Between September 12-15, 2013, Colorado's front range experienced a weather event that caused some of the worst flooding in the region's history. More than 17 inches of rain fell in Boulder over the course of the storm; the average annual precipitation in the city is roughly 20 inches.
Communities along the front range, in the mountains to the west, and on the plains to the east are busy responding to the event. Numerous mountain roads were washed away by the floodwaters, leaving residents stranded; airlift operations are still underway to bring people to safety. Twelve helicopters from the National Guard and Red Cross are using Boulder's Municipal Airport (located very near the Unidata Program Center office) as a base for the largest aerial rescue effort in the U.S. since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
UCAR staffer Bob Henson posted a nice article on the the AtmosNews blog: Inside the Colorado deluge. For more local flood news, check out the Boulder Daily Camera's flood coverage.
While the Unidata Program Center offices were minimally affected by the flooding, some staff members are dealing with the aftermath of the storm. Responses to user support queries may be slower than normal this week. Remarkably, there was no disruption to any of the dataflows to the community, even though UCAR facilities were closed for two days during the height of the storm.
Many thanks to those of you in the Unidata community who have sent notes asking after the welfare of the UPC staff. We appreciate your concern and support!
What Happened?
While Colorado is no stranger to flash flooding along mountain waterways, flood events are usually limited to a single watershed, and almost always happen during periods of rapid Spring snowmelt. Unidata's Jeff Weber explains how this unusual Fall storm came about:
“The moisture was brought to Colorado via an upper level low over Utah and Nevada, tapping into the remnants of Tropical Storm Ingrid and Tropical Depression #8. The moisture was then squeezed by a Rex block with the high over Texas,” says Weber. “This brought deep tropical moisture into play with complex mountainous terrain with rain totals between 15 and 20 inches from Colorado Springs to Fort Collins with Boulder being the bullseye for this moisture plume raking over the Rockies.”
IDV users take note: University of Miami Professor and Boulder native Brian Mapes has created an IDV bundle depicting the storm from September 10-16. You can retrieve the bundle from Professor Mapes' RAMADDA server: Boulder flood bundle.
