Tornado in Colorado, June 30, 2004

Name: Tornado in Colorado, June 30, 2004
Start: 2004-06-30T13:38
End: 2004-06-30T13:40
Location: Colorado

June 30, 2004 · NWS GJT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The short-lived tornado was over a forested area. No damage was found.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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

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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.

The short-lived tornado was over a forested area. No damage was found. Path length and width were estimated.

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 Jun 30, 1:00 PM MST, 38 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 30, 1:00 PM MST, 38 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
200 PM MDT WED JUN 30 2004

.SHORT TERM (TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT)...THE LAST UPPER-LEVEL
FORCING REMAINS OVER NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO BUT WILL SHIFT NORTHEAST
THROUGH THE EVENING. ELSEWHERE POPS WILL END WITH SUNSET...WHILE
SCATTERED SHOWERS REMAIN OVER THE PARK/GORE/ELK UNTIL MIDNIGHT. THE
CRAIG-STEAMBOAT-EAGLE LOW-LYING AREAS COULD SEE SOME PATCHY FOG
TOWARDS MORNING UNDER PARTIAL CLEARING SKIES. DRYING CONTINUES FROM
SW TO NE ON THURSDAY FOR THE BEGINNING OF A RETURN TO MORE SEASONAL
TEMPERATURES. OROGRAPHIC AFTERNOON STORMS WILL BE MOST NUMEROUS OVER
THE NORTHERN ZONES THURSDAY WHERE PRECIP WATER REMAINS ABOVE 0.5
INCH. STORMS WILL AGAIN QUICKLY DIE WITH SUNSET. WINDS WILL REMAIN
TERRAIN DRIVEN.

.LONG TERM (FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY)...LONG WAVE PATTERN CONTINUED
TO FEATURE WEST COAST TROF AND DIRTY RIDGE OVER THE CWFA DURING THE
LATTER PART OF THIS WEEK AND INTO THE 4TH OF JULY WEEKEND. GFS AND EC
IN PRETTY GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THIS SCENARIO. CONSEQUENTLY...CONTINUED
WITH SLIGHT CHANCE OF AFTERNOON/EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
THROUGH THE PERIOD...MAINLY OVER HIGHER TERRAIN. TEMPERATURES SHOULD
HOLD NEAR NORMAL FOR BOTH HIGHS AND LOWS. EARLY NEXT WEEK GFS HINTS
AT WEAK WAVE BRUSHING THE NORTH BRINGING DRIER AIR ACROSS THE
SOUTHERN TWO-THIRDS OF THE FORECAST AREA. EC SIMILAR...BUT NOT AS
DEFINITIVE WITH SHORTWAVE TROF PASSAGE. THEREFORE...LEFT GOING
FORECAST ALONE WHICH CALLED FOR PRIMARILY DRY CONDITIONS THROUGH THE
MID PART OF NEXT WEEK WITH TEMPS AT OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL.

&&

.GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
.CO...NONE.
.UT...NONE.

JOE/NL

Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 30, 4:46 AM MST, 8 hours 52 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO
546 AM MDT WED JUN 30 2004

COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-011245-
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-
546 AM MDT WED JUN 30 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE REMAINDER OF WESTERN
COLORADO AND EASTERN UTAH.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT...

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING OVER
THE MOUNTAINS OF WESTERN COLORADO AND EASTERN UTAH...WITH ISOLATED
THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER THE VALLEYS. SOME OF THESE
STORMS WILL PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...

THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS EACH DAY MAINLY OVER
THE MOUNTAINS DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION SHOULD NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT.

CJC

The radar

The Grand Junction radar (KGJX), 138 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:37 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Eagle

When: June 30, 1:38 PM MST to 1:40 PM MST
Where: Eagle County, 2 mi E of Eagle
Rating: F0
Path length: 0.1 mi
Path width: 15 yd
Reported by: OTHER FEDERAL AGENCY
Coordinates: 39.650, -106.800

What these are

Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Colorado in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Colorado, 2004 Warnings in Colorado, June 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: 5420648.