Flash Flood, Gunnison
- When
- July 17, 5:30 PM MST to 8:00 PM MST
- Where
- Gunnison County, 2 mi E of Gunnison
- Property damage
- $15,000
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 38.667, -107.032 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Colorado, July 17, 2004
Water one to two feet deep flowed across across Highway 50, while a section of County Road 72 washed out along Tomichi Creek near Highway 50.
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
- $15,000
- 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.
Water one to two feet deep flowed across across Highway 50, while a section of County Road 72 washed out along Tomichi Creek near Highway 50.
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 17, 1:45 PM MST, 3 hours 45 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 17, 1:45 PM MST, 3 hours 45 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 245 PM MDT SAT JUL 17 2004 .SHORT TERM (TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY)... UPPER LEVEL RIDGE ANCHORED OVER NEW MEXICO...WILL CONTINUE TO BRING MOIST SUBTROPICAL CONDITIONS TO THE REGION THROUGH MONDAY. ANOTHER ACTIVE AFTERNOON IS UNDERWAY...WITH SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE MOUNTAINS. A FEW CELLS ALREADY DRIFTING OVER THE VALLEY...ESPECIALLY OVER THE NORTHEAST SECTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA WHERE BETTER SUN AND HEATING GOT THINGS GOING EARLIER TODAY. BLANKET OF MID CLOUDS OVER THE CENTRAL ZONES SLOWED HEATING... BUT STORMS ARE NOW FIRING OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN AND EXPECT THIS TREND TO CONTINUE AS A WEAK SHRTWV OVER SOUTHERN UTAH LIFTS ENE THROUGH THE REGION THIS EVENING. MORNING SOUNDING CONTINUES TO INDICATE VERY MOIST CONDITIONS IN PLACE WITH PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES IN EXCESS OF 1.3 INCHES. WINDS ALOFT SUGGEST MINIMAL STORM MOTION...GENERALLY TO THE E AT 5 TO 10 MPH. THIS WL RESULT IN LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL FROM THE STRONGER STORMS...WITH OVER 1 TO 2 INCHES POSSIBLE IN A SHORT PERIOD. NOCTURNAL CONVECTION AGAIN EXPECTED WITH WARM AND MOIST CONDITIONS CONTG AND MINOR WAVES RIPPLING OVER THE RIDGE AND INTO THE FORECAST AREA. LITTLE CHANGE IS EXPECTED THROUGH MONDAY WITH THE UPPER LEVEL RDG REMAINING PARKED OVER NEW MEXICO. SLIGHTLY DRIER CONDITIONS WL PERSIST OVER THE SOUTHERN ZONES WHERE CONVECTION WL NOT BE AS WIDESPREAD. GUIDANCE TEMPS REASONABLE THROUGH THE PERIOD. HOWEVER...PLAN ON GOING ABOVE GUIDANCE POPS IN LATER PERIODS WITH LITTLE CHANGE TO THE OVERALL PATTERN EXPECTED. .LONG TERM (TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY)... RIDGE AXIS BUILDS SLOWLY WEST OVER THE INTERMOUNTAIN WEST AND INTO THE GREAT BASIN THROUGH THE PERIOD. BOTH GFS AND ETA SHOWING A SLIGHT DECREASE IN MOISTURE THROUGH THE PERIOD...HOWEVER...WILL KEEP SLIGHT CHANCE OF AFTERNOON/EVENING THUNDERSTORMS EACH DAY AS MOISTURE APPEARS TO BE ADEQUATE TO SUPPORT CONVECTION. EXPECT TEMPERATURES TO REMAIN SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL THROUGH THE PERIOD. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... .CO...NONE. .UT...NONE. JDC/MPM
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 17, 4:51 AM MST, 12 hours 39 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 551 AM MDT SAT JUL 17 2004 CORRECTED DATE COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-181145- ANIMAS RIVER BASIN-ARCHES/GRAND FLAT-CANYONLANDS/NATURAL BRIDGES- CENTRAL COLORADO RIVER BASIN- CENTRAL GUNNISON AND UNCOMPAHGRE RIVER BASIN- CENTRAL YAMPA RIVER BASIN-DEBEQUE TO SILT CORRIDOR- EASTERN UINTA BASIN-EASTERN UINTA MOUNTAINS- ELKHEAD AND PARK MOUNTAINS-FLAT TOPS- FOUR CORNERS/UPPER DOLORES RIVER- GORE AND ELK MOUNTAINS/CENTRAL MOUNTAINS-GRAND AND BATTLEMENT MESAS- GRAND VALLEY-LA SAL AND ABAJO MOUNTAINS-LOWER YAMPA RIVER BASIN- NORTHWEST SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS-PARADOX VALLEY/LOWER DOLORES RIVER- ROAN AND TAVAPUTS PLATEAUS-SAN JUAN RIVER BASIN-SOUTHEAST UTAH- SOUTHWEST SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS-TAVAPUTS PLATEAU- UNCOMPAHGRE PLATEAU AND DALLAS DIVIDE-UPPER GUNNISON RIVER VALLEY- UPPER YAMPA RIVER BASIN-WEST ELK AND SAWATCH MOUNTAINS- 551 AM MDT SAT JUL 17 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN COLORADO AND EASTERN UTAH. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS WILL OCCUR TODAY...ESPECIALLY OVER THE MOUNTAINS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THIS WILL CREATE THE POTENTIAL FOR LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN MAY CAUSE EXCESSIVE RUNOFF OR FLASH FLOODING...ESPECIALLY IN AREAS OF STEEP TERRAIN OR URBAN AREAS PRONE TO FLASH FLOODING...AND IN AREAS BURNED BY WILDFIRES. THUNDERSTORMS MAY ALSO BE ACCOMPANIED BY SMALL HAIL...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...AND WIND GUSTS TO 35 MPH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY... THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS SUNDAY AND MONDAY. FOR TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...ISOLATED MOUNTAIN THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE EACH AFTERNOON AND EVENING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT...BUT SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO CALL IN RAINFALL...HAIL OR WIND REPORTS. TAL
The radar
The Grand Junction radar (KGJX), 111 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:29 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
- Lightning Strike in North Carolina, July 17, 2004
- Lightning Strike in South Carolina, July 17, 2004
- Flash Flood in Utah, July 17, 2004
- Tornadoes in North Carolina, July 17, 2004
- Wildfire in California, July 17 to 20, 2004
- Flash Flood and Damaging Wind in Louisiana, July 17, 2004
- Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, July 17, 2004
- Flash Flood in New York, July 17, 2004
- Damaging Wind in Texas, July 17, 2004
- Damaging Wind in Tennessee, July 17, 2004
- Flash Flood in North Carolina, July 17, 2004
- Damaging Wind in Tennessee, July 17, 2004
More
Every storm in Colorado in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, July 2004
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: 5416827.