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can be considerable in cases like today." That was about 3 1/2 hours before the Big Thompson flood. Their forecasts had effective wording to convey the difference from a typical summer evening in the mountains. But like WSFO Denver, they did not provide categorical statements on the location or magnitude of the disastrous rainfall from the very localized storm. Saturday night KCOL was carrying the Broncos game. The Fort Collins Weather Service called about 9:00 p.m. to issue statements that heavy rains were occurring and that people in the canyon areas should be prepared to take precautions against flash floods. The station ran these statements during the game. They continued on the air for more than 5 hours past their normal midnight signoff. NOAA Weather radio is another method that the National Weather Service uses to alert the public of fast-breaking weather events. KEC-76 operated by WSFO Denver is one of about 100 facilities now in operation. Over the next two years more than 200 additional stations will be established to expand the NOAA Weather Radio system nationwide. The Denver station broadcasts weather information 24 hours daily on 162.55 MHz with a power output of 300 watts which gives it a useful range of about 35 miles from its transmitter located just east of Denver. The triangular area from Loveland to Estes Park to Fort Collins is out of Denver's broadcas t area and therefore, in accord with established National Weather Service procedures, only the special statement issued at 9:00 p.m. was transmitted. Residents in Big Thompson Canyon told members of the survey team that all radio and television reception in the Canyon is poor and that, except for freak cases caused by the rugged terrain, KEC-76 is not received in the canyon. However, it may be monitored by motorists passing on the major Interstate Highway through Larimer County. A Colorado State Patrolman was on duty at Estes Park on the evening of July 31. Around 7:30 p.m. the patrol's dispatcher asked him to check a traffic problem somewhere on U.S. Highway 34 below Estes Park. The dispatcher had reports of rocks and mud slides on the road. It was a routine call but law enforcement officers know that a traffic problem in the Big Thompson Canyon can be a major headache with the heavy weekend traffic. It was raining very lightly when the patrolman responded to the call. As he drove down the canyon the rain quickly became a blinding downpour. The "traffic problem" was about 7 1/2 miles into the canyon-- tree limbs, mud and rocks were piled onto the highway. At about 8:00 p.m. the patrolman broadcast what he'd found. Larimer County sheriff's deputies and another Colorado State Patrolman responded from Fort Collins and a third patrolman tried to reach Drake from Loveland where no rain was falling. 37