While Denver’s rainfall forecasts have diminished, converging tropical storm systems are still on track to douse southern Colorado with heavy, flooding rain through Thursday morning, forecasters said.
AccuWeather forecasters called the storm a “triple-threat,” with three weather systems converging to create widespread rain across the southwest United States, including southern Colorado. Leftover moisture from Hurricane Polo and Tropical Storm Odalys will merge with an already existing trough, which brings cold temperatures and rainy weather, to intensify rainstorms, AccuWeather forecasters said in a news release.
This week’s setup is similar to the severe flooding Tropical Storms Priscilla and Raymond caused in Arizona and Colorado last fall, according to AccuWeather. That storm dumped several inches of rain on southern Colorado, flooding more than 100 homes in La Plata County alone and damaging infrastructure.
Rain started falling Tuesday night and will continue through Thursday morning, AccuWeather meteorologist Chad Merrill said.
The heaviest rain is expected to fall in the Denver area between 7 a.m. and noon Wednesday, and in southern Colorado between 4 a.m. and noon, Merrill said. Colorado Springs is on track to see a second spike in rain between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m., he said.
“Life-threatening flooding” will be possible south of Colorado 94, an east-west highway in line with Colorado Springs, Merrill said. Some areas may see 4 to 8 inches of rain, he said.
While Denver was originally expected to get nearly 1.5 inches of rain — more rain than the city saw in all of June and nearly as much as Denver’s May rain total — that forecast dropped Wednesday morning to a quarter inch, .
Denver received 1.42 inches of rain in June and 1.63 inches in May, the city’s two rainiest months on average, .
The heaviest rain forecast near Denver will fall along, south and east of the Palmer Divide, . Forecasters expect 1 inch to 2.5 inches of rainfall near the divide.
Other forecasts for included:
- 0.06 inches in Boulder, with up to 0.5 inches possible
- 0.2 inches in Montrose and Gunnison on the southern half of Colorado’s Western Slope, with up to 0.7 inches possible
- 0.4 inches on U.S. 160’s Wolf Creek Pass between Pagosa Springs and South Fork, with up to 1.5 inches possible
- 0.7 inches in Castle Rock, with up to 2.2 inches possible
- 0.7 inches in Limon on the Eastern Plains, with up to 2.6 inches possible
- 0.9 inches in Colorado Springs, with up to 2.4 inches possible
- 1.4 inches in Pueblo, with up to 3.2 inches possible
- 1.9 inches in Burlington, near the Kansas border, with up to 3.7 inches possible
- 1.6 inches in Lamar, with up to 3.8 inches possible
- 1.6 inches on U.S. 160’s La Veta Pass, which connects Walsenburg and the San Luis Valley in southern Colorado’s Sangre de Cristo Mountains, with up to 3.3 inches possible
- 2.3 inches in Trinidad, near the New Mexico border, with up to 3.6 inches possible
- 2.6 inches in La Junta, with up to 4.1 inches possible
“(Hurricane) Polo is expected to quickly lose intensity and organization after it travels through the mountainous terrain of northern Mexico; however, leftover energy from the storm can enhance rainfall totals across the Southwest and Plains,” said in a statement.
As of Wednesday morning, for parts of Baca, Bent, Crowley, El Paso, Elbert, Fremont, Kiowa, Las Animas, Lincoln, Otero, Prowers, Pueblo and Teller counties, as well as the San Luis Valley and San Juan River Basin.
A Flood Watch is in effect for east central/southeast Colorado. Rainfall totals in the area are expected between 1.0-2.5" with locally higher amounts possible. Locations north of the Flood Watch area will see lower amounts. Don't drive through flooded roads!
— NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder)
This is a developing story and may be updated.
