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e Although precipitation was general throughout the State, it was much less in the Rio Grande and Colorado River~Basins, as shown in the following table. 21 METEOROLOGIC CONDITIONS e e Along the Front Ra~e back of the foothills the precipitation was generally less, except :Illl. Silver Lake where a total of 10.88 inches was reported. The fol101Ming table shows the precipitation in that area. Rainfall. in IN COLORADO ROODS 20 in the Rio Grande, Colorado River, and Gunnison River Basins, June 3-7, 1921 Total rain- Call -,- Ln LU LM L~ l.ro ~W 1.16 .M I.M LU L~ 0.95 .79 .39 .59 Alti. tude (Ceet) 6,000 4,729 4,602 4,590 9,180 7,670 8,925 8,867 9.350 6,925 5,694 6,600 5,811 6, li5 5,025 Station Colorado River Basin-Con. Coli bran_ _______n_____. Palisade___ __ __ _ _n_____. Grand Junctionn___n____ Fruita. _ __ __ _nn_________ Gunnison River Basin: Pitkin__.__._______________ Gunnison _ __ u_ uU" __ _...... Cathedral. nnn__________ Crested Butte_n_______n_ Sapinero... __ __ .________n.. Columbine Ranch__n_n__ Paonian ___________n_____ Crawford_u'_ __ ____ __ __ __ ___ :Montrose____ ______n_ _ nn_ Cedaredge__ __n__n_n Deltan______ nnn Total rain- Call -.- 21 02 43 23 50 21 31 99 1.51 1.16 1.18 1.13 20 16 1. 1. 1. 2. 1. 1. 7,576 7,700 7,868 9.800 10,115 8,912 ~m &m &~ &~ ~W ~1~ ~m ~m Alti- tude (Ceet) inches, Station Rio Grande Basin: GarnetL____n ___ Manassa____n n_ Del Nortenn_ nn Platoro____.___ n__ Cumbres.u___ nn _ Hermit._ ____. ____ ___________ Wagon Wheel Gap Experi- ment Station..____ __.. Colorado River Basin: }""raser _______________ ___'_ Dillon__nnn_______ NasI. __nn_n_n_n AsheroCtn_n _ n n __ Shoshone__ __n _____ Glenwood Springs_. Rifle_________ __ in Rainfall 1921 Alti. June S taUon tude Total (feet) 234 5 6' 7 ------ South Platte River Basin: Frys Ranch. _ n_nnn__n __n__._____n__ 7.500 ------ 0,67 0.04 O,~ 0,10 0,70 1.71 Estes Park_ ____._ -__n.__.____n_'__n____ 8.000 O.~ . .28 1.12 .45 .20 .~ 2. 4~ Kear Longs Peak________n_ n.________nn 8.956 .50 .25 1. 55 1.00 .35 .30 3. 9~ Silver Lake__.n_n., ____n__.________.____ 10,200 .40 .18 1.30 ------ 2,00 3.00 16.BS Georgetown. ___. _ __ _ __ ___ __ c__ _ _ ____. _. _ _ __ 8,550 ------ .55 .60 ------ .76 ------ 1. 91 Idaho Sprin?s. _ __ _n________nn____________ 7,543 .14 .20 1.16 .59 .32 .20 2.61 Arkansas River Basin: La Veta Pass_n____________________.__n__._ 9,242 --..--- .98 .89 ------ .~ ------ 2.07 Cuehara Camps_____ h_______. ________ __ _.__ 8,200 ------ ------ .86 .21 .12 .42 1. 61 North Lake_ _ __n_______n_______________.__ 8,700 ------ 2.00 .55 I .18 .53 3.2li Madrid_n__ _ _ n _ _. _ ___ _ _ n _ __ _ ________ _ _ _ _ __ 6,364 - -. ~-~ .23 .64 .54 .10 .25 1. 76 June 2-7, Range back of the foothills, alongttll.e Front inches, mehes reparll.1d, makmg a total oC 10.88 mches Cor the storm period. RalnCall. June 8, 1921 In the San Juan region the rainfall was about 1.5 inches. This slight increase over the rainfall in the Rio Grande and Colorado River Basins was doubtless due to moisture from the Pacific Ocean drawn in by the low-pressure area over Arizona. In the northwestern p90rt of the State the recorded rainfall ranged from 0.19 inch at Yampa, in the moun tains, near the head of the Yampa River Basin, to 1.60 inches at Lay, farther west in the plateau region. Immediately west of the Continental Diyide on the north and the Sangre de Cristo Range on the south, the April precipitation was more than twice the normal, but the snowfall decreased westward, being norma1 or slightly belo." normal in the western part of the State. In the San Juan region, however; the April snowfall was about 150 per- cent of normal, except at Telluride, where it was 250 percent. There- fore, the floods resulting from the precipitation, snow cover, and rise in temperature (the latter being similar to that at Denver), were not so severe as those in the South Platte and Arkansas River Basins, and _1._..1.J 1._ +____.J ____ ______+1_ _________11_ 1.:_1. 111____ _=___" 'l'1._ ",llVUIU ut> ,~t>1lllt>U lllVlI:; t;Vllt>t;~l'y UllU"'UUll'y =1;;ll u Ullt> U"'\J::>. .L 111:1 causes of the floods ill June 1921 have been described at length, as they typify the various factors that in combination cause a majority of the floods in Colorado,. It will be noted that the general storms causing floods have occurred most frequently during the later part of May and the early part of June. According to meteorologists of, the Weather Bureau, this is due principally to the faCt that it is during that season over the great interior of the North Anierican continent that the temperature con- , ' , The Pikes Peak uplift not only was responsible for the highest recorded precipitation, but by its practically isolated position it de- flectedthe moist air currents into the upper basin of the Arkansas River east of Canon City, where the storm took the form of a series of cloudbursts in a small area; These cloudbursts were the sole cause of the flood of June 3~5, 1921, on the Arkansas River,t3 as the river a.bove Canon City \vas nut at higl1 stage, and the foothill region did not contain any appreciable amount of snow. A few days later the nighest flood of record on the upper South Platte River occurred, with floods on its principal mountain tribu- taries. These floods were caused not only by the heavy precipitation of the storm, but also by the melting of the mountain snows. During April the snowfall had been unusua11y heavy, about three times its normal depth for that month, and this late snow, being loose, melted rapidly under the influeJ!Kre of the rain and the high temperature that prevailed after the storm. Temperature records are not available for points at the higher altiltImdes, but the temperature, although cooler, varies generally with tihmi on the plams: The temperature records at Denver are shown in tt!hle following table. ' Minimum (0 F.) 54 56 58 61 61 61 1921 Maximum (" F.) i3 77 81 86 80 85 1~13, June 8__. __ __ _.. _"_______.. 9__.., __ __~ n _ _ ._n__ 10_00_' , _______ 11.. __ 12__ _" 13_c' '_ p.12. temperatures at Denver, June 54 53 53 47 53 53 54 Minimum (0 F.) and J~nes,E.E.. op. cit Maximum ana minimmm ~iiuirrium (0 F.>. 76 65 73 64 64 59 (jij 1. 2_ 3______..___ 4__n_____ 'n______--.- 5_____ n_ _ _n n_ _n____ 6_....:. ......._____ i_____ .._....;___...:. Robert June Follansbee, 11'