Widely scattered thunderstorms moved across Montezuma County during the afternoon of July 20th and sparked short-lived wildfires in Mesa Verde National Park and other locations.
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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.
Widely scattered thunderstorms moved across Montezuma County during the afternoon of July 20th and sparked short-lived wildfires in Mesa Verde National Park and other locations.
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 20, 10:03 AM MST, 3 hours 27 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 1103 AM MDT SAT JUL 20 2013 .SHORT TERM...(TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT) ISSUED AT 432 AM MDT SAT JUL 20 2013 AN UPPER HIGH WILL PREVAIL OVER THE REGION THROUGH THE PERIOD WITH THE HIGH CENTER TO THE WEST AND RELATIVELY LIGHT N TO NW FLOW ALOFT OVER OUR CWA. A DRIER AIRMASS SHOULD LIMIT THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY TODAY TO MAINLY THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS...AND THEN EVEN FEWER THUNDERSTORMS ON SUNDAY. WITH LOWER PRECIPITABLE WATER...ANY THUNDERSTORMS WHICH DEVELOP WILL HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY LESS RAINFALL AND WILL BE MORE LIKELY TO PRODUCE STRONG OUTFLOW WINDS THAN HAS BEEN THE CASE THROUGH MOST OF THIS PAST WEEK. THIS DRIER PATTERN WITH FEWER CLOUDS WILL ALLOW MAX TEMPERATURES TO BE ON A WARMING TREND THROUGH THE WEEKEND. .LONG TERM...(MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY) ISSUED AT 432 AM MDT SAT JUL 20 2013 MONDAY SHOULD BE EVEN DRIER THAN SUNDAY...WITH PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES EXPECTED TO DROP DOWN TO LESS THAN HALF AN INCH ACROSS MOST OF OUR CWA. ANY THUNDERSTORMS WHICH DEVELOP ON MONDAY WILL BE CONFINED TO THE MOUNTAINS MAINLY IN SW COLORADO...AND THEY SHOULD BE HIGH BASED WITH MINIMAL RAINFALL. MAX TEMPERATURES ON MONDAY SHOULD BE EVEN SLIGHTLY WARMER THAN SUNDAY. DRY CONDITIONS HOLD THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT ACCORDING TO MODELS. PATTERN SHIFT INDICATED FOR WEDNESDAY AS LANDFALLING LOW OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC FORCES THE HIGH TO THE EAST. GFS HAS FALLEN INTO LINE WITH THE ECMWF WHICH HAD PROGGED THE NEXT MONSOONAL SURGE TO BEGIN WEDNESDAY. BOTH MODELS CARRIED THE PACIFIC TROUGH INLAND AND WEAKEN IT AS IT ENCOUNTERS THE RIDGE ON THURSDAY. QPF FIELDS SUGGEST ENOUGH ENERGY FOR INCREASED THUNDERSTORM CHANCES SO NUDGED POPS UPWARD. LIGHT ZONAL FLOW SETS UP IN THE WAKE OF THE TROUGH BRINGING SOME DRYING. HOWEVER RESIDUAL MOISTURE SUFFICIENT FOR ANOTHER ROUND OF SCATTERED DIURNAL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE TO RUN ABOVE NORMAL TUESDAY AHEAD OF A COOLING TREND DURING THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z SUNDAY AFTERNOON) ISSUED AT 1101 AM MDT SAT JUL 20 2013 AFTER ABOUT 20Z EXPECT SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WTO DEVELOP OVER THE MOUNTAINS SOUTH OF THE I-70 CORRIDOR WITH ISOLATED STORMS OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN TO THE NORTH. STORMS WILL BE MOST NUMEROUS OVER THE SOUTHWESTERN SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS RESULTING IN FREQUENT MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS IN MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN. KCEZ...KDRO... AND KPSO FACE A 35 TO 50 PERCENT CHANCE OF EXPERIENCING BRIEF MVFR VSBY IN HEAVY RAIN AFTER 20Z WHILE OTHER AIRPORTS ACROSS THE REGION ARE UNLIKELY TO BE DIRECTLY IMPACTED BY STORMS. NIGHTTIME COOLING COMBINED WITH A DRIER NORTHERLY FLOW WILL BRING AN END TO SHOWERS AND EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS WITH SUBSEQUENT CLEARING RESULTING IN REGION WIDE VFR CONDITIONS THROUGH 12Z SUNDAY MORNING. SIMILAR CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT IS EXPECTED SUNDAY AFTERNOON. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CO...NONE. UT...NONE. && SHORT TERM...JRP LONG TERM...NL/JRP AVIATION...CC
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 545 AM MDT SAT JUL 20 2013 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-211145- LOWER YAMPA RIVER BASIN-CENTRAL YAMPA RIVER BASIN- ROAN AND TAVAPUTS PLATEAUS-ELKHEAD AND PARK MOUNTAINS- UPPER YAMPA RIVER BASIN-GRAND VALLEY-DEBEQUE TO SILT CORRIDOR- CENTRAL COLORADO RIVER BASIN-GRAND AND BATTLEMENT MESAS- GORE AND ELK MOUNTAINS/CENTRAL MOUNTAIN VALLEYS- CENTRAL GUNNISON AND UNCOMPAHGRE RIVER BASIN- WEST ELK AND SAWATCH MOUNTAINS-FLATTOPS- UPPER GUNNISON RIVER VALLEY-UNCOMPAHGRE PLATEAU AND DALLAS DIVIDE- NORTHWEST SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS-SOUTHWEST SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS- PARADOX VALLEY/LOWER DOLORES RIVER- FOUR CORNERS/UPPER DOLORES RIVER-ANIMAS RIVER BASIN- SAN JUAN RIVER BASIN-SOUTHEAST UTAH-EASTERN UINTA MOUNTAINS- EASTERN UINTA BASIN-TAVAPUTS PLATEAU-ARCHES/GRAND FLAT- LA SAL AND ABAJO MOUNTAINS-CANYONLANDS/NATURAL BRIDGES- 545 AM MDT SAT JUL 20 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT EXPECT SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND HIGHER ELEVATIONS SOUTH OF THE I-70 CORRIDOR THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE MORE ISOLATED OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN TO THE NORTH. THESE STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF GENERATING BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL OVER THE SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS AND LOWER ELEVATIONS TO THE SOUTH BRINGING THE THREAT OF LOCALIZED FLOODING. IN ADDITION...TODAY/S STORMS WILL PRODUCE SMALL HAIL ...GUSTY OUTFLOW WINDS TO 35 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DECREASE SUNDAY INTO TUESDAY AS DRIER AIR FILTERS ACROSS THE AREA FROM THE NORTH. MONSOON MOISTURE RETURNS TO THE SOUTH WEDNESDAY BRINGING AN UPTICK IN AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY TO HIGH COUNTRY...MAINLY SOUTH OF THE I-70 CORRIDOR. THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. NL
The Grand Junction radar (KGJX), 208 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:29 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A lightning strike in Mesa Verde National Park caused a wildfire that was quickly contained. Other fires were also started by lightning in Montezuma County, including a wildfire on Sleeping Ute Mountain.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, July 2013
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: 511891.