BOARD00021

• Board Meeting Date: 7/12/1965
• Description: Minutes
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Meeting

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NR. STAPLETON:

I.JR. SPARKS:

"Thanks, Dick.

Now we'll call on Director Sparks for his
comments. I think many of you may kn01rl that -
is it General or Colonel Sparks? I can't
remember. ~fuatever he is, he was doing hay-
lift by helicopter and everything for the first I
week or two while the flood was going on. He
lost a little weight and has a much more hand-
some figure than before. He can cover not only
the Army aspects of it but our own interest in
the flood. Larry."

"I 1rlant to use the map up here. Nr. Chair-
man, I think this map (pointing) is a little
difficult for some of the audience to see but
I'll only refer to it very briefly. (Mr.
Sparks used several maps to illustrate his
presentation).

The floods that occurred during the weelc
of June l3th actually were started, or triggered,
beginning about June 5th when the long drought
was broken in eastern Colorado and rains began
to fall generally throughout eastern Colorado.
The rains resulted from a high pressure system
to the east, generally along the Great L~ces
area, which prevented the normal westward move-
ment of the air. The high pressure system to
the east allowed moisture laden air from the
Gulf of Mexico to push in along a weak cold
front which generally was just east of the
Continental Divide and triggered the heavy
precipitation. The weather people tell us
there was nothing unusual about this, but I
have some doubt about that. It seems to me it
was a little unusual.

Even before the l6th we had had heavy rains
throughout eastern Colorado. As a matter of I
fact, a day or so before the Denver flood the
purgatoire River had reached flood stage in
the southern part of the state. Likewise in
the Cache la poudre area and in some tribu-
taries of the South Platte heavy rains had
fallen and the land was pretty well saturated.