Colorado, 2002

Flash Flood in Colorado, September 12, 2002

September 12, 2002 · NWS GJT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Heavy rainfall on the Missionary Ridge burned area caused mud and debris flows into the east Animas Valley with debris deposits up to 6 feet deep on the roads. A bulldozer became trapped on a county road by the debris flows.

Where it happened

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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.

Heavy rainfall on the Missionary Ridge burned area caused mud and debris flows into the east Animas Valley with debris deposits up to 6 feet deep on the roads. A bulldozer became trapped on a county road by the debris flows.

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 12, 2:03 AM MST, 6 hours 57 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 12, 2:03 AM MST, 6 hours 57 minutes before
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
303 AM MDT THU SEP 12 2002

...FLASH FLOOD WATCH THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING FOR FOUR CORNERS
REGION OF SOUTHWEST COLORADO AND SOUTHEAST UTAH...

FLASH FLOODING OVER LA PLATA COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST COLORADO CONTINUES
TO BE THE MAIN CONCERN IN THE SHORT-TERM...AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE SO
UNTIL CLOSED LOW OVER UTAH OPENS UP AND MOVES OUT OF THE AREA. THE
LOW BECOMES AN OPEN WAVE LATE THIS AFTERNOON...AND MOVES INTO THE
CENTRAL PLAINS STATES. ONE LAST STRONG SHORTWAVE TROUGH DUMBBELLS
DOWN THE WEST SIDE OF THE LOW AND OVER THE FOUR CORNERS TONIGHT AND
FRIDAY...WITH AVN AND ETA CONCURRING ON THIS MOVEMENT.

WV SATELLITE SHOWS FAIRLY SHALLOW LOW LEVEL MOISTURE FLOWING OVER THE
FOUR CORNERS EARLY THIS MORNING...WITH MINOR VERTICAL CLOUD
DEVELOPMENT UNDER WEAK PVA. THESE SHALLOW FEATURES PRODUCED 0.08
INCHES IN ABOUT AN HOUR AT DRO BEFORE MOVING ON...BUT CAUSED NO
FLOODING PROBLEMS. DO NOT BELIEVE WEAKER DEVELOPMENT SEEN OVER NE
AZ/NW NM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING MORE RAIN THAN THIS...SO WILL ALLOW
CURRENT FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR NRN DRO AREA TO EXPIRE AT 4 AM.
DEEPER MOISTURE AND BETTER DYNAMICS SHOULD MOVE OVER THE FOUR CORNERS
THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...WILL ISSUE A FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR
THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

DRIER NW FLOW PROJECTED INTO THE REGION SATURDAY WITH FRIDAY BEING
THE TRANSITION DAY...SO WILL MAINTAIN CURRENT DRYING TREND.  CJC

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 FROM NOON TO 10 PM MDT TONIGHT 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 15:58 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 12, 9:00 AM MST to 10:00 AM MST
Where
La Plata County, 3 mi N of Durango
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

More

Every storm in Colorado in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5320933.