Flash Flood in Utah, July 27, 2002

Name: Flash Flood in Utah, July 27, 2002
Start: 2002-07-27T13:50
End: 2002-07-27T16:54
Location: Utah

July 27, 2002 · NWS GJT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A flash flood ran across US Highway 191 and deposited a significant amount of debris onto the road.

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.

A flash flood ran across US Highway 191 and deposited a significant amount of debris onto the road.

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 Jul 27, 2:26 AM MST, 11 hours 24 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 27, 2:26 AM MST, 11 hours 24 minutes before

WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
326 AM MDT SAT JUL 27 2002

CORRECTED DATE IN HEADER

FORECAST AREA TO BE AFFECTED BY TWO SHORTWAVE TROFS TDA. ONE
CURRENTLY OVER SW CO WITH MOISTURE FEEDING INTO IT FROM THE SOUTH.
THIS FEATURE APPEAR TO BE PRODUCING VERY LITTLE PCPN. 88D PAINTING
ALMOST NOTHING. IT SHOULD BREEZE THROUGH THE CWA BEFORE 18Z. NEXT
FEATURE IS OVER CENTRAL UT MOVING EAST AT 25 KTS. LEADING EDGE
CROSSED INTO WRN CWA ABOUT 230 AM. ISOLD TSTMS ALONG SOUTHERN PORTION
OF THE DEVELOPING COMMA-SHAPED CLOUD ARE CLOSER TO JET SPEED MAX THAT
SAGGED TO 4 CRNRS AREA. EXTRAPOLATING EASTERLY MOVEMENT PUSHES BACK
EDGE OF THIS ACTIVE AREA THROUGH GJT BY 13Z AND EAST OF CWA BY 18Z.
SWRN TAIL OF THE VORT MAX WILL TAKE A BIT LONGER TO MOVE OVER THE SAN
JUAN MTNS AND 4 CRNRS. WILL WRITE ZONES TO SHOW MORE ACTIVITY THIS
MORNING...FOLLOWED BY STABILIZATION THIS AFTERNOON.

MAIN TROUGH MOVES THROUGH THE AREA TONIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING...WITH
DRY NW FLOW MONDAY AND TUESDAY. WILL KEEP CURRENT TREND IN EXTENDED
OF INCREASING DIURNAL PRECIPITATION WED THROUGH FRI AS MRF CONTINUES
TO SHOW GRADUAL INCREASE OF MOISTURE FROM THE SOUTH UNDER A
RELATIVELY WEAK SW MONSOON SIGNATURE.  CJC

.GJT...NONE.

The radar

The Grand Junction radar (KGJX), 163 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:51 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Uintah

When: July 27, 1:50 PM MST to 4:54 PM MST
Where: Uintah County, 19 mi N of Vernal
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 40.125, -109.518 (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 Utah in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Utah, July 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: 5311500.