Heavy rains Wednesday and near-record snowpack have Colorado residents on high alert for flooding.
Still, the rain did have its benefits.
“It’s a good May wetting rain,” said meteorologist Kyle Fredin of the National Weather Service. “It’s great; it’s going to help the fire season out.”
A storm system over the state brought rain and even snow and hail to some areas as high temperatures dropped about 30 degrees from the day before. The Weather Service’s winter-storm warning for the central mountains will expire at 6 a.m. today.
Hail and thunderstorms rolled across the Eastern Plains, and tornado warnings were issued late Wed nesday afternoon in Kit Carson and Yuma counties.
Meanwhile, areas above 7,000 feet saw between 3 and 8 inches of snow. The most snowfall occurred in Pine-cliffe, which recorded 18 inches of snow. Berthoud Pass saw a foot of snow, closing the pass overnight because of avalanche danger, while Nederland and Golden recorded 10 inches.
On occasion, the rain changed to snow at lower elevations.
Snowpack, overall, reached 160 percent of average, said Mike Gillespie, snow-survey coordinator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Experts said it would take four to five consecutive days of warm weather to cause flooding from a rapid melt.
“We’ve got a lot of volume to come out. It is just a matter of the timing,” Gillespie said.
A flash-flood watch was issued for Boulder County in the areas affected by the Fourmile Canyon fire. A lack of vegetation in those areas creates a risk of mudflows and runoffs during heavy rains.
The watch was lifted by late afternoon. Meteorologist Fredin credited that to the fact that much of the moisture that fell in the area arrived as snow, which results in a slower release of water.
However, the long-term flood danger in the area is expected to continue for the next three years, until enough vegetation can take hold.
The weather forced the Colorado Rockies to cancel their Wednesday game against the New York Mets, which was rescheduled for this afternoon.
The storm system should start breaking down and moving out today, but Denver could still see rain and even snow this morning. Today’s high temperature in the city should be about 55 degrees, with mostly cloudy skies.
Staff writers Kieran Nicholson and Bruce Finley contributed to this report.
Mitchell Byars: 303-954-1698 or mbyars@denverpost.com
