Issue Date: Sunday, July 17th, 2022
Issue Time: 10:00 AM MDT

Summary:

The Urban Corridor received the bulk of the precipitation yesterday, although the northeast and central south also saw healthy amounts of rainfall. Denver received up to 0.41” from a short period of afternoon showers, while Fort Collins only received about 0.22”. Most of the surrounding areas also received less than 0.05”. South of Denver, Colorado Springs received up to 0.7” and Pueblo 1.04”. The Front Range received higher totals however, including 1.02” in Evergreen, 0.68” near Divide, and 0.57” near Estes Park.

To the east, two severe thunderstorm warnings were issued for the central Plains. Northwest of those in Wild Horse, CO was a report of thunderstorm wind damage from 0.5” hail to siding on a house/furniture blown over. A dust storm was also reported nearby, which apparently limited visibility to ¼ mile. Via the report, it last about 10 minutes on US 287 from east of Wild Horse to west of Kit Carson. Some significant rainfall totals in the area include:

-0.67” in Holly
-0.82” in Karval
-0.92” in Liberty
-0.73” in Agate

Lastly, in the south, Trinidad was issued a severe thunderstorm warning and precipitation totaled 0.91” via CoCoRaHS. In Colorado City to the north, 1.12” was reported, along with several reports of ponding in fields and yards from the heavy rainfall. To the west, Pagosa Springs saw up to 0.22”, but most other areas received 0-0.05”. The North and Central Mountains saw some storms as well, but rainfall generally was under 0.2″. Athough there were flood advisories issued for the East Troublesome and Grizzly Creek burn scars, no flooding was reported.

If you observe flooding in your area, remember to use the “Report a Flood” page to make any flood reports when you can safely do so. For precipitation estimates in our area, check out the map below.

Click Here For Map Overview

Issue Date: Saturday, July 16th, 2022
Issue Time: 10:45 AM MDT

Summary:

Although central Colorado and the west had quite the eventful day yesterday, it was a bit more calm in the east. The northern half of the plains saw rainfall up to 0.37”, while the Southern Plains stayed quite dry overall. The Central Plains was issued a severe thunderstorm warning yesterday evening, associated with pea sized hail and 55 mph winds- no other damage or severe weather was reported.

To the other side of the state, the Southwest Slope saw heavier rainfall, with street flooding reported in Ouray and some reports of small (0.25”) hail. Placerville and Gunnison had some of the highest precipitation in the area, 1” and 0.81” respectively. The heavy rainfall also caused a debris flow, reported in Sawpit, CO, between MM 77 and 80 on Highway 145. From the Grand Junction WFO:

“Mudslide reported between mile markers 77 and 80 near the Sawpit area on HWY 145. Additionally, had falling rocks and debris. Rocks were the size of cars and water was 2 to 3 feet deep in some spots.”

North in Grand Junction, the heavier precipitation continued. Multiple flood advisories were issued south of and in the city. Many reports of flooding came from within the city, and seemed to be centrally located downtown- reports mentioned several inches of water in streets and backyards, as well as a report of 2 feet of water downtown! Close by to the south in Redlands, water was reported flowing in normally dry ravines. The rain lasted about an hour, according to CoCoRaHS reports, and in total the area saw up to 1.3”. Although this heavy rainfall was near the Pine Gulch burn scar, there doesn’t seem to be any flooding or debris flows reported in that area.

The North and Central mountains got quite a lot of rainfall as well: high winds were reported with the storms in Rifle and Craig, as well as a few more scattered flood advisories. Glenwood Springs had some showers in the late afternoon/evening, saw up to 0.27”. In Yampa, one CoCoRaHS observation noted: “This was the hardest & longest storm we’ve seen in 40+ years at this location. From 6:30 pm – 8:00 we have 1.75″, and then additional .43″ overnight. Amazing!”

While the Urban Corridor hardly saw more than trace- 0.1”, the Front Range had varying totals of 0.1″- 0.93″, including over an inch on the Cameron Peak burn scar. That area was issued several overlapping flood advisories yesterday afternoon and into the night. There were several reports of flash flooding northwest of Estes Park, one report noting “trailers swept into creek”. Another indicated severe flooding at Buckhorn Mountain off Stove Prairie Road. CR 143 was “impassable” at Miller Fork due to water on road, as well. These areas have historically had flooding during past heavy rainfall events; however, the video below gives some insight into just how severe this flooding event was.

Unreal!!!

Flooding in Drake off of streamside Dr.

West of Loveland in Larimer County. #COwx #Flooding

🎥 Jill Smith pic.twitter.com/N8dSszLMc4

— Meteorologist Kody Wilson (@kodythewxguy) July 16, 2022

According to the Larimer County Office of Emergency Management, debris removal and damage assessments will begin today.

No rivers or streams in the state are above flood stage, but the increased precipitation in the mountains has definitely increased discharge farther down the river. The flooding mentioned above occurred west of Loveland Loveland- looking at the hydrograph of the Big Thompson River in Loveland, CO below, we can see the rapid increase from approximately 150 cfs to 800 cfs (via USGS National Water Dashboard.)

