Despite warnings from the county Sheriff’s Office that Boulder Creek was dangerous, Ken Stickney was kayaking the river Sunday evening.
But even the experienced kayaker knew to avoid Boulder Canyon and caught the creek farther downstream.
“I wasn’t in the mood to take a chance today,” the 56-year-old Boulder resident said.
All across the Front Range, the weekend’s wet weather made for uncomfortable and sometimes dangerous conditions.
Boulder Creek ran three times faster than normal, Douglas County experienced extensive flooding near the Hayman burn area that damaged homes, and a tornado touched down and damaged buildings in Pueblo.
Despite the disruptive and destructive storms, meteorologists say this type of rain isn’t unusual in July as subtropical moisture moves from Arizona and northern Mexico in a “slow-moving trough.”
“That carried a lot of the shower activity,” said Kyle Fredin, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
It was far from normal for Virginia Steckman of Pueblo, who was walking home from an equestrian center in west Pueblo when she saw the twister.
“They say tornadoes sound like a freight train, and it did,” she said.
She saw debris flying and took off running.
The tornado, reported north of U.S. 50, also caused damage to a paint and body shop and a landscaping company among other businesses, said Pueblo County sheriff’s spokeswoman Lisa Shorter. No injuries were reported.
Heavy rains came with the tornado, forcing the Colorado Department of Transportation to close an 8-mile section of Interstate 25 north of Pueblo because of flooding.
Two main roads in Pueblo West, Platteville and McCulloch boulevards, also were temporarily closed because of flooding, Shorter said.
While Boulder Creek did not run over its banks, the rain did force authorities to issue a warning to people planning to fish, tube or do other activities in the creek.
Jay Stalnacker, emergency services coordinator for the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, said the high-water advisement would be in effect through Tuesday.
“We want to caution people that walk on the low-level path and those who use the creek,” he said.
In Thornton, police shut down northbound I-25 at 104th Avenue for about an hour Sunday afternoon after several crashes occurred near a construction area that was flooded.
Forecasters issued flash-flood warnings for the Hayman burn area and Douglas, Elbert and Larimer counties because they expected heavy rains Sunday afternoon.
In the same area, rain was expected to dump about a quarter-inch every hour throughout Sunday night, according to the Weather Service.
With as many as a half-dozen homes damaged, Gov. Bill Owens declared the area a state disaster emergency.
Colorado’s weather is expected to return to more typical conditions, with today’s weather expected to be partly cloudy in the Denver metro region, with scattered thunderstorms throughout the evening.
