Colorado, 2022

Excessive Heat in Colorado, June 1, 2022

June 1, 2022 · NWS GJT · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A ridge of high pressure dominated the Four Corners region. This resulted in scorching heat and dry weather across much of western Colorado.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

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The toll

Deaths
1
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS GJT wrote it up.

A ridge of high pressure dominated the Four Corners region. This resulted in scorching heat and dry weather across much of western Colorado. Conditions were exceptionally dry which translated to minimum humidities in the single digits to low teens in the lower valleys.

What forecasters said that day

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 1, 4:52 PM MST, 53 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 1, 4:52 PM MST, 53 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 1, 2:25 AM MST, 15 hours 20 minutes before
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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 excessive heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Excessive Heat, Grand Valley

When
June 1, 5:45 PM MST
Where
Grand Valley forecast zone
Deaths
1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
Law Enforcement
Coordinates
39.308, -108.185 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High temperatures of 100 to 105 degrees were reported by various automated weather stations. The Grand Junction Regional Airport set a new record high temperature for the day of 102 degrees. A 52-year old man who was mountain biking the end of the Palisade Plunge trail outside of Palisade ran out of water while biking and died as a result of heat-related illness.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

EventDateAgeSexWhereKind
Excessive Heat, Grand Valley2022-06-1152MaleOutside/Open AreasDirect

What these are

Excessive Heat
Heat at or above the local excessive heat warning criteria, or heat that caused deaths.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Colorado in 2022Every state in 2022This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, June 2022

Sources

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1033460.