Flash Flood, La Plata
- When
- September 7, 6:30 PM MST to 7:30 PM MST
- Where
- La Plata County, 3 mi N of Durango
- Property damage
- $1.5 million
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 37.287, -107.843 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Colorado, September 7, 2002
Flash flooding was widespread along the east side of the Animas Valley. Very large debris flows accompanied the flash floods.
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
- $1.5 million
- 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.
Flash flooding was widespread along the east side of the Animas Valley. Very large debris flows accompanied the flash floods. Two large houses in the path of the flows incurred extensive damage. Two mobile homes were knocked off their foundations. And some sheds were heavily damaged or destroyed. Mud, large trees, and boulders the size of cars covered many sections of county roads and residential properties up to 10 feet deep. A six mile section of irrigation canal was completely filled with debris. 750 people were evacuated from the Bar D Chuckwagon restaurant after being trapped for nearly three hours.
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 7, 3:25 PM MST, 3 hours 5 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Sep 7, 3:25 PM MST, 3 hours 5 minutes before
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
425 PM MDT SAT SEP 7 2002
GOOD JET SUPPORT...PLENTIFUL MOISTURE AND ENOUGH SUN HAVE HELPED
PRODUCE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS...SOME SEVERE OVER SE UTAH THIS
AFTERNOON. THESE STORMS WILL CONTINUE MOVING NE AND INTO EXTREME
WESTERN COLORADO...SOUTH OF I-70...EARLY THIS EVENING.
NEXT TWO DAYS WILL SEE CONTINUED MOIST ENVIRONMENT WITH PERSISTENT
CLOUDY CONDITIONS AND HIGH CHC OF RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS. CJC
EXTENDED (WED-SAT)...PACIFIC TROUGH LIFTS ACROSS CWFA WEDNESDAY
AND THURSDAY WITH A CONTINUED THREAT OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS.
AVAILABLE MOISTURE SHOULD BE SUFFICIENT...AS MED RANGE MODELS
INDICATE LITTLE TO MOVE DEEP SUB-TROPICAL MOISTURE AWAY FROM AREA.
BY FRIDAY...DRIER WESTERLIES DEVELOP AND MOISTURE SHIFTS EAST WITH
TROUGH. WILL LEAVE MENTION OF SLIGHT CHANCE TSTMS OVER MOUNTAINS
WITH RESIDUAL MOISTURE EFFECTS...AND WILL INTRODUCE DRY FORECAST
FOR SATURDAY AS LATEST MRF RUN SHOWS BUILDING UPPER HIGH OVER WEST
COAST (NOTE...LAST 2 MRF MODEL RUNS ARE INCONSISTENT). TEMPERATURES
WILL REBOUND LATE IN PERIOD AS DRIER WEATHER RETURNS. DJN.83
.GJT...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL 9 PM MDT FOR SOUTHEAST UTAH
AND SOUTHWEST COLORADO.In the hours before
Special weather statement, Sep 7, 6:15 PM MST, 15 minutes before
COZ006-017-019>021-UTZ022-025-027>029-080300- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 715 PM MDT SAT SEP 7 2002 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH CANCELED FOR EXTREME EASTERN UTAH... ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH CONTINUES UNTIL 9:00 PM MDT FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST COLORADO... THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THAT MOVED THROUGH SOUTHEAST UTAH HAVE MOVED INTO WESTERN COLORADO. IN EASTERN UTAH...GRAND AND SAN JUAN COUNTIES HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM THE WATCH AREA. IN SOUTHWEST COLORADO...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH CONTINUES UNTIL 9:00 PM MDT...FOR WESTERN MESA...MONTROSE...DOLORES... SAN MIGUEL...AND MONTEZUMA COUNTIES. CUOCO
The radar
The Grand Junction radar (KGJX), 200 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:28 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
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Texas, September 7, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Arizona, September 7, 2002
- Flash Flood in Colorado, September 7, 2002
- Flash Flooding in Texas, September 7, 2002
- Flash Flood in Utah, September 7, 2002
- Flash Flood in Utah, September 7, 2002
- Damaging Wind in Colorado, September 7, 2002
- Flash Flooding in Texas, September 7 to 8, 2002
- Hail in Arizona, September 7, 2002
- Extreme Cold in Oregon, September 7 to 8, 2002
- Extreme Cold in California, September 7 to 8, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Utah, September 7, 2002
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: 5320845.