Durango – A slow-moving storm hovering over the Four Corners late Wednesday and Thursday soaked, buried and even closed roads with torrential rain, giant hail, slushy snow and hillside debris.
Snowplows were called in to remove about 7 inches of marble-sized hail off roads at Mesa Verde National Park on Thursday morning, the National Weather Service reported.
Crews also plowed deep accumulations of hail off a county road just north of Durango after 1 a.m. Thursday.
Hours later, drenching rains reburied a 200-foot section of the same road with roughly 18 inches of dirt and debris washed from hillsides.
The low-pressure system, the remnants of former Pacific Tropical Storm Norma, packed enough moisture to drop 2.32 inches of rain at the Cortez airport and perhaps up to 3 inches northwest of Cortez in the Lewis-Arriola area between midnight and 3 p.m. Thursday, forecaster Jim Pringle said.
“Precipitation amounts were incredible for Montezuma County,” Pringle said.
The average yearly rainfall for Cortez is 13 inches.
The previous record precipitation for Sept. 29 was 0.74 inches in 1937, he said.
Heavy rain and standing water closed the intersection of U.S. 491 and Colorado 184, Montezuma County Sheriff Gerald Wallace said.
Eight Montezuma County roads were closed for hours, he said. Two were washed out and remained impassable late Thursday.
A home near Lewis was submerged under 4 feet of water, with the water rising 2 feet deep inside the house, Wallace said.
Authorities also evacuated at least one home in McElmo Canyon, and that canyon road was among those closed.
Staff writer Electa Draper can be reached at 970-385-0917 or edraper@denverpost.com.
