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The San Juan Prospector reported that Rico, in the San Juan region, had suffered greatly from the heavy snows of the past winter, and that 64 feet of snow had fallen at the Sunbright Cabin on Mount Wilson. The only record of precipitation in southwestern Colorado during the winter of 1883"':'84 was at Fort Lewis, in a valley in the San Juan River Basin. That record showed a total precipitation for the period October 1, 1883, to April 30, 1884,40 percent above normal. No reference has been found to the ,snow cover in the White and Little Snake River Basins, but settlers in both basins have stated that those rivers reached their' highest known stage during June 1884 and remained at high stages nearly all summer. The storm of May 29-Jurre 1, 1894, which caused widespread floods in the South Platte and Arkansas River Basins, is the earliest flood- producing stomi for which more than a few rainfall records able. It was associated with a large area of low pressure are avail- (29.4 inches) Survey, Water~SupplyPaper, the mining camp Frisco, on the headwaters of the Blue River, was still snowbound. At Kokomo, at a higher altitude in the same basin, it was reported that 80 feet of snow fell during the winter, measure- ments having been made after each storm. Judge John L. Noonan, of Colorado Springs, crossing Independence Pass at the head of Roar- ing Fork early in July 1884, found drifts 12 to 15 feet deep.1O The Gunnison Press Review on :May 9, 1884, referred to the "unprece- dented snowfall and the late spring," stating that in the valley near Crested Butte the snow was 2 to 2% feet deep, and in the streets at Gothic it was 5 feet deep. The Gothic Record referred to the "un- heard of snows of the present spring," and stated that the mountains were covered with 10 toI5 feet of snow. At Evans sawmill, the exact location of which is unknown, the snow was 10 to 12 feet deep. From old settlers interviewed in connection with a previous study of the upper Colorado River 11 it was learned that the early snowfall had been unusually heavy, and that this was followed in April by a snow which was 17~ feet deep in the valley near Delta. Stockmen were unable to take their cattle to the summer range in the mountains until July. The Colorado following item the On the night of June 12 v{e had a severe rainstorm 'which, on top of the ,varm weather, converted the mountain streams into torrents of water and sent them booming down the streams. 15 contained -- 1884 s utilization: U. s. Oeol METEOROLOGIC CONDITIONS 28 1nnA J.Ot1~ June 1 ~ -..,. ~ 1"'\1"'\ TTT....T...,. J.Y.1.4.1. ,;c:; t1-" VJ.~ ~ of Springs Gazette from Crested Butte Upper Colorado River and 10 Follansbee, Robert 617, p. 152, 1929. 11 Idem. . . e " .\.! , t By 1884, settlements had been made in all parts of Colorado, and references to the deep snow Cover, heavy rain and high discharge of streams in different parts of the State arc more numerous than in 1864. In the South Platte River Basin the record at the recently estab- lish':ld gaging station on the Cache la Poudre River shows that the discharge during 1884 \vas far above average, indicating run-off from deep snow cover. Precipitation records at Denver and Fort Collins, both in the South Platte Vallny, show that precipitation for the period October 1, 1883, to April 30, 1884, was nearly 60 percent above normal. The Georgetown Courier, that the past winter Berthoud Pass' [head of Clear Creek] will be It will be quite a job, for the snow now Ii~s, feet. 40 In the Arkansas River Basin, the Canon City Record of May 3, 1884, in describing the trip of a signal-service employee from Pikes Peak to Colorado Springs, says that he "plodded his way through "now 20 and 30 feet deep." It was reported that the snow o'n the trail was the deepest known since the establishment of the weather station on Pikes Peak in 1873. The Pueblo Commercial Standard of stated was wide, swift, and deep on Thursday [June 26] and bridges on Fifth Street and the Denver and Rio ,Although no reference to the cause of tbil? flood is made, its occur- rence coincides within a few days with that of the flood peak caused by the rain and melting snow in other ,basins. At Pueblo, east of the foothills, the precipitation from January 1 to April 30, .1884, was 62 percent above normal. ' , In the Rio Grande Basin numerous references to high water appeared in the Del Norte San Juan Prospector, but no 'statements were made regarding the actul11 snow Cover. VV. D. Carroll of Alamosa, states thuton Cumbres P:i:ss;' a l't'gion of heavy snowJall, the snow cover during the winter of 1883-84 teached to the wires on the tel,egraph poles, which were fr()m 2000 25 feet high. ,The San Juan Prosp.ector, tTune 21, 1884, stateS that on June 14, 1884, heavy rain fell in the mountains for 12 to 20 poU'l'S. '",' , In the Colorado River Basin, reier~nces to sn'Ow cover are numerou~. The Gunllison Press Review stat~d that on May 7, - , , , ' more 1884, Courier stated 1884 for 20 years say their recollection. the reported June 28 COLORADO 1884, 1884 People who have resided in this section and spring months have been the worst in And in its IN JUNE 1 1884 May FLOODS 15, over * * to Middle Park travel soon. * to the depth of 30 or issue of May The Fountain at Pueblo swept away both the wagon Grande Railroad bridge. e The road opened for in places, 14