Lightning struck a family in Pitkin County.
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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.
Lightning struck a family in Pitkin County.
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 6, 2:19 AM MST, 9 hours 41 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 319 AM MDT SUN JUL 6 2008 .SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT... A WEAK TROUGH AND EMBEDDED WEAK VORT MAXES WILL SLOWLY EXIT THE FORECAST AREA TO THE EAST TODAY. THE BANK OF MID CLOUDS OVER WESTERN CO AND ISOLATED SHOWERS WILL MOVE AND ERODE TO THE EAST AS WELL. THOUGH SURFACE DEW POINTS OVER UT REMAIN IN THE LOWER 40S THE MID LEVELS DRY OUT QUITE A BIT. THE 00Z SLC SOUNDING HAD A PW VALUE OF .47 ...3/10S OF AN INCH LESS THAN THE GJT PW. THIS IS THE AIRMASS THAT WILL ADVECT OVER THE FORECAST AREA TODAY. THE DRIER CONDITIONS ARE EVIDENT IN THE CLEAR SKIES OVER UT...SO HAVE LOWERED CLOUD COVER AND POPS FROM THE WESTERN 2/3RDS OF THE FORECAST AREA TODAY AND TONIGHT. WITH MORE SUN EXPECTED HAVE INCREASED MAX TEMPS A DEGREE OR TWO AS WELL. MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT...ANOTHER WEAK TROUGH WILL MOVE OVER THE AREA...BUT THIS ONE LOOKS LESS IMPRESSIVE THAN THE DISTURBANCE THAT BROUGHT ALL THE CLOUD TO THE FORECAST AREA ON SATURDAY. RENO SOUNDING SHOWED LITTLE MOISTURE BENEATH THIS DISTURBANCE SO HAVE PLAYED DOWN EXPECTED WEATHER FOR MONDAY. KEPT SLIGHTLY HIGHER POPS IN THE MOST MTS...WITHIN THE 20-30 PERCENT RANGE...BUT LEFT POPS OVER LOWER ELEVATIONS AT ISOLD OR LESS. MADE LITTLE CHANGE IN MAX AND MIN TEMPS. .LONG TERM...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY... MODEL CONSISTENCY CONTINUES TO BE VERY GOOD THROUGH THE NEXT WEEKEND. THE PERIOD BEGINS WITH A HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE OVER THE WESTERN CONUS EXTENDING OFF THE COAST. A SECOND HIGH CENTER IS LOCATED TO OUR SOUTHEAST...BUT THE WESTERN ONE IS THE STRONGER OF THE TWO. THE WESTERN RIDGE GETS FLATTENED AS THE EASTERN RIDGE AMPLIFIES. INITIALLY THE LIGHT NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL ACT TO SUPPRESS CONVECTION...BUT STILL CHOOSE TO BROADBRUSH A SLIGHT CHANCE OVER THE MOUNTAINS ON TUE. THEN AS THE PRESSURE INCREASES TO OUR EAST EXPECT SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE TO MOVE NORTHWARD TOWARDS THE AREA. THIS WILL BRING A BETTER CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. MODELS INDICATE A WEAK SURGE FOR WED...SO HAVE INCREASED POPS A LITTLE MAINLY SOUTH. TEMPS WILL REMAIN ON THE WARM SIDE...JUST A LITTLE ABOVE NORMAL...AND BE LARGELY DEPENDENT ON CLOUDS AND PCPN. && .AVIATION...ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL REDEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...WITH THE HIGHEST AREAL COVERAGE OVER THE COLORADO MOUNTAINS. GUSTY WINDS AND BRIEF HEAVY RAIN WILL ACCOMPANY THE STORMS. EXPECT LOCAL MVFR VIS AND CIGS NEAR SOME STORMS...MAINLY OVER THE MOUNTAINS. STORMS WILL DECREASE AFTER 04Z THIS EVENING. && .HYDROLOGY... MOUNTAIN SNOWPACK CONTINUES TO DWINDLE AND RUNOFF WILL GRADUALLY DECREASE RESULTING IN A SLOW LOWERING OF RIVER AND STREAM FLOWS THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK. ALTHOUGH WATER LEVELS ARE DECREASING... FLOWS REMAIN COLD...SWIFT...AND TURBULENT. CAUTION IS URGED WHEN AROUND RIVERS AND STREAMS. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... .CO...NONE. .UT...NONE. SHORT TERM.....CJC LONG TERM......EH AVIATION.......CJC HYDROLOGY......TGJT
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 320 AM MDT SUN JUL 6 2008 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-071000- 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- 320 AM MDT SUN JUL 6 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP OVER THE HIGH TERRAIN THIS AFTERNOON...WITH STORMS DRIFTING OVER THE LOWER VALLEYS LATE IN THE DAY. MOST OF THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL DIMINISH WITHIN A FEW HOURS AFTER SUNSET. RIVERS AND STREAMS WILL CONTINUE TO RUN HIGH RESULTING IN SWIFT AND DANGEROUS CURRENTS. FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION ON RIVER LEVELS IN THE REGION...PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WEATHER.GOV/GJT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY RIVERS AND STREAMS WILL CONTINUE TO RUN HIGH RESULTING IN SWIFT AND DANGEROUS CURRENTS. THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING THUNDERSTORMS EACH DAY...MAINLY OVER THE HIGH TERRAIN. GUSTY WINDS...SMALL HAIL... AND CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THE STORMS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED TODAY OR TONIGHT. CJC/EH
The Grand Junction radar (KGJX), 122 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:00 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A family of five from Idaho were all struck by lightning while hiking on the American Lake Trail, about 9.5 miles south of Aspen. A 15-year-old girl was revived after being administered CPR. A 17-year-old boy was burned on the soles of his feet. The other three family members did not receive any significant injuries.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, July 2008
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: 100415.