Colorado, 2006

Debris Flow in Colorado, January 1, 2006

January 1, 2006 · NWS GJT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A rock slide that included ten large boulders occurred in Glenwood Canyon early on New Year's Day. The slide fell on Interstate 70, damaging westbound and eastbound lanes.

Where it happened

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$70,000
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.

A rock slide that included ten large boulders occurred in Glenwood Canyon early on New Year's Day. The slide fell on Interstate 70, damaging westbound and eastbound lanes. One boulder tore a 3-by-4-foot hole through the outer lane of the suspended section of eastbound I-70. The average weight of the boulders was estimated at three tons. This slide was thought to be caused by a freeze and thaw cycle that had been ongoing for over a week.

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 Jan 1, 3:45 AM MST, 5 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 1, 3:45 AM MST, 5 hours 30 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 1, 5:45 AM MST, 3 hours 30 minutes before
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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 debris flow. Local standard time, as filed.

Debris Flow, Central Colorado River Basin

When
January 1, 9:15 AM MST to 9:20 AM MST
Where
Central Colorado River Basin forecast zone
Property damage
$70,000
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
39.481, -107.172 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Debris Flow
A fast-moving slurry of mud, rock and debris, usually on a slope soaked by heavy rain or stripped by a fire.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Colorado in 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, January 2006

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5482322.