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13 11, ram was e oceurred on June METEOROLOGIC CONDITIONS the TL In 1864 e 1876 The storm of )'lay 21-23, 1876, caused floods in the South Platte River Basin and on Fountain Creek" which drains the foothills region from Pikes Peak to the Arkansas River. The storm extended as fill' the Cache la Poudre River The Greeley Tribune of May of From the meager information avaibble it appears that the storm was heaviest in Deriver and the Pikes Peak region. The weather maps - show that a deep low (29.2 inches) developed over the south- eastern part of Colorado and the northeastern part of N ewMexico, and a high (30.4 inches) just north of the Great Lakes. Probably associated with this low was amass of moist air from the Gulf which was forced upward by the Front Range, causing heavy precipitation. As the precipitation was partly in the form of snow, especially on Pikes Peak, the resulting floods were less seYere than they would hi1Ve been had the, heavy precipitation occurred later in the year when higher temperatures prevailed. ' May 21-23,1876 Total 6.73 ,1. 50 3,19 2_ 62 2.7-1 _ 32 '_16 00 00 May 23 0,20 L SO Tr. 32 wnich bcgan on Sunday night Play 21] and continued with termission tilllatc on :\londay night, was the severest since the settle- 4 inches of water fell during the 2.1 hours, and three- . ~.. :\londay evening after dark. ing the recent heavy rains, to a depth in places nine stations in Basin, May 22 G. 50~ L 37 3,19 2,62 River :\Iay 2 0,03 L 33 Platte Altitude (feet) 5,283 5, infl 14,] 11 6,098 3,809 3,1!l0 7,mJG 9,400 6,633 Denver. the South Den,e Golden ______ Pikes Peak_____ Colorado Springs_ Las AniInas______ :Fort Lyoll________ Fort Garbnd___________n Sil\'erton __ :_______c______ IIcTlllosa. _.. _______ ......_.. _____.____ Greatest 24-hour precipitation recorded at Total for Illontb. in inches, in Station at during this stonn was recorded in the following table MAY 21-23, ment of the valley-at least an inch in 2 h:mfl, ~.. at Fort Collins Precipitation, '. f - . d the wmtNO 184,3-44 wasrlOClC of heavy snowfall and tbat ram occurre during the period of mdJtting snow, thus causing severe floods in Colorado. The absence offwhite settlers in other sedions of Colorado accounts for the lack of reli?renc8s to high water in ",~, n M i" probab widespr COLORADO IN FL@.l)DS , ) 1.. It high clwi3v uvctions Ie that the heavwsnow cover water occurred on most o:f tiThe mountain that was streams shown reported Precipitation Colorado as The rainst.orm but. ttle fourths of lIll il fel a fbot. north as 24. 1876 JUNE 1864 The evidence of severe iJlWods in June 1864 rests on more complete information, as permanefltt, settlements hud then been made in the South Platte and Arkansas !River Basins. In his history of Color.n,dlOl, Gen. Frank Hall 8 records the following: The summer of 1863 '\'as mll1rl~d by a protracted drought which dried up the streams, and prevented the gr0>wuh of crops in the limited area then cultivated. * * * Earlier tlw.n usual, allooJ,ut the middle of Ocfo ber, one of the severest winters ever kno,,-n in this latitJuIIie' set in, with frequent heavy snows, and very cold weather. Those ,dlO' had! :;:tock on the range lost it; snpply trains were blockaded and many abandoned. * * * In the following spring the gl'!'at masses of snow melted, flooded rivers, and expelled the millers. Rains succeeding, torrents poured down the mountain slopes upon the hapless residents, sweeping in some cases, their homes from their founda- tions, and filling others with mud :lnd debris. In the valleys many ranches were .o,-erwhelmed, covered ,vith sand 3lld well-nigh destroyed. \Yatrous 9 in his history of Larimer County, stated A. great body of sno\\" fe n theu-intcr of 1863-64, filling the gulches and 'ravines to a depth of severai fect and the snow was from 4 to 6 feet deep in the timber on the hillsides. From the barrell mountain tops above timberline the snow had blo\vn off into the tinlbcr, gl1]che~ and ravine~ '\vhcre it be caIne .packed and hard as an ice bed, almost. The foothillsne'ar the pia illS held the venting it from drif ing, so that back in the hills there was water-making material \Ya trous wrote particularly of Larimer County and of the Cachela Poudre River, describing the high water caused by melting snow. augmented by "an extraorGltimiry rainstorm" in themount.ainous part of the basin, June 9, 1864. He said .further: , The storm which brought on _ flood was general in the northern part of the Territory, and Denver, the Bouldler, St. Vrain, and Big Thompson valleys suffered severely from its effects. SilO'" in place, pre- a great quantity of 755376-'-47-2 The Central City Daily ,MIllers Register, May 10, 1864, stated Just 8 months [ago] feli the sri(!1.V which marked out the beginning of the present winter seasor From that time I1ll1atil today the [snow] storms have taken the lead make-up of the wwter's character. This is the most extraordinary 1 the history of Cl~lDrado's climate. HI" to the ra,ulstormof the 'past few CbieagO,1889 hilltops Printing Co. Bllikely higher P:306, on the general epoch kno\,'n R€'gister of )'1a.y and t.he m~l ting, snol\\ on the . , CUbrado, vol refers Hf1,H. Frap.k, i;Iistory of the ~tate of \"atrou" 'Ansel, op. eit. p., 212; The " days