If you observe flooding in your area, remember to use the “Report a Flood” page to make any flood reports when you can safely do so. For precipitation estimates in our area, check out the map below.

Click Here For Map Overview

Issue Date: Friday, July 15th, 2022
Issue Time: 11:00 AM MDT

Summary:

The North American Monsoon continues to bring moisture to western and central Colorado, and by early afternoon daytime heating induced storms in the high elevations of the San Juan, Southeast, Central, and Northern Mountains, as well as along the Front Range. General eastward progression then pushed storms onto the Urban Corridor, Palmer Ridge, and Eastern Plains by evening, increasing in coverage as well.
While the severe threat was limited yesterday, some storms were still able to produce localized heavy rainfall, gusty outflow winds, and small hail. A report of 0.25 inch hail was made in Vail and a CoCoRaHS observer left the following remark:

“After waiting all afternoon for the forecasted rain, the very intense storm arrived about 5:10 pm. The storm was fast moving but wild with very heavy rain, hail, and wind. the rain came down in sheets and the noise from the rain on the roof was so loud we couldn’t hear the news on the TV. ”

Their station saw 0.28 inches of precipitation yesterday.  Further east, A 58-mph thunderstorm wind gust was reported at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, which saw 0.32 inches of rain as well. Some other notable rainfall totals around the state include:

• 0.74 in Woodland Park (CoCoRaHS)
• 0.69 in Gould (CoCoRaHS)
• 0.63 in Bonanza (CoCoRaHS)
• 0.61 at Colorado River near Cameo (USGS)
• 0.59 at  Silver Jack Reservoir near Cimarron (USGS)
• 0.56 in Pagosa Springs and Westcliffe (CoCoRaHS)

A flood advisory was issued for a small portion of Grand County, including a part of the East Troublesome burn scar. USGS gauges on the East Troublesome scar and near Grand Lake saw only Trace-0.02 inches yesterday, with similar observations from CoCoRaHS and available on the MesoWest network. No flooding was reported. However, much of the high elevations have remained under Flood Watches for the past several days, especially the vulnerable burn scars. 72-hour QPE from MetStorm Live (bottom of today’s post) indicates areas of up to 2 inches of rain over the northern portions of the East Troublesome scar, and widespread 0.5 inches of rainfall on Cameron Peak.

This morning CDOT reported a rock slide on US50 between County Road 157 and CO69. It is unclear if this is flood related, but Cotopaxi (a bit south) saw 0.18 inches of rain yesterday. Based on the report from Luke Victor below, there were little transportation impacts.

Sounds like the majority of the debris was able to fit in 1 pickup truck according to State Patrol… This doesn’t seem like it will be a huge issue.

— Luke Victor 🌧📈 (@LukeVictorWx) July 15, 2022

It was hot and dry for Eastern Colorado, with highs in the upper 90s and low 100s in the Urban Corridor, Eastern Plains, and Raton Ridge. Slightly lower temperatures, mid-90s, were seen the Palmer Ridge. A bit of relief from the high temperatures came for Southeast Plains following an outflow boundary from yesterday’s storms, as seen in the radar imagery and temperatures tables from PUB below. A hay bale-induced grass fire was ignited yesterday afternoon north of Joes (Yuma County). Thankfully no additional damage has been reported with that fire.

The outflow boundary went through La Junta around 650 pm with gusty winds to 40 mph and a 10F drop in temperature! Kiowa, Bent and Prowers counties…you are next! #cowx pic.twitter.com/1bQJGlVhJs

— NWS Pueblo (@NWSPueblo) July 15, 2022

Reminder, if you observe flooding in your area you can use use the “Report a Flood” page to submit flood reports when you can safely do so. For precipitation estimates in our area, check out the map below.

Click Here For Map Overview

Issue Date: Thursday, July 14th, 2022
Issue Time: 10:45 AM MDT

Summary:

The warming trend continued Wednesday across the state as the upper-level ridge built westward. Conditions were drier but with a good amount of moisture remaining in place, scattered showers and storms developed in the high terrain by late morning from diurnal heating. Shear was much less than Tuesday which limited the severe weather threat, with only 0.25” hail reported near Stoner.

Precipitation was confined mainly northwest of a line from Durango to Denver, with the heaviest rain falling across the Northern Mountains. Amounts generally ranged from 0.25-0.50”, although locally heavier amounts up to and exceeding 1” were reported at some locations; Steamboat Springs saw 1.08”, while a station near Grand Junction measured 0.74”. Dry air across the lower elevations and Plains limited any precipitation to virga.

A Flash Flood Warning and Flood Advisory were issued for portions of the East Troublesome burn scar, but no flooding was reported.

If you observe flooding in your area, remember to use the “Report a Flood” page to make any flood reports when you can safely do so. For precipitation estimates in our area, check out the map below.

Click Here For Map Overview