Colorado, 2002

Tornado in Colorado, June 3, 2002

June 3, 2002 · NWS GJT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A tornado was observed and photographed by a BLM employee in a remote area.

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

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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.

A tornado was observed and photographed by a BLM employee in a remote area.

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 Jun 3, 1:29 PM MST, 2 hours 1 minute earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 3, 1:29 PM MST, 2 hours 1 minute before
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
229 PM MDT MON JUN 3 2002

VORT MAX RIDING TO NE IN FLOW AHEAD OF SPLIT TROUGH OVER ERN GREAT
BASIN KICKING OFF CONVECTION. BEST UVV AND MOISTURE APPEAR TO
HAVE MOVED NE AND OUT OF THE AREA EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON AFTER
HELPING TO SPAWN ON SIGNIFICANT THUNDERSTORM OVER ROUTT COUNTY.
SOUTHERN PORTION OF SPLIT TO MOVE OVER AZ/NM TNGT AND TUE. NORTHERN
PORTION OF SPLIT TO MOVE THRU WRN CO FIRST HALF OF TUE. WITH FLOW
TURNING TO NORTHWEST AND DRYING THEREAFTER. SHORTWAVE RIDGE BUILDS
IN TUE AFTERNOON THROUGH THU WITH A WARMING TREND AND CONTINUED DRY
CONDITIONS THRU THE END OF THE WEEK.   CJC

EXTENDED (FRI-MON)...THERE REMAINS MAJOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE
MEDIUM RANGE MODELS THROUGH THIS PERIOD. FOCUSING ON MAINLY THE MRF
(AVNX) AND ECMWF...THE TRENDS DIFFER BY SATURDAY. BOTH AGREE THAT A
STRONG UPPER LOW OVER ALBERTA CANADA WILL SWING A PIECE OF ENERGY
SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST BY 12Z/SAT. THE DIFFERENCE
OCCURS WITH THE TIMING AND STRENGTH OF THIS PIECE OF ENERGY. THE
ECMWF IS SLOWER AND MORE AMPLIFIED SO THAT BY 12Z/SUN...A STRONG
CLOSED UPR LOW SITS OVER NORTHERN UTAH WITH THE CWFA WITHIN STRONG
PVA. THE MRF IS WEAKER AND MUCH MORE PROGRESSIVE...SWINGING THE
ENERGY ACROSS ID/MT THEN ACROSS THE NORTHERN PLAINS BY SUNDAY...
LEAVING OUR CWFA WITHIN WEAK NW FLOW AS THE DESERT SW RIDGE
STRENGTHENS. AT THIS TIME...WILL LEAN TOWARD MORE PROGRESSIVE MRF
GIVEN ORGIN OF TROUGH (CANADA) BUT THIS WILL HAVE TO BE CLOSELY
MONITORED AS WE APPROACH THIS WEEKEND.  DJN.83

.GJT...NONE.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jun 3, 1:56 PM MST, 1 hour 34 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION, CO
256 PM MDT MON JUN 3 2002

TIME(MDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0100 PM    4 N HAYDEN                CO   60 MPH TSTM WIND GUST
06/03/02   ROUTT
REPORTED BY PUBLIC

JK
Local storm report, Jun 3, 1:56 PM MST, 1 hour 34 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION, CO
256 PM MDT MON JUN 3 2002

TIME(MDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0100 PM    4 N HAYDEN                CO   60 MPH TSTM WIND GUST
06/03/02   ROUTT                          REPORTED BY PUBLIC

JK

The radar

The Grand Junction radar (KGJX), 67 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:30 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Mesa

When
June 3, 3:30 PM MST to 3:36 PM MST
Where
Mesa County, 7 mi NNW of Mack
Rating
F0
Path length
0.5 mi
Path width
30 yd
Reported by
GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates
39.317, -108.917

What these are

Tornado
A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Colorado in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Colorado, 2002Warnings in Colorado, June 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: 5303271.