Monsoonal moisture continued to get pumped into the region and produced some slow moving thunderstorms which caused flash flooding in western Colorado.
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.
Monsoonal moisture continued to get pumped into the region and produced some slow moving thunderstorms which caused flash flooding 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 Sep 3, 1:26 PM MST, 14 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 226 PM MDT TUE SEP 3 2013 .SHORT TERM...(TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT) ISSUED AT 226 PM MDT TUE SEP 3 2013 AN UPPER LEVEL HIGH WAS CENTERED OVER SE CO/NE NM TODAY WITH S-SW FLOW KEEPING MONSOONAL MOISTURE FLOWING NORTH INTO THE GREAT BASIN. A WEAK SHORTWAVE OVER SE UT THIS MORNING SEEMED TO BE FADING ON SATELLITE WATER VAPOR AS IT MOVES N-NE. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN FROM THE BOOK CLIFFS AND FLATTOPS SOUTHWARD THIS AFTERNOON. STORM MOTION WAS SLOWLY TO THE NORTHEAST AND WITH PRECIPITABLE WATER AROUND 1 INCH THIS MORNING ON THE GJT SOUNDING...LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN REMAINS POSSIBLE. THE GRAND JCT SOUNDING ALSO SHOWED A MORE STABLE LAYER BEGINNING AT ABOUT 500 MB WHICH MAY BE RESTRAINING EARLY AFTERNOON CONVECTION SOMEWHAT. MOST STORMS WILL DIE AFTER SUNSET WITH THE LOSS OF HEATING...THOUGH AN ISOLATED ONE OR TWO WILL REMAIN POSSIBLE OVERNIGHT FROM REMNANT BOUNDARIES. LITTLE CHANGE IS EXPECTED WEDNESDAY WITH THE UPPER LEVEL HIGH CENTERED OVER COLORADO. DRIER AIR CIRCULATING WESTWARD ACROSS NM/AZ WILL DISRUPT THE MONSOONAL TAP...BUT MOISTURE POOLED UNDERNEATH THE HIGH WILL CONTINUE THE PATTERN OF AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING THUNDER- STORMS FOR OUR AREA ON WEDNESDAY. THE PRIMARY DRIVER OF THE CONVECTION WILL BE DAYTIME HEATING...BUT CANNOT RULE OUT A SMALL DISTURBANCE. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN WARMER THAN NORMAL AND FAVORING PERSISTENCE. .LONG TERM...(THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY) ISSUED AT 226 PM MDT TUE SEP 3 2013 FORECAST MODELS REMAIN IN GOOD AGREEMENT ADDING FORECAST CONFIDENCE. THE GFS/EC/CANADIAN ALL SHOW A SHIFT OF THE LONG- RESIDING SUBTROPICAL HIGH EASTWARD AS THE EASTERN PACIFIC LOW WORKS THROUGH THE NORTHERN ROCKIES. THE CHANGE IN PATTERN TO A DRIER AIR MASS IN WESTERLY FLOW NEXT WEEK THOUGH IS FROUGHT WITH SOME UNCERTAINTY ABOUT IMPORTANT DETAILS. SO THROUGH FRIDAY...SW FLOW ALOFT CONTINUES WITH MARGINAL MOISTURE (PW VALUES IN THE 0.9 TO 0.6 INCH RANGE) IN PLACE. DAILY SCATTERED STORMS AND SHOWERS WILL FAVOR THE HIGHER TERRAIN AND SOUTH. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN ABOVE NORMAL WITH LIGHT TERRAIN DRIVEN...THEN OUTFLOW DRIVEN WINDS. SATURDAY-MONDAY...THE PACIFIC LOW WORKS EAST OF THE CASCADES THEN THROUGH THE NORTHERN ROCKIES LATE SUNDAY. THE GFS IS FASTER WITH THIS PROGRESSION AND DRAGS A COOL FRONT ACROSS THE NORTH LATE SUNDAY. THE MODELS CONTINUE TO PRODUCE NO SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN QPF WITH THIS EVENT. BY MONDAY PW VALUES ACROSS THE NORTH ARE DOWN TO 0.5 INCH OR LESS WHILE MARGINAL MOISTURE REMAINS OVER THE SOUTH. STAYED CLOSE TO GUIDANCE TEMPS AND POPS FOR THESE PERIODS. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z WEDNESDAY EVENING) ISSUED AT 226 PM MDT TUE SEP 3 2013 ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS MAINLY SOUTH OF A KVEL-KSBS LINE AND GENERALLY FOCUSED OVER THE HIGHER WILL DIMINISH AFTER SUNSET THIS EVENING. A SLOW NORTHEAST STORM MOTION EXPECTED. BRIEF MVFR OR POSSIBLY IFR VISIBILITY IS POSSIBLE IN HEAVY RAIN FROM THE STRONGER STORMS. ISOLATED -SHRA/-TSRA WILL REMAIN POSSIBLE OVERNIGHT. LITTLE CHANGE IS EXPECTED FOR WEDNESDAY WITH ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING AFTER 17Z WED. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CO...NONE. UT...NONE. && SHORT TERM...JAD LONG TERM...JOE AVIATION...JAD
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 620 AM MDT TUE SEP 3 2013 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-041230- 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- 620 AM MDT TUE SEP 3 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ONCE AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...PRIMARILY OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN. BRIEF HEAVY RAIN WILL BE POSSIBLE WHICH MAY RESULT IN LOCALIZED RUNOFF PROBLEMS...ESPECIALLY IN STEEP TERRAIN AND OVER BURN SCARS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY EXPECT SCATTERED AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THROUGHOUT THE PERIOD FAVORING HIGHER TERRAIN. A PERSISTENT INFLUX OF MONSOON MOISTURE POSES THE THREAT OF LOCALIZED RUNOFF PROBLEMS EACH DAY INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. NL
The Grand Junction radar (KGJX), 86 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:40 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Oil field workers reported a wall of water that washed out the road in several places in the Whiskey Creek area. Several people were stranded.
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, September 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: 517434.