Big Thompson Flood - 35 years later...

On this evening in 1976, 8 inches of rain fell above the mouth of the Big Thompson Canyon just above Drake, Colorado claiming 146 lives (including 6 who have never been found).  Since then, flood warning systems were created to ensure such a disaster would never occur again.

Let this event remind us how powerful Mother Nature truly is, and she is not a force to be reckoned with.  We need to respect the power of nature, and always make ourselves aware of her activities.  Today, we have signage along all of Colorado's canyon roadways that say: "In case of flood, climb to safety."  Sadly, on that day in the Big Thompson Canyon, the canyon walls were too steep for any human to climb without special gear, and the rains came way too fast for anyone to take proper measures.  A lucky few did make it to safety though.

This blog entry is in tribute to those who lost their lives on this fateful day 35 years ago, and I pray they know their deaths have not gone in vain.  Meteorologists and emergency managers have learned alot from this event, and this event is still the focus of new journal articles to this day.

Here is a link to Larimer County's website in reference to this event: http://www.larimerco.com/5visitors/51004big_thompson.htm

It's Monsoon Season!

For the first day in a week, I was able to go outdoors into an environment that contained less than 50% relative humidity.  Over the past week, 3.14" of rain has fell at my location, and luckily, I live in a location that has received some of the lesser amounts of rain.  Other areas nearby have received as much as 2" per day!  Needless to say, this has led to saturated soils and the issuance of Flood Watches on a daily basis.

What has caused all of this ruckus in our semi-arid climate?  Blame it on the Monsoon!  The Monsoon is a yearly climate pattern in which moisture comes north from the Baja California or the Gulf of Mexico and causes slow-moving storms to form over the foothills which then go out over the Eastern Plains.  Due to their slow forward movement, flooding rains are not uncommon. 

These storms usually come at the height of our metro area's rush hour, which causes traffic jams and numerous accidents, due to the flooded out areas under overpasses and in low lying areas with poor or clogged drainage systems.  Also, Cherry Creek usually get filled due to the storm drains feeding into it. Parking lots get turned into temporary rivers and we usually get some serious cloud-ground lightning strikes around here from these storms. 

So, while we may be bothered by the daily rains, we need the monsoonal moisture, as it usually provides for as much as 1/3 of our annual precipitation.  Now, what is one beautiful occurrence that we get with these daily storms?  A gorgeous rainbow with the colorful backlit skies from the sunset... 

Until next time, enjoy the moisture, stay dry and get out there and enjoy the colorful show that Mother Nature gives us.