Flash Flood, Ouray
- When
- July 25, 1:00 PM MST to 1:15 PM MST
- Where
- Ouray County, 6 mi S of Ouray
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 38.156, -107.769 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Colorado, July 25, 2002
S. Highway 550 over the San Juan Mountains for about five hours.
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
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.
Heavy rainfall resulted in a mudslide which closed U.S. Highway 550 over the San Juan Mountains for about five hours. The mud covered both lanes up to 4 feet deep along a 100 foot stretch of road.
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 25, 1:34 AM MST, 11 hours 26 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 25, 1:34 AM MST, 11 hours 26 minutes before
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 234 AM MDT THU JUL 25 2002 SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUING ACROSS THE AREA EARLY THIS MORNING. OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES SUSTAINING SOME OF THE SHOWERS AND STORMS. RAINFALL IS LIGHT EXCEPT FOR ISOLATED MODERATE AMOUNTS PER 88D AND AUTOMATED GAUGES. PRECIPITATION IS MOVING ENOUGH TO WHERE IT SHOULD NOT POSE ANY SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS EARLY THIS MORNING. CONVECTION CONTINUES TO FIRE OVER CENTRAL UTAH AND NEVADA AS A RESULT OF A WAVE ROTATING AROUND THE WEST SIDE OF THE HIGH CENTER AND SOME UPPER JET SUPPORT. MODELS BRING THE WAVE ACROSS NORTHEAST UTAH AROUND 18Z TODAY AND INTO WYOMING BY 00Z WITH A WEAK VORTICITY LOBE HANGING BACK ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. GREATER COVERAGE OF STORMS TODAY AS THE WAVE MOVES THROUGH. STRONGER FLOW ALOFT WILL INCREASE STORM MOTION AND DECREASE THE HEAVY RAIN THREAT...BUT WILL STILL NEED TO WATCH FOR TRAINING ECHOES. COOLER TEMPERATURES TODAY UNDER EXTENSIVE CLOUD COVER. MAJOR PATTERN CHANGE FRIDAY AS WEST FLOW ALOFT DEVELOPS AND THE RIDGE GETS SUPPRESSED TO THE SOUTH. SHORTWAVES FORECAST TO MOVE THROUGH THE FLOW WITH THE BULK OF THE ENERGY STAYING NORTH ACROSS WYOMING. TIMING OF WAVES UNCERTAIN...BUT WAVES WILL PROVIDE SOME ADDED FORCING FOR AFTERNOON AND EVENING STORMS FRIDAY. POPS WILL BE LOWER THOUGH AS DRIER AIR ALOFT ADVECTS INTO THE AREA. INCREASED STRONG CONVECTIVE WIND GUST POTENTIAL AS FLOW ALOFT INCREASES. MORE SUN ON FRIDAY WITH MAX TEMPERATURES TRENDING UP. UPPER JET FORECAST TO DISSECT THE AREA SATURDAY BUT WILL KEEP POPS LOW AS THE TREND WILL CONTINUE TOWARD DRIER AND MORE STABLE. TEMPERATURES CHANGING LITTLE. NO CHANGES TO THE EXTENDED PERIODS. .GJT...NONE. TAL
The radar
The Grand Junction radar (KGJX), 108 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:58 UTC.
Event by event
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Lightning Strike in Utah, July 25, 2002
- Heat in Missouri, July 25, 2002
- Flash Flooding in Virginia, July 25 to 26, 2002
- Damaging Wind in Nebraska, July 25, 2002
- Hail in Nebraska, July 25, 2002
- Tornadoes and Hail in Minnesota, July 25, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Idaho, July 25, 2002
- Damaging Wind in Utah, July 25, 2002
- Damaging Wind in Texas, July 25, 2002
- Damaging Wind in Nebraska, July 25, 2002
- Lightning Strike in Louisiana, July 25, 2002
- Lightning Strike in Florida, July 25, 2002
More
Every storm in Colorado in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5311484.