Crazy Weather in Denver

We went from a two week heat wave of temps in the mid to upper 90's to highs in the low 60's and heavy rain. Some areas in Denver Metro have seen yearly totals in 2-3 days and creeks and rivers are over their banks. No issues at my house thankfully but a lot of folks are flooded and struggling and hopefully will get some relief soon.

Had to pick up at 430 this morning from a regular and was soaked to the bone after 15 minutes...was hoping to put the lawn mower away for the year but no way that's happening now.

Yeah Well I had to walk in this crap all day. Nothing like taking a shower for 6 hours fully clothed.

Originally Posted by twmart

KZ I hope you are not over by Aurora or any of the other flooded areas.

No I live in Arvada...plenty of rain but no flooding...knock on wood.

Originally Posted by KzScrapper

No I live in Arvada...plenty of rain but no flooding...knock on wood.

All the water from arvada went to commerce city. Arvada is the high point of the area isnt it?

Originally Posted by twmart

KZ I hope you are not over by Aurora or any of the other flooded areas.

Oh geez I just saw pics of that area

Originally Posted by PartTimeScrapper

All the water from arvada went to commerce city. Arvada is the high point of the area isnt it?

Pretty much but Ralston Creek is a few blocks from us, luckily we are uphill from it and they just upgraded the flood plain when they put in a new park.

Stay dry KZ and everyone in that area. I would deal with snow over heavy rain like that any day. Be safe everyone.

Downstream areas hit hard yesterday and will continue today as the water moves on to the eastern plains. More rain expected later today.

Here's a map showing all the chaos and closures going on. You can unclick the "Road closures by County Box" since you can't see the cities on it very well. I live in Arvada and Parttimescrapper is just East of Morrison or 470 and 285. I have a customer that I pick up from three times a week at Hwy 52 and I-25, which is just East of the mess. Fortunately I was able to get there last Thursday and Saturday mostly because of the Interstate but it was closed for a while from north Denver to Wyoming.

2013 Colorado Floods | Google Crisis Map

Here's a link to the local news station that my brother in law is a photog for...he's been a busy dude this past week.

9NEWS.com | Denver | Colorado's online news leader | Breaking news, headlines, weather, sports, business and more.

Here in Arvada we got over 6" of rain but that pales in comparison to the totals the Boulder area, 20 miles to the northwest of us, got over the past week. Arvada has some washed out roads and the high school our kids went to is closed because of those roads. I'm embarrassed to say we made fun a few years ago of a huge project a couple of miles from us to improve the 100 year flood plain...I'm sure it was a big help and glad they did it now.

The numbers are staggering...well over 1000 homes destroyed and 1000's damaged, many folks unaccounted for but thankfully the number is dropping steadily as they check in and the roads and bridges gone or damaged is unbelievable. The farmers fields just as the harvest was about to come in are underwater as the water makes it's way onto the plains.

FEMA is "monitoring the situation and identifying needs". Well thank you for that...Do you guys even own a pair of boots??

Rain should be done for the week and we will start to dry out. Many of the hard hit areas are tourist destinations but the ski resorts are fine and by next spring hopefully they will get back to normal as the new season begins.

My son'e near Greeley. Said he saw a barn float by in the Platte yesterday.
Here's some numbers I found..Here are some current flows of some rivers and creeks out of control.

Bear Creek, Average flow this time of year. 30 CFS, At this time 1040 CFS

Big Thompson , Average flow this time of year. 50 CFS, At this time 4600 CFS

Cache La Poudre, Average flow this time of year 11 CFS, At this time 6000 CFS

These flow levels have never accrued even during spring run off.

17,494 homes damaged, 1,502 homes destroyed, 11,700 people evacuated, and 1,253 people unaccounted for, says Official about the Colorado Flooding.
The death toll is now up to 4, with hundreds missing in Colorado on Saturday as more rain falls in parts of Colorado that have already seen up to 15 inches. Another round of storms, dropping up to 3 inches of rain sell today, as rescues by the national gaurd continued.

Officials stated that more than 170 people were unaccounted for in the Boulder area, and about 350 missing in Larimer County due to the flooding.

About 15 miles North of Boulder, the National Guard began evacuating about 2,500 residents of Lyons at daybreak Friday, a town that had been completely blocked off by the massive flooding, leaving no way out.
The colorado flooding has affected a 4,500-square-mile area, about the size of Connecticut.

Officials are telling residents of the affected area that if they do not evacuate, to expect to be trapped for weeks on end without running water, electricity, or supplies

just WOW!