Thunderstorm Wind — Mesa, Colorado

2024-06-20 · near (gjt)walker Arpt, Mesa, Colorado

Event narrative

A severe thunderstorm that moved through mainly Grand Junction and suburbs of such, including the Redlands and Orchard Mesa, produced strong to severe wind gusts. The peak gust recorded at the KGJT ASOS at Grand Junction Regional Airport was 63 mph at 4:53PM MDT. Some reports of wind damage were recieved, including that of downed and broken trees, reported by a local television station.

Wider weather episode

Very deep tropical moisture associated with the remnants of Tropical Storm Alberto combined with monsoonal moisture was forced through eastern Utah and western Colorado due to a large high pressure ridge over the Central U.S. and a deep low pressure trough over the Great Basin. This deep moisture combined with strong instability and shear to produce widespread severe weather across eastern Utah and western Colorado with thunderstorms producing severe wind gusts, large hail and heavy rain which resulted in flash flooding and debris flows. One particular storm even produced a landspout tornado in southeast Utah. Frequent lightning also resulted in lightning damage in Montrose, Colorado.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (39.1200, -108.5200)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1197828. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.