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<br />CHAPTER 3 <br />COLORADO FLOOD CHARACTERISTICS1 <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />3.1 General Flood Characteristics <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />From observation of the effect of topography on precipitation, it is evident that floods occur <br />most frequently on the eastern slope of the Front Range both in the South Platte and <br />Arkansas River Basins. In the mountains farther west, precipitation is insufficient to cause <br />floods, except during periods of meiling snow in May and June. At that time, the severity <br />of the resuiling floods is dependent not only on the rainfall, but also, and to a greater <br />degree, on the depth of snow cover and the rate of seasonal rise in temperature. HBnce, <br />only floods caused by rainfall on meiling mountain snow occur simuilaneously throughout <br />the greater part of the State. During the storm of June 2-7, 1921, the combination of <br />meiling snow and rainfall caused SBvere floods on all the major rivers except the ArKansas. <br />Over the Arkansas River Basin, the storm, influenced by the topography, was concentrated <br />in a series of cloudbursts in the foothills just east of Canon City. These cloudbursts <br />caused the most severe flood on the Arkansas River ever recorded, and at a time when <br />the water from meiling snow from the higher areas was insignnicant in amount. <br /> <br />The tributary streams in the South Platte and Arkansas River Basins are subject to heavy <br />rains of cloudburst intensity which cause the cloudburst type of flood, the peak discharge <br />of which is greater than that caused by rainfall during the period of melting snow. <br />Whenever heavy rain occurs along thB Front Range, particularly in the lower foothills, it is <br />usually concentrated in cloudbursts at various points. The cloudburst flood flow is of such <br />short duration, the peak only lasts for a few minutes, and the total quantity of water during <br />the flood is so small, that when it reaches a larger stream, channel storage quickly reduces <br />it to a stage which is not a serious flood. <br /> <br />3.2 Meteorological Conditions Causing Floods <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />During the Spring and summer storms, the chief source of moisture is the Gulf of Mexico. <br />The warm, moisture-laden air from the guit, being deflected upward by the Front Range, <br />is cooled and precipitates its moisture not only on the Front Range, but also on the <br />adjacent plains area. Ailhough the storms may continue westward, the remaining moisture <br />is insufficient to produce heavy precipitation west of the Front Range, and does not cause <br />floods on the streams in the mountain area. Very rarely, as in September 1909, and <br />October 1911, late summBr and early fall storms bring in moisture-laden air from the <br />Pacnic Ocean, which being defected upward by the mountain mass bordering the high <br />plateau in the western part of the State, causes heavy rainfall in the southwestern part of <br />the State and lesser amounts farther east.' This Chapter taken from USGS "Floods in <br />Colorado". 1948 <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />1 This Chapter taken from USGS "Floods in Colorado". 1948 <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Colorado Flood <br />Hydrology Manual <br /> <br />3.1 <br /> <br />a:w:r <br />