Lightning struck an oil battery.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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 an oil battery.
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 26, 2:00 PM MST, 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 300 PM MDT FRI JUN 26 2009 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY... BROAD BAND OF STRATIFORM PRECIPITATION MOVING THROUGH THE AREA THIS MORNING AND EARLY AFTERNOON IS GENERALLY PRODUCING 0.2 TO 0.5 INCHES OF RAIN. BUT SOME ENHANCED AREAS RECEIVED UP TO AN INCH. THIS AREA OF SHOWERS IS ACCELERATING EAST AND WILL BE OUT OF THE CWA LATER THIS AFTERNOON. FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THIS EVENING. A 60KT JET STREAK IS PASSING THIS EARLY EVENING WITH UNCERTAIN UPPER LEVEL LIFT. STILL THE MID-LEVEL DRYING SEEN IN FLAGSTAFFS SOUNDING WILL ADVECT OVER THE REGION INCREASING INSTABILITY DRAMATICALLY. CELLS IN THE WESTERN FORECAST AREA ARE STARTING TO POP AT 1PM. VEERING AND SPEED SHEAR PROFILE ADDS TO THE POSSIBILITY OF SOME ISOLATED STRONG STORMS...ESPECIALLY NORTH OF I-70...WITH STRONG OUTFLOW WINDS... HEAVY RAIN...AND SMALL HAIL. THE STRONGER UPDRAFTS COULD PRODUCE 1 INCH HAIL...AGAIN FAVORING THE NORTH. CONVECTION IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN TO DIMINISH WITH SUNSET. SOME CLEARING LATER TONIGHT WILL ALLOW FOR COOLER OVERNIGHT TEMPS. SATURDAY WILL BE NOTICEABLY DRIER AND WARMER...WITH MAINLY ISOLATED TO SCATTERED CONVECTION EXPECTED. BULK OF SATURDAY STORMS WILL BE CONFINED TO THE HIGHER TERRAIN NEAR THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE...AND OVER THE SAN JUANS AND ADJACENT SOUTHERN FOOTHILLS. SATURDAY NIGHT-SUNDAY: DRIER AIR CONTINUES TO WORK IN FROM THE WEST. HOWEVER A WEAK UPSLOPE EVENT ALONG THE FRONT RANGE IS STILL PROGGED TO SPILL OVER THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE. SO HAVE MAINTAINED SCT MAINLY MTN POPS THERE. OTHERWISE THE DRYING AND WARMING TREND KICKS IN. .LONG TERM...SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY... HIGH PRESSURE WILL HAVE SETTLED OVER THE DESERT SOUTHWEST BY SUNDAY NIGHT. AT FIRST THE AIRMASS WILL BE FAIRLY DRY BUT THEN BEGIN TO MOISTEN BY TUESDAY AS THE CIRCULATION AROUND THE HIGH CELL STARTS TO BRING SUB-TROPICAL MOISTURE NORTHWARD INTO OUR REGION. HOWEVER THE MEDIUM RANGE MDLS BEGIN TO DIVERGE BY WEDNESDAY WITH THE EC SHOWING A MUCH MORE SUBSTANTIAL MOISTURE TAP...WHILE THE GFS IS DRIER. THIS TREND IS THEN CARRIED THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THIS LONG RANGE PERIOD. FOR NOW WILL SPLIT THE DIFFERENCE AND GO WITH INCREASING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. WILL CONTINUE WITH THE WARMING TREND THROUGH TUESDAY...WITH HIGHEST MAX TEMPS PEAKING TUESDAY AFTERNOON...BUT EXPECT INCREASED CLOUD COVER TO DECREASE MAX TEMPS AND INCREASE MIN TEMPS THEREAFTER. && .AVIATION... NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL OCCUR ACROSS WESTERN COLORADO AND EASTERN UTAH THROUGH THIS EVENING AS A DEEP PLUME OF SUB-TROPICAL MOISTURE WORKS NORTH. MVFR CIGS AND VSBY WILL BE COMMON WITH SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...ALONG WITH GUSTY WINDS TO 50 MPH...HEAVY RAIN AND SMALL HAIL. CONDITIONS IMPROVE AFTER 06Z SATURDAY...ALTHOUGH LOCAL IFR CONDS WILL BE POSSIBLE NEAR KEGE... KGUC AND KDRO...IN FOG AND LOW CLOUDS AS A RESULT OF RECENT RAINFALL. AFTER 16Z SATURDAY...VFR CONDITIONS CAN BE EXPECTED...WITH ONLY ISOLATED MOUNTAIN THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... .CO...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR ALL ZONES NOON THROUGH MIDNIGHT MDT. .UT...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR ALL ZONES NOON THROUGH MIDNIGHT MDT. SHORT TERM...JOE LONG TERM....MC AVIATION.....JDC
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 545 AM MDT FRI JUN 26 2009 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-271145- 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- 545 AM MDT FRI JUN 26 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL OCCUR ACROSS EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO THROUGH THIS EVENING. HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS TO 50 MPH...AND SMALL HAIL UP TO ONE HALF INCH IN DIAMETER WILL OCCUR WITH THE STRONGER STORMS. THE HEAVY RAIN WILL CAUSE SUDDEN RISES OF NORMALLY DRY CREEKS AND STREAMS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY... SCATTERED AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE COMMON OVER THE REGION THROUGH NEXT THURSDAY. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY WINDS... SMALL HAIL AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NECESSARY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. REPORTS OF HEAVY RAIN...HAIL...WIND GUSTS OVER 50 MPH AND FLOODING SHOULD BE RELAYED AS SOON AS SAFELY POSSIBLE. JDC
The Grand Junction radar (KGJX), 163 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:46 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck an oil battery, heavily damaging two large oil tanks and other equipment.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Utah in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Utah, June 2009
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: 180853.