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Page 1 of2 Rocky Mountain News -~ print this page, select File then Print from your browser URL: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/article/O.1299.DRMN_21_1285881.OO.html Faulty rain gauge fails to warn of deluge Glitch left officials, residents unprepared for torrent, mudslide By John C. Ensslin, Rocky Mountain News July 25, 2002 All but one of the 12 rainfall gauges set out on the scorched earth of Missionary Ridge were working Tuesday night when a surprise thunderstorm rolled toward Durango. Guess which one of the early-warning devices failed to alert the National Weather Service when 1.4 inches of torrential rain fell in less than an hour? That one. The glitch meant that meteorologists, La Plata officials and residents of Aspen Trail subdivision northeast of Durango were caught off-guard when the downpour sent a wall of water their way, followed by a 2-foot-deep mudslide. The mud flow closed several roads and briefly trapped five cars, four of them occupied~ But no injuries were reported, said La Plata County Sheriff's Cpl. Dick Mullen. Concerns over potential runoff and mudslides from the Missionary Ridge Fire prompted federal officials to place the flin gauges as a way to monitor the problem. The storm developed unexpectedly when an edge of cold air blew out of a line of thunderstorms to