SPM 07-27-2018: Heavy Rain Caused More Flash Flooding Issues

Issue Date: Friday, July 27th, 2018
Issue Time: 9:30 AM MDT

Summary:

Moisture remained plentiful east of the Continental Divide yesterday, providing the fuel for another period of scattered showers/thunderstorms producing periods of heavy rainfall; the stronger storms also produced hail (0.25-1.0” in diameter) and wind gusts up to 50-80 mph. With the heavy rainfall came more flash flooding issues, with the following observations being reported to the National Weather Service:

4 miles WSW of Falcon (El Paso County): 10 inches of water over the road at Stetson Hills and Chanhassen.
4 miles W of Falcon (El Paso County): Water up to headlights of cars at Dublin and Mustang Rim. Stalled cars on the road.
4 miles NNE of Peterson AFB (El Paso County): Roadway closed due to flooding at Carefree and Marksheffel.
1 mile ENE of Wray (Yuma County): Street flooding in Wray.
9 miles SSW of Wetmore (Custer County): Highway 165 in Custer County closed due to flooding.

West of the Divide, moisture ticked down as compared to previous days. As a a result, thunderstorm coverage was more isolated-to-widely scattered, with the majority of activity confined, and adjacent, to higher terrain south of I-70. Showers/thunderstorms were garden-variety, producing mainly light-to-moderate rainfall. For a look at precipitation estimates in your area, please see our State Precipitation Map below.

Click Here For Map Overview

The map below shows radar-estimated, rainfall gage-adjusted Quantitative Precipitation Estimates (QPE) across Colorado. The map is updated daily during the operational season (May 1 – Sep 30) by 11AM. The following six layers are currently available: 24-hour, 48-hour and 72-hour total precipitation, as well as maximum 1-hour, 2-hour and 6-hour precipitation over the past 24 hour period (to estimate where flash flooding may have occurred). The accumulation ending time is 6AM of the date shown in the bottom right corner. Also shown optionally are fire burn areas since 2012. The home button in the top left corner resets the map to the original zoom.
Note: We have identified a possible underestimation in QPE over the southwest part of the state. We are working to on this issue, and will provide an update as soon as possible.