Name: Flood in Colorado, September 11, 2002
Start: 2002-09-11T18:35
End: 2002-09-11T19:10
Location: Colorado

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

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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.

Street flooding occurred in town.

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 11, 1:50 PM MST, 4 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 11, 1:50 PM MST, 4 hours 45 minutes before

WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
250 PM MDT WED SEP 11 2002

FLASH FLOODING CONCERNS REMAIN HIGH FOR AREAS OF SOUTHWEST COLORADO
AND SOUTHEAST UTAH AS VERY MOIST SOUTHERLY FLOW CONTINUES OVER THE
REGION.  HAVE HAD SOME MAJOR MUD/DEBRIS FLOWS IN THE MISSIONARY
RIDGE BURN AREA OVER THE PAST 18 HOURS...AND WITH MORE RAIN
EXPECTED...WE HAVE OPTED TO CONT THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR THIS
SITE UNTIL 4 PM THIS AFTERNOON. THE REMAINDER OF SOUTHWEST COLORADO
AND SOUTHEAST UTAH WILL REMAIN UNDER A FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 10
PM THIS EVENING.

THE UPPER LEVEL LOW OVER WESTERN UTAH WILL BE LIFTING SLOWLY
NORTHEAST OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS.  DIFFLUENT FLOW...ABUNDANT
SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE AND EMBEDDED WAVES WILL RESULT IN NUMEROUS
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. RADARS OVER
ARIZONA AND NEW MEXICO REMAIN ACTIVE...SO CONFIDENCE IS HIGH THAT
MORE RAIN WILL FALL OVERNIGHT. IN ADDITION...PRECIPITABLE WATER
VALUES ARE RUNNING OVER 150% OF NORMAL ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA.

ON THURSDAY...FOCUS OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL SHIFT NORTH
INTO CENTRAL AND NORTHERN COLORADO AS THE LOW LIFTS OUT AND FLOW
COMES AROUND TO A MORE NORTHWESTERLY COMPONENT.  TROUGH HANGS BACK
OVER THE REGION INTO EARLY FRIDAY...WITH DRIER NWLY FLOW FINALLY
SETTLING INTO THE REGION LATE FRIDAY.  THIS WILL RESULT IN DRIER
WEATHER BY SATURDAY.  TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN NEAR TO BELOW
SEASONAL NORMS THROUGH THE PERIOD. JDC

EXTENDED (SAT-WED)...MODELS IN GENERAL AGREEMENT WITH RESPECT
TO SENSIBLE WX OVER THE SOUTHWESTERN STATES. SHOULD SEE DRIER
CONDITIONS SATURDAY AS THE FLOW ALOFT BECOMES NORTHWESTERLY...
HOWEVER LEFT ISOLATED POPS OVER THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS. SHORTWAVE
ENERGY THEN RETURNS SUNDAY AND BACKS THE FLOW ALOFT TO THE
SOUTHWEST. THIS WILL RESULT IN A SLIGHT CHANCE OF TSTMS OR
LIGHT RAIN TO THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING.
RIDGING RETURNS FOR LATE TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY.
MC

.GJT...FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH 10 PM MDT TONIGHT FOR SOUTHWEST
       COLORADO AND SOUTHEAST UTAH.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Garfield

When: September 11, 6:35 PM MST to 7:10 PM MST
Where: Garfield County, Silt
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 39.599, -107.904 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

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: 5320922.