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<br />For the 1976 Big Thompson River flood, geomorphic indicators and lack <br /> <br /> <br />of flood evidence in the channels indicate precipitation was small above <br /> <br /> <br />7,500 feet (2,300 meters). At Estes Park, 2 inches or less (50.8 milli- <br /> <br /> <br />meters) precipitation was recorded. At the Big Thompson River at Estes <br /> <br /> <br />Park streamflow-gaging station (site 1), the 1976 peak discharge was 457 <br /> <br /> <br />cubic feet per second (12.9 cubic meters per second), which was pre- <br /> <br /> <br />dominantly snowmelt runoff. <br /> <br />Several studies have evaluated higher elevation precipitation in <br /> <br /> <br />Colorado, Henz (1974) analyzed Limon, Colorado, radar imagery of summer <br /> <br /> <br />thunderstorms, which includes the Front Range of Colorado, Over time, <br /> <br /> <br />these radar images show the location, intensity, and path of progression of <br /> <br />each storm. Henz reports that thunderstorm hot spots that result in the <br /> <br /> <br />intense precipitation in eastern Colorado originated at or below about <br /> <br /> <br />7,000 feet (2,133 meters) and generally move easterly into the plains. <br /> <br /> <br />Hansen et al. (1978), in their study of the climatography of the Colorado <br /> <br /> <br />Front Range, reported that all large rainstorms east of the Continental <br /> <br /> <br />Divide occurred below an elevation of about 7,500 feet (2,300 meters). <br /> <br />I 7 <br />