Flash Flood in Colorado, September 10, 2002

Name: Flash Flood in Colorado, September 10, 2002
Start: 2002-09-10T14:45
End: 2002-09-10T15:30
Location: Colorado

September 10, 2002 · NWS GJT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Rainfall on the Missionary Ridge burned area caused mud and debris flows across County Road 501 near Vallecito Reservoir. The road was temporarily closed.

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.

Rainfall on the Missionary Ridge burned area caused mud and debris flows across County Road 501 near Vallecito Reservoir. The road was temporarily closed.

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 Sep 10, 1:14 PM MST, 1 hour 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 10, 1:14 PM MST, 1 hour 31 minutes before

WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
214 PM MDT TUE SEP 10 2002

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO BUILD OVER EASTERN UTAH AND
WESTERN COLORADO THIS AFTERNOON WITH MORE ACTIVITY LIFTING NORTH
ACROSS ARIZONA AND NEW MEXICO.  MOIST SOUTHERLY FLOW WILL PERSIST
THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS WITH OROGRAPHIC AND DYNAMICS COMING
INTO PLAY.  WILL CONTINUE THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR THE SOUTHERN
PORTIONS OF OUR CWA AS HEAVIEST RAINS LIKELY IN THESE AREAS DUE TO
ENHANCED OROGRAPHIC EFFECTS AND THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF CELLS.  COLD
ENOUGH AT THE HIGHEST PEAKS TO SEE SOME SNOW OVERNIGHT...BUT
MAJORITY OF THE MOUNTAIN AREAS WILL REMAIN RAIN AS TEMPS WILL SHOW
LITTLE DIURNAL SPREAD TONIGHT.

NO MAJOR CHANGES EXPECTED ON WEDNESDAY WITH PERSISTENCE FORECAST ON
TAP AS THE UPPER LEVEL LOW/TROUGH OVER THE SW U.S. MOVES LITTLE.
MOIST SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST FLOW WILL CONTINUE AND ANY MINOR
DISTURBANCES IN THE FLOW WILL COMBINE WITH FAVORABLE OROGRAPHIC FLOW
TO KEEP SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS GOING. HIGHEST POPS WILL AGAIN BE
CONCENTRATED OVER THE SOUTHERN ZONES.

MODELS STILL KEYING ON THE UPPER LOW LIFTING OUT ON THURSDAY...
BRINGING YET MORE ENERGY TO THE REGION FOR A CONTINUATION OF SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS. TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE TO RUN BELOW NORMAL
THROUGH THURSDAY.

EXTENDED (FRI-TUE)...MEDIUM RANGE MODELS INDICATE AN EMBEDDED OPEN
WAVE AND ASSOCIATED TROF WILL MOVE EASTWARD THROUGH THE WEST COAST
RIDGE ON FRI AND EARLY SAT. SUFFICIENT MOISTURE AND DYNAMICS WILL
ALLOW FOR A CONTINUED CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. AS THE
TROF PASSES ON SATURDAY, THE FLOW ALOFT WILL BECOME NORTHWEST AND
CONSIDERABLY DRIER. A LARGE RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL THEN
DOMINATE MOST OF THE WESTERN U.S. THROUGH THE BEGINNING OF THE WORK
WEEK. BY TUE ANOTHER EMBEDDED TROF IS FORECAST TO MOVE INTO THE
RIDGE OVER THE WEST COAST...BUT LOOKS TO DAMPEN OUT AS IT MOVES
INTO THE GREAT BASIN AREA BY WED. CURRENT PACKAGE COVERS ALL OF
THIS, SO NO BIG CHANGES TO THE EXTENDED. BA

.GJT...FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 10 PM MDT THIS EVENING FOR SOUTHWEST
       COLORADO AND SOUTHEAST UTAH.

The radar

The Grand Junction radar (KGJX), 200 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:34 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, La Plata

When: September 10, 2:45 PM MST to 3:30 PM MST
Where: La Plata County, 5 mi NE of Durango
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
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, September 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: 5320854.