Deep subtropical moisture in a light southerly flow aloft continued to produce some thunderstorms with heavy rainfall in western Colorado.
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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.
Deep subtropical moisture in a light southerly flow aloft continued to produce some thunderstorms with heavy rainfall in western Colorado.
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 30, 12:45 PM MST, 3 hours 25 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 145 PM MDT SAT JUL 30 2011 .SHORT TERM DISCUSSION...TODAY THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT... THE STORY REMAINS THE SAME. ALL MODELS AGREE THAT SUB-TROPICAL HIGH WILL FORCE MOISTURE NORTHWARD TODAY THROUGH TUESDAY INCREASING CHANCES FOR SHOWERS AND STORMS. CURRENT IR SATELLITE AND RADAR MOSAIC PLAY THIS OUT WITH CONVECTION FIRING OVER SAN JUANS MOVING IN A SOUTHEAST TO NORTHWEST DIRECTION. THESE CELLS WILL HAVE A LITTLE MORE MOISTURE TO PLAY WITH SO EXPECT SOME BRIEF HEAVY RAIN WITH PASSAGE OF THESE STORMS. ORIENTATION OF THE HIGH PRESSURE HAS CONSISTENTLY PUSHED MOST ACTIVE WX OVER CENTRAL AND WRN UTAH BUT THIS CHANGES SUNDAY AND MONDAY AS LOWERING HGTS INDICATE SLIGHT WEAKENING IN RIDGE OVR CWA. THIS WILL ALLOW MORE MOISTURE TO ENTER AREA AND PROVIDE MUCH MORE WIDESPREAD RAIN AND STORM ACTIVITY. ALSO...MOS GUIDANCE AND LAYERED RH SHOW SOME MID-HIGH LEVEL CLOUDINESS MOVING IN THE AFTN AND PERSISTING THRU SUNDAY AT LEAST. THIS CLOUDINESS MAY KEEP CONVECTION DOWN. ATTM...A TEMP DROP OF ONLY 2 TO 4 DEGREES IS EXPECTED WHICH IS CERTAINLY ABOVE THE CONVECTIVE TEMPERATURE. HOWEVER...IF TEMPS DO NOT REACH CONVECTIVE TEMPERATURE...HEAVIER SHOWERS WILL BE RESULT WITH LESS T-STORMS. REGARDLESS...WILL KEEP AN EYE OUT AND ADJUST FORECAST AS NECESSARY. IN A NUTSHELL...STORMS AND SHOWERS GENERALLY SOUTH OF I-70 TODAY AND OVER SAN JUANS. MORE OF THE SAME TOMORROW BUT ACROSS THE ENTIRE FORECAST AREA AND AGAIN MONDAY. BY TUESDAY...HGT RISES INDICATE HIGH BUILDING IN PUSHING MOISTURE WESTWARD BACK OVER UTAH. SOME RESIDUAL SHOWERS AND STORMS POSSIBLE OVER HIGHER TERRAIN BUT WILL BE MORE TYPICAL OROGRAPHIC INDUCED STORMS. .LONG TERM...WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT... WEDNESDAY WILL SEE A START TO A DRYING AND WARMING PATTERN. EXPECT AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS AS MOISTURE LINGERS OVER THE REGION. A TROUGH OVER THE PAC NORTHWEST LATE WEDNESDAY BECOMES INCORPORATED INTO THE NORTHERN PART OF THE RIDGE AND MOVES OVER THE NORTHERN ROCKIES. THE RIDGE CENTER PUSHES SLIGHTLY WEST TOWARD THE TX AND OK PANHANDLES. THE SHOWERS WILL DECREASE IN COVERAGE AND INTENSITY THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK. TEMPERATURES WILL INCREASE SLIGHTLY. && .AVIATION... PREDOMINANTLY VFR CONDITIONS TODAY WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS AND STORMS EXPECTED OVER CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS...AND AREAS SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 70. BRIEF HEAVY RAIN IS POSSIBLE UNDER THE STORMS AS WELL AS SOME STRONG GUSTY WINDS. MAIN TAF SITES OF CONCERN TODAY WILL BE KEGE AND KASE UNDER BRIEF MVFR CONDITIONS AND STORMS. EXPECT CONVECTION TO END QUICKLY AFTER SUNSET. FOR TOMORROW...ALL TAF SITES HAVE POSSIBILITY OF SEEING A STORM OR SHOWER DROPPING CIG/VIS TO MVFR. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CO...NONE. UT...NONE. && SHORT TERM...TGR LONG TERM....AS AVIATION.....TGR
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 600 AM MDT SAT JUL 30 2011 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-311200- 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- 600 AM MDT SAT JUL 30 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 70 THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...MOST NUMEROUS OVER THE SOUTHWEST COLORADO MOUNTAINS. ISOLATED STORMS WILL OCCUR NORTH OF INTERSTATE 70. BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...LIGHTNING AND WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH ARE THE MAIN HAZARDS FROM THE STRONGEST STORMS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY... MOISTURE DEEPENS OVER THE REGION SUNDAY AND MONDAY. LOCALLY HEAVY SHOWERS ARE POSSIBLE THROUGH TUESDAY RAISING THE POTENTIAL FOR FLASH FLOODING. SHOWER ACTIVITY WILL DECREASE ON THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED TODAY OR TONIGHT. PF/JOE
The Grand Junction radar (KGJX), 132 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:09 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flash floods deposited 6 to 12 inches of mud and debris onto Highway 145.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, July 2011
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: 331564.