6:33 p.m.: Tollgate Creek in southeast Aurora also was running high after steady rainfall since Wednesday.
Twitter user John Gillespie shared a video of the creek that showed it had topped its banks and was overflowing onto the ground nearby.
Tollgate Creek in SE Aurora, normally a wide, trickling ditch is a rampaging river that has topped itap banks and flooded onto bordering terrain.
— John Gillespie (@JJGill7)
Gillespie said the video showed the flow through a purposeful spillway at East Mexico Avenue between Chambers and Buckley roads. The creek travels north to join Highline Canal north of Alameda.
He said he did see some ground eroding into the creek, “but I believe the bordering terrains were designed to accommodate these rare occasions of swelling creek spills. I don’t believe these have caused any concerning erosion over the 45 years I’ve lived nearby.”
6:21 p.m.: Since the start of the stormy weather on Wednesday, 2.65 inches of rainfall has been measured as of 6 p.m. Thursday at Denver International Airport.
That figure represents 18.3% of Denver’s annual average precipitation — 14.48 inches — according to the National Weather Service.
5:24 p.m.: Cherry Creek has flooded along downtown Denver, according to multiple reports. A Denver Office of Emergency Management tweet shows a photo of the creek at 6th Avenue and Speer Boulevard flooded nearly up to the bridge of 6th Avenue.
Denver is experiencing moderate flooding in various areas throughout the city. It's important to stay out of storm drains, canals, and out of high water. Don't try to navigate high waters with your vehicle.
— Denver Office of Emergency Management (@DenverOEM)
Other photos posted on Twitter show the Cherry Creek Trail flooded near Confluence Park where the creek meets the South Platte River.
https://twitter.com/denverparksrec/status/1656799409462714369?s=20
Denver Parks and Recreation is asking trail users to avoid the trail until Friday morning, urging users to use caution on other trails and to turn around when encountering flooded areas.
4:54 p.m.: A tornado warning in effect until 5:45 p.m. has been issued for Arapahoe in Cheyenne County. A tornado has been observed and pea-sized hail is possible.
Tornado Warning including Arapahoe CO until 5:45 PM MDT
— NWS Goodland (@NWSGoodland)
4:47 p.m.: Several roads in Arapahoe County also were closed due to high water:
- County Road 30 from County Road 137 to County Road 149
- County Road 145 from Colo. 36 to County Road 6
- County Road 173 from Colorado 40 to County Road 2
- County Road 50 from Patrick Trail to County Road 137/Kiowa-Bennett Road
- County Road 42 from County Road 181 to County Road 177
- Cherry Creek State Park main road from 12 Mile to Cottonwood Creek
3:59 p.m.: The rain in Denver could taper off within the next couple of hours, but redevelopment will occur later in the evening through about midday Friday.
The Denver area is expected to receive about another inch on average by the time the rain ends Friday.
No other severe weather is expected anywhere in the area.
3:39 p.m.: Adams County officials have closed several roads to traffic due to flooding or damaged surfaces. The following roads are closed:
- 26th Avenue between Yulle and Wolf Creek roads
- 64th Avenue between Piggott and Wolf Creek roads
- Piggott Road from 80th to 88th avenues
- Old Victory Road from Colorado 36 to Colorado 79
- 72nd Avenue from Bradbury-Krebs to Xmore roads
There is also congestion on U.S. 85 at Mill Road due to flooding.
𝗨𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁: 𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘆 𝗘𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 – Due to severe weather and rain, several roadways in Adams County are closed to the public. See the first image below for a full listing of road closures.
— Adams County Government (@adamscountygov)
3:20 p.m.: E. 60th Avenue near the Interstate 270 overpass is closed due to flooding, according to a tweet from the Commerce City Police Department.
There is no estimated time of reopening.
🚨 Traffic Alert 🚨
E. 60th Ave. is closed near the I-270 overpass under the railroad bridge due to flooding.
There is no ETA for reopening.
— Commerce City Police Department (@CommerceCityPD)
3:14 p.m.: Meteorologists at the National Weather Service in Boulder confirmed Denver International Airport has received about 16% of its annual average total precipitation since the rainfall started Wednesday afternoon.
No biking today along Cherry Creek at Speer and Grant.
— KOA 850 AM & 94.1 FM (@KOAColorado)
The total so far for this storm is 2.31 inches, and the rain is far from over. The normal annual average is 14.48 inches of precipitation.
The rain will continue pretty heavily over the next couple hours, followed by a short break before the storms build back in later Thursday evening and overnight into Friday morning.
