Debris Flow — La Plata, Colorado

2024-07-21 · near Trimble, La Plata, Colorado

Event narrative

Heavy rainfall rates from a strong thunderstorm resulted in mudslides along Highway 550 to the north of Durango, reducing traffic to one lane.

Wider weather episode

With high pressure remaining to our west, drier air was pushing in across northeast Utah and northwest Colorado with deep subtropical moisture remaining pooled across southeast Utah and southwest Colorado. This allowed for a few stronger storms with localized heavy rainfall rates. One particular storm resulted in debris flows across La Plata County to the north of Durango.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.3591, -107.8671)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1204569. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.