Got home from my trip last nite--drove in rain the whole way from Buena Vista to Denver, and on-and-off rain before that, came from Crawford. Nasty, tense drive! Think now I'm probably lucky I came home yesterday rather than today! Hadn't had internet for three days and didn't realize you guys were getting dumped on down here on the Front Range! (Have been in rain/heavy rain situations all over southern Colorado and Utah ever since I left on August 24!) Didn't get home till 8:40 last nite so it was dark out, so I went out with my flashlite to see how much rain was in the rain gauge ( a real one, Greg!), but couldn't find it. Some neighbor apparently pulled it out while I was gone and didn't stick it back in! Got a new one out and wondered if I'd be able to stick it into the "hard" soil! NO PROBLEM! When I stuck it in the ground was very obviously already saturated! (Really wonder how much I had already gotten!) Between about midnite last nite and about 8 this morning I got almost three inches! It's over 3 1/4 inches now--hasn't stopped raining since about 1:00 this morning. Was awake most of the nite watching local news which kept reporting all nite! That's when I started to realize how serious it was!

Got up about 7:30 this morning, and, assuming everything would be fine!, decided to go down in the basement to "check" things! WHOA! Like you, Greg, I have wet carpet all along the one front wall--where the rain overflows the gutters! Took an hour and a half to move everything away from that wall--it's just storage and it was packed FULL of "stuff!" Will need to throw some of it out--nothing "serious!" Have FIVE fans running down there now hoping to dry it out some--but it's supposed to keep raining most of the day and all nite again, so, presumably, water is gonna keep coming in! Have been looking for a break in the rain and am gonna go out and put a heavy weight tarp down where the water overflows the gutter, hoping I can divert it somewhat, but so far the rain just won't quit! (Not really complaining.... Well, Ok, I AM complaining! Somebody's Rain Dance worked too well! Why all at once???)

In the backyard all the "ditch edging" along my tomato/eggplant garden is full up to the top with water! And there's a walkway into my yard, about 4' wide, that goes past the side of my deck and has perennials--and bark mulch--on both sides of the path, and that's completely flooded--standing water!--and most of the bark mulch has washed down to the gate that goes out to the front of the house. Luckily on that end of the house the area under the deck (which NEVER gets water so is totally dry soil) is a buffer between the water and the foundation, so no water problems in that area of the basement! Have lived here for over 9 years now and NEVER had even a hint of a water problem in the basement!

Guess I shouldn't be complaining about wet carpet when I look at all the truly catastrophic situations going on all along the Front Range! At least I'm not near any creeks/streams/rivers or lakes/drainage ponds that are gonna flood onto my property!

Looks like the rain is letting up a little bit right now, but just refreshed radar and it looks the same as it has all day so far! Might need to go out and just get WET to try to do my Tarp Rain Mitigation Work!

Hope all of you are safe and with no serous property damage,
Skybird

After reading both of your posts, I thought I'd better check our basement. Pfew!! We are lucky to not have any water coming in. I've had the tv on all day while working from home so I could catch the reports coming in - wow, amazing how many areas have been so badly affected by this storm :(

Wish you all well!

Marj

I linked below to the web site of water flow rates around the front range -

At the time of posting, 5:10 pm, ...BOULDER CREEK AT NORTH 75TH STREET NEAR BOULDER is running at 5190 cubic feet per second.

The Big Thompson at Loveland is 4280.

um, YIKES!!!

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Maybe it rained more last night than I guessed. Denver Post is saying 11 inches in Aurora which pretty much matches up with the water that is in my weeding bucket. Must have had some light hail last night too with the way some of the garden plants are looking.

Thinking of everyone and hoping none of you end up with awful damage. A lifetime in this state and I'll never wrap my head around all the things Ma Nature can throw at us. Be careful and stay safe.

Hope that your damage is minimal. My brother in Boulder said they hadn't worried too much as they sit up above the street a bit but went to lower level of house and the sump pump couldn't keep up and carpet wet and bottom of drywall. He said they moved as much stuff as they could upstairs but it was still raining.

Just emailed a couple friends north of me and mentioned to one of them that I have now lived thru 3 "historic" Denver floods! The one in '65 when Cherry Creek Dam--new at the time--almost broke, all but one of the bridges over the Platte on the west side of Denver washed out, and big sections of I-25 and the train tracks between DEN and COS washed out; the Big Thompson flood of '76 that killed well over a hundred people; and now THIS! This one, they're saying, is a "all time event!"