2:48 p.m.: A landspout is possible in the area near Ovid and Sedgwick until 3:15 p.m. according to a special weather statement. It said hail is not expected.
A special weather statement has been issued for Ovid CO and Sedgwick CO until 3:15 PM MDT
— NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder)
2:42 p.m.:Delays for flights in and out of Denver International Airport continued to rise Thursday afternoon as heavy rain drenched the area.
The total rose from 167 delayed flights in or out of Denver just before 10 a.m. to 417 delays as of 2:30 p.m., according to flight tracking website FlightAware.
2:14 p.m.: A tornado warning in effect until 2:30 p.m. has been issued for Holyoke and Amherst. In addition to a tornado, pea-sized hail is possible.
Tornado Warning including Holyoke CO and Amherst CO until 2:30 PM MDT
— NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder)
Gillespie told a reporter that the video was taken near a purposeful spillway for the creek at East Mexico Avenue between Chambers and Buckley roads. He said the creek, which travels north to where it joins the Highline Canal north of Alameda, is normally a trickling creek.
2:11 p.m.: Heavy rains were causing damage around the metro area on Thursday afternoon.
In Denver’s Capitol Hill, a retaining wall in an alley between the 800 blocks of Sherman and Grant streets collapsed after hours of rain.
2:09 p.m.: A portion of Lake View Road in Cherry Creek State Park is closed after heavy rainfall flooded and damaged part of the road, Colorado Parks and Wildlife reported. The closure is on the southeast side of the state park near the dog park, but CPW officials said the dog park and all park entrances are still open.
Photos of the damage show a flooded roadway, and water can also be seen eroding the dirt under the road and the pavement itself.
The heavy rainfall has caused road damage in Cherry Creek State Park. There are closures in place shown on the attached map. All park entrances and the dog park are still open.
— CPW NE Region (@CPW_NE)
1:59 p.m.:Colorado Springs fire crews safely rescued a man and his dog early Thursday morning from a flooded sandbank on Monument Creek. The swift water rescue happened near 200 W. Bijou Street south of Monument Valley Park.
The Colorado Springs Fire Department advised people to be careful near any water as heavy rains continued through the day Thursday.
is on scene of a 200 W Bijou, crews on scene. One male and one dog.
— CSFD PIO (@CSFDPIO)
12:52 p.m.: The Hanging Lake rest area along Interstate 70 at Exit 125 in Glenwood Canyon is closed by flooding and the Colorado Department of Transportation urges drivers to be aware of flooding in the area.
12:48 p.m.:A tornado warning in effect until 1 p.m. has been issued for Laird. In addition to a tornado, pea-sized hail is possible for an area east of Wray to the Kansas border.
Tornado Warning including Laird CO until 1:00 PM MDT
— NWS Goodland (@NWSGoodland)
12:03 p.m.: A tornado warning in effect until 12:30 p.m. has been issued for Hale. In addition to a tornado, quarter-sized hail also is possible.
Tornado Warning continues for Hale CO until 12:30 PM MDT
— NWS Goodland (@NWSGoodland)
The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch for eastern Colorado.
The watch issued at 11:20 a.m. covers Cheyenne, Kiowa, Kit Carson and Yuma counties, effective through 6 p.m., along with parts of Kansas and Nebraska, .
A tornado watch has been issued for parts of Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska until 7 PM CDT
— NWS Goodland (@NWSGoodland)
On Thursday morning, a tornado may have formed in eastern Colorado near the border with Kansas and skirted the town of Arapahoe in Cheyenne County — which prompted a weather service warning that since has been lifted.
It was unclear whether this tornado touched down on open plains, said weather service meteorologist Kyle Knight, posted in Goodland, Kansas.
“We have not received any reports. If there was a tornado, it would be rain-wrapped, so we’ll have to wait to see if it hit anything. There’s a chance it may have formed, touched down and hit a field, and went back up.”
The weather service radar showed a vortex about five to 10 miles southwest of Arapahoe, population 102, shortly before 11 a.m.
Damage from a tornado depends on the strength and size, and tornadoes in Colorado typically are weaker than those on the Great Plains and the southeastern United States, said Bruno Rodriguez, a weather service meteorologist based in Boulder. “Obviously, if it does reach an urban area, it can cause extensive damage.”
On Wednesday, the weather service issued tornado watches in Colorado as thunderstorms rolled off the mountains onto the high plains. Tornadoes close to Colorado’s urban Front Range appeared less likely Thursday, meteorologists said. A cloudy gray mass of thunderstorms dropping rain in metro Denver and Colorado Springs has raised risks of flooding. The weather service has issued a flood watch effective through Friday.
