Public Information Statement
Issued by NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Issued by NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
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974 NOUS45 KBOU 150859 PNSBOU COZ030>051-152300- Public Information Statement National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO 259 AM MDT SUN SEP 15 2024 ...Today in metro Denver weather history... 10-17 In 2018...the high temperature equalled or exceeded 90 degrees for 8 consecutive days; breaking the previous streak of 7 consecutive days in the month of September. 10-18 In 2018...the high temperature equalled or exceeded 90 degrees for 9 consecutive days; marking the first time such an occurrence has taken place in the month of September. It also brought September of 2018 into a 4-way tie for most 90 degree + days in the month. Previous years included 2017...2005 and 1895. During the streak...4 record high temperatures were either tied or broken...and one record high minumum temperatures was broken. 11-16 In 2013...a deep southerly flow over Colorado...ahead of a nearly stationary low pressure system over the Great Basin... pumped copious amounts of monsoonal moisture into the area. In addition...a weak stationary front stretched along the Front Range Foothills and Palmer Divide. This resulted in a prolonged period of moderate to heavy rain across the Front Range Foothills...Palmer Divide...Urban Corridor. By the 14th...storm totals ranged from 6 to 18 inches...highest in the foothills of Boulder County. The headwaters then moved down the South Platte River and caused widespread flooding with record flood stages at several locations as it made its way downstream. The record high flood stages resulted in widespread flooding along the South Platte River Basin. The flood damage encompassed 4500 square miles of the Front Range...left 7 dead...forced thousands to evacuate...and destroyed thousands of homes and farms. Record amounts of rainfall generated flash floods that tore up roads and lines of communication... leaving many stranded. Nearly 19000 homes were damaged... and over 1500 destroyed. Colorado Department of Transportation estimated at least 30 state highway bridges were destroyed and an additional 20 seriously damaged. Preliminary assessments of the state`s infrastructure showed damage of $40 million to roads and $112 million to bridges. Repair costs for state and and county roads ran into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Miles of freight and passenger rail lines were washed out or submerged... including a section servicing Amtrak`s iconic California Zephyr. The town of Lyons was isolated by the flooding of St. Vrain Creek...and several earth dams along the Front Range burst or were over-topped. Floodwaters swept through Estes Park; damaged hundreds of buildings and destroyed large sections of U.S. 34 from Loveland and U.S. 36 from Lyons to Boulder. U.S. 34 suffered the most damage... with 85 percent of its roadway and bridges destroyed. In Weld County...about nearly two thousand gas wells were damaged and had to be closed off as the floodwaters inundated entire communities. Sewage treatment plants and other utilities were knocked out in a number of towns. Governor Hickenlooper declared a disaster emergency on September 13th...in 11 counties across northeast Colorado including: Adams...Arapahoe...Broomfield...Boulder...Denver... Jefferson...Larimer...Logan...Morgan...Washington and Weld. By the 15th...federal emergency declarations covered those counties as well as Clear Creek County. Projected losses from the flooding statewide was nearly two billion dollars in property damage...according to Eqecat...a catastrophe modeling firm. The damage was most severe in and around Lyons and Boulder. More than 11 thousand people were evacuated...reportedly the largest since Hurricane Katrina. President Obama declared a state of emergency for Boulder and Larimer Counties. An additional 10 counties were added on the 16th and included: Adams... Arapahoe...Broomfield...Clear Creek...Denver...Jefferson... Morgan...Logan...Washington and Weld Counties. The president also declared a major disaster specifically for Boulder County. There were six fatalities directly attributed to flash flooding. Two 19-yr old teenagers died on the 11th...after they were swept away by floodwaters after abandoning their car on Lindon Drive in Boulder. In Jamestown...a 72-yr old man was killed when the building he was in collapsed. An 80-yr old Lyons resident died in the early morning hours of the 12th...when his truck was swept into the St. Vrain River near his home. Later on the 12th...a 79-yr old Larimer County resident was killed when she was swept away while trying to climb to safety from her home in Cedar Point. A 61-yr old Cedar Point resident died when her home was swept down the Big Thompson River by the floodwaters. An 80-yr old Idaho Springs resident drowned in Clear Creek when the embankment he was standing on collapsed. In Boulder...some of the monthly records broken included: one-day all-time record: 9.08 inches which shattered the previous wettest day of 4.8 inches set on July 31... 1919; one-month record of 18.16 inches...which broke the previous all-time monthly record of 9.59 inches set in May of 1995; wettest September on record which broke the previous record of 5.5 inches set in September of 1940; one-year record of 34.15 inches broke the previous wettest year of 29.93 inches set in 1995. At Denver International Airport...the total precipitation for the month of September was 5.61 inches...which was 4.65 inches above the normal of 0.96 inches. This is the most precipitation ever recorded in Denver for the month of September. Daily precipitation records included 1.11 inches on the 12th and 2.01 inches on the 14th. 15 In 1921...rainfall of 0.02 inch was the only measurable precipitation of the month. In 1976...the public reported a funnel cloud and golf ball size hail east of Parker. 15-17 In 2000...unusually hot weather for so late in the season occurred when temperatures climbed into the 90`s setting daily record maximum temperatures on each of the 3 days. The high temperature was 92 degrees on the 15th and 95 degrees on both the 16th and 17th. 15-19 In 1906...rain on 5 consecutive days totaled 1.61 inches. A thunderstorm occurred on the 17th. High temperatures ranged from 48 degrees on the 16th to 65 degrees on the 15th. Low temperatures were in the lower to mid 40`s. $$