. AS TROF
MOVES EAST OF AREA ON MONDAY PATTERN SHIFTS TO MORE WESTERLY
WITH JET NORTH OF CWA. MODELS STILL DEPICTING SOME SOUTHERLY MOIST
FLOW SO HAVE KEEP SLIGHT CHANCE POPS ACROSS MTNS AND SOUTH THROUGH
THE EXTENDED. TEMPS LOOK GOOD. MPM

.GJT...NONE.

The radar

The Grand Junction radar (KGJX), 200 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:17 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, La Plata

When: July 23, 7:15 PM MST to 11:30 PM MST
Where: La Plata County, 11 mi NE of Durango
Property damage: $400,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 37.287, -107.843 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

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: 5311486.