553 first-hand accounts of flood events in Colorado, ranked by impact. Each is a NOAA-written narrative of the moment.
The Carl Smith Dam at Patterson Reservoir #3 failed, sending a wall of water down Leroux Creek. The earthen dam break was 200 feet wide and 45 feet high. The wall of water was up to 10 feet high and averaged 100 feet in width.
Read the full account →Flash flooding was reported in many areas of Montezuma County where 3 to 5 inches of rain fell within a 12 hour period between midnight and noon. Flood waters were still flowing high in the early evening hours.
Read the full account →Flash flooding brought debris and mud down toward Stove Prairie from the High Park Fire burn area. The debris was washed off of Mt. Ethel and spilled down toward the Stove Prairie area, which is 10 miles west of Bellvue.
Read the full account →Heavy rain produced localized flash flooding southwest of Sterling and near Merino. Numerous reports of low-land flooding occurred in and around Merino. Water flooded, basements, businesses and a post office with around one inch of standing water.
Read the full account →Severe thunderstorms broke late in the evening, striking areas hardest from Denver southward. Locations impacted by the storms included but were not limited to: Aurora, Castle Rock, Centennial, Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Parker, Surrey Ridge.
Read the full account →Severe thunderstorms broke late in the evening, striking areas hardest from Denver southward. Locations impacted by the storms included but were not limited to: Aurora, Castle Rock, Centennial, Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Parker, Surrey Ridge.
Read the full account →An upper level weather disturbance and its associated cold front moved across northern Colorado during the late morning and afternoon; spawning several tornadoes, damaging wind, large hail, very heavy rainfall. Nine tornadoes touched down across northeast Colorado.
Read the full account →A severe thunderstorm produced intense straight line winds in Larimer County. Over one thousand trees were blown down at the Bellair Campground near Red Feather Lakes. The tree damage stretched across a 36-acre area.
Read the full account →Thunderstorms produced heavy rain which breached an old irrigation ditch and also resulted in raging rivers of water and boulders up to two feet in diameter to flow down stream beds.
Read the full account →A very warm and moist pacific storm system allowed for a deep east to southeasterly upslope flow to develop along portions of the Front Range Foothills. Heavy snow occurred in the foothills above 7000 feet with a steady period of moderate rainfall below this elevation.
Read the full account →Thunderstorms produced very heavy rain in west central Chaffee County. The hardest hit area was in and around Alpine. Mud flows from the south slope of Mt. Princeton were up to six feet deep...causing damage and destruction of roads and houses.
Read the full account →Heavy rain produced flash flooding in and near the Front Range Foothills. In central Larimer County, heavy rain from nearly stationary thunderstorms caused flash flooding in the High Park burn scar.
Read the full account →Severe thunderstorms developed over parts of Adams, Denver and Elbert Counties. Two tornadoes touched down briefly in Elbert County. In addition, the storms produced hail from quarter to golfball size, and wind gusts to near 70 mph. The wind downed a tree in Adams County.
Read the full account →A strong thunderstorm over the town of New Castle produced very heavy rain and small hail. This storm was part of a line of storms that were moving slowly south through west-central Colorado. Up to one inch of rain fell in less than 20 minutes.
Read the full account →This flash flood impacted Placerville and nearby locations. A wall of water 4 to 5 feet deep crashed into the Surprise Avenue area of Placerville, where several houses were damaged.
Read the full account →Thunderstorms...which produced up to 6.4 inches of rain in a few hours generated flash flooding across parts of Pueblo and Custer Counties. Highway 78...which is the primary access route to the mountain community of Beulah...washed out.
Read the full account →A slow moving low pressure system allowed for heavy rain to fall over parts of Northeastern Colorado, affecting primarily Sedgwick and Phillips Counties. Severe thunderstorms produce large hail and very heavy rain.
Read the full account →A slow moving low pressure system allowed for heavy rain to fall over parts of Northeastern Colorado, affecting primarily Sedgwick and Phillips Counties. Severe thunderstorms produce large hail and very heavy rain.
Read the full account →A slow moving low pressure system allowed for heavy rain to fall over parts of Northeastern Colorado, affecting primarily Sedgwick and Phillips Counties. Severe thunderstorms produce large hail and very heavy rain.
Read the full account →Nine farm workers working the fields at Grant Family Farms in Wellington were injured by a lightning strike; all were transported to local hospitals. Two were critically injured.
Read the full account →Nine farm workers working the fields at Grant Family Farms in Wellington were injured by a lightning strike; all were transported to local hospitals. Two were critically injured.
Read the full account →Widespread very heavy rain occurred across portions of Teller and El Paso Counties, and eastern Pueblo County. Woodland Park (Teller County) reported around three inches of rain in around an hour. This caused a wave of flood waters to move down Fountain Creek.
Read the full account →Widespread very heavy rain occurred across portions of Teller and El Paso Counties, and eastern Pueblo County. Woodland Park (Teller County) reported around three inches of rain in around an hour. This caused a wave of flood waters to move down Fountain Creek.
Read the full account →A plume of anomalously rich monsoonal moisture pushed into eastern Utah and western Colorado in the days prior to these debris flows. On the day of the flows, precipitable water values were in excess of 1.00 inch across the region.
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