One of the reporters on TV this afternoon said that the National Weather Service is calling it a "Biblical Event!!!" Well, I guess that says something!!!

I'm a little over 3 1/2" now, since about midnite last nite. It stopped here around 5:00, but it looks like there's more moving in right now. I did my Tarp Mitigation work in the rain this afternoon, and "unplugged" one of the gutter downspouts, which was causing a big problem, and I have my fingers crossed that no more water comes into the basement. My carpet is wet further in than it was this morning, but I think that's from water that was still soaking down in from pre-mitigation! Will have all 5 fans running full blast over night and hope for the best in the morning!

They say if this were snow.............

Think DRY,
Skybird

The flood of '65 ... we had been in the Springs for appointments and we barely made it to Peyton. That storm cell parked over the Palmer Divide and it flooded both sides of the Divide. Bridges washed out. Peyton, at that time, was little more than a gas station, a few houses, and the small school. Over a hundred people slept in the gym and the people of Peyton rallied and put on a dinner and breakfast feast. We stayed with the local postmaster and his family, since Dad was a colleague. We got out the next day walking five miles past three washed out bridges (planks over the caverns) to friends and family that came to get us.

We got soaked Thursday night, but nothing like the Front Range. South of here, where they are experiencing tragic dust bowl conditions, one CoCoRaHS observer reported 7.92". They needed it, but not that much!

I hope every one is safe down there.
The NEWS has been posting pictures of the flooding
that you have in Colorado.
Caroline

3 more inches of rain this afternoon and maybe not done yet plus damaging hail :-( Probably not enough hail to damage roofs but the garden isn't happy.

Big news on the Weather Channel!

That's about all I watch real early in the morning when there's a good possibility that I'll fall asleep in the Lazy Boy. They usually show the time at the bottom of the screen and I can keep track of it thru half-closed eyes.

The flooding is a real eye-opener, however! Record afternoon highs here, the last few days. Different story, entirely.

Be safe!

Steve

Anyone heard how CatLady is? I know she lives in Aurora, near 70 and Chambers. Aurora has really taken a hit with these storms.

Marj

Has anyone heard from Bonnie up in Kersey? We're between houses right now and I have limited access to my email on my phone, and don't have their number. .. Going they're okay, and everyone else, too.

I emailed her yesterday but haven't heard back, Mayberry. Just remembering the lay of the land there I'm thinking they may have had to load up the horses and go. I hope we hear from her soon.

Didn't go to work today as there is still water coming in the crawl space. Finally figured out its not trickling in from outside, it's coming up from the saturated soil under the house. The sump pump and I have gotten to be really good friends over the last 5 days. Enough already!

It's so nice to see the sun again!

Barb

Wow, that doesn't sound like much fun, Barb. Hang in there, and let me know if you need me to come over with a bucket! As mentioned, I'm "betwixt homes" at the moment, although the current temporary and future "permanent" residence are, so far, high and dry. Hey, at least it's not leaking INTO the basement--that would cause some serious problems with the foundation. Where exactly are you again?

Hi all,

I was looking for a map of road closures in Boulder and ran into this google "crisis map" which shows the entire Metro area and seems to be pretty comprehensive. Just figured I'd post it here in case any of you need to get somewhere and need to know what's closed.

Skybird

Here is a link that might be useful: Denver Metro area road closures

Haven't been on for a while but wanted to see how everyone was doing after the big deluge. Anyone heard from I think Gloria? I seem to recall she lives in Longmont. I hadn't realized how bad it was until I was coming home from work last Thursday evening from Denver and saw the St. Vrain looking like a mini Niagara falls! running barely under I-25. Fortunately for us, we're on higher ground and they evacuated folks in low lying areas to the Mead HS and a church on Rt.66. The St. Vrain is still running high and heaps of streets East of us are still closed. I hope everyone is safe and not severely impacted and hope to see some of you at the swap which i see hasn't yet happened so I am hoping this time to make it since I always seem to miss the Fall swap and I am certain I have some plants to share. Here's a bit of a laugh and smile in all the gloom, the fella and I found this large toad that must have gotten disoriented during the deluge and fell into our window well we think....we haven't a clue how long it's been there but from the looks of it, he's doing pretty good feasting on all the crickets down there. We took him over about a half mile to a "swampy" area and hopefully he'd be happier there!

Oh how neat! I believe that big guy is actually a fine looking bullfrog. So glad you could save him.