A stretch of above normal temperatures produced significant snowmelt across the central mountains resulting in elevated river levels and flooding along the Crystal River from Redstone to Carbondale. Flood stage near Redstone was reached the night of the 29th and 30th of May.
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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.
The episode as NWS GJT wrote it up.
A stretch of above normal temperatures produced significant snowmelt across the central mountains resulting in elevated river levels and flooding along the Crystal River from Redstone to Carbondale. Flood stage near Redstone was reached the night of the 29th and 30th of May. Some secondary roads and low lying river front property was affected by the flooding. A diurnal fluctuation in the river level resulted in periods of above and below flood stage. The above normal temperatures continued through the end of the month but as snowpack decreased, runoff diminished and the river receded below flood stage by the end of the month.
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 May 29, 1:00 PM MST, 9 hours 30 minutes earlier.
WESTERN COLORADO & EASTERN UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 200 PM MDT THU MAY 29 2003 TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT... STRONG HIGH PRESSURES SLIDES TO THE SOUTHEAST INTO NEW MEXICO THROUGH THE PERIOD IN RESPONSE TO THE CALIF AND BAJA LOW OFF THE WEST COAST. THIS WILL KEEP WEAK WAVES OF ENERGY TO ENHANCE AFTERNOON...EVENING TSRA. SLIGHT ADJUSTMENTS TO CURRENT FORECAST BUT OVERALL SENSIBLE WEATHER WELL ON TRACK. CONVECTION IN THE SAN JUANS A BIT LATER THAN YESTERDAY WHILE THE UINTAHS KICKED OFF EARLY. MOSTLY HIGH BASED ACTIVITY WITH VIRGA... LIGHTNING AND WINDS UP TO 35 OR 40 MPH...WITH MORE RAIN TO REACH THE GROUND IN THE SAN JUANS WITH GREATER THAN A QUARTER INCH IN PLACES. NEAR RECORD TEMPERATURES OVER THE PAST WEEK HAS CONCENTRATED THE SNOW MELT INTO A SHORT PERIOD SO WE HAVE ISSUED FLOOD WARNINGS FOR THE YAMPA FROM STEAMBOAT SPRINGS TO DEERLODGE AND THE CRYSTAL FROM REDSTONE TO CARBONDALE. ELSEWHERE WATERWAYS WILL BE NEAR BANK FULL AND RUNNING FAST FROM NOW THROUGH THIS UPCOMING WEEKEND. DJC/21 SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY... UPPER LEVEL HIGH RETREATS INTO TEXAS SATURDAY AS FLOW BECOMES WESTERLY IN ADVANCE OF PACIFIC SHORTWAVE. H5 TROUGH WILL RIDE NORTH ACROSS IDAHO/MONTANA HOWEVER...H7 S/W TROUGH WILL AFFECT THE FORECAST AREA PRODUCING LIFT AND WITH SUFFICIENT MOISTURE IN PLACE...EXPECT SCATTERED CONVECTION TO OCCUR SATURDAY AND LINGER SATURDAY EVENING. DRIER AND MORE STABLE AIRMASS WILL DEVELOP BEHIND TROUGH SUNDAY AS FLOW SHIFTS NORTHWEST. AS A RESULT...A REPRIEVE FROM THE MUCH ABOVE NORMAL TEMPS IS LIKELY BY SUNDAY. MONDAY/TUESDAY...UPR HIGH REDEVELOPS OVER SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WITH A LIGHT ZONAL FLOW ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. DEEPER MOISTURE WILL REMAIN WELL NORTH AND SOUTH OF THE FORECAST AREA...SO DO NOT EXPECT ANY CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT UNTIL TUESDAY AFTERNOON...WHEN DAYTIME HEATING INTERACTS WITH A BIT MORE MOISTURE GRADUALLY WORKING UP FROM THE SOUTH. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN WARM (ABOVE NORMAL) MONDAY AND TUESDAY. DJN.83 WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY: UPPER LOW WILL BE MEANDERING OVER THE DESERT SOUTHWEST...AND WILL BE CLOSE ENOUGH TO COLORADO FOR A THREAT OF THUNDERSTORMS FOR THE ENTIRE FORECAST AREA. WITH H7 SPECIFIC HUMIDITIES AROUND 6 G/KG...STORMS MAY GENERATE RAIN FOR THE HIGHER TERRAIN...BUT THE LOWER VALLEYS WILL BE GENERALLY DRY. PF .GJT...RIVER FLOOD WARNING FOR COLORADO ZONES 1/2/5/8/10.
COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-301130- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 540 AM MDT THU MAY 29 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN COLORADO AND FOR EASTERN UTAH .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING OVER THE MOUNTAINS OF EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO. MOST OF THESE STORMS WILL BE ISOLATED EXCEPT OVER THE WESTERN SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS WHERE THEY ARE EXPECTED TO BE SCATTERED. THESE STORMS WILL PRODUCE SOME LIGHTING AND LITTLE OR NO RAINFALL. STRONG GUSTY OUTFLOW WINDS WILL ACCOMPANY SOME OF THE STORMS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY... THERE IS A CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING THUNDERSTORMS MAINLY OVER THE MOUNTAINS EACH DAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. MOST OF THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO PRODUCE LITTLE OR NO RAIN. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, May 2003
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: 5357357, 5357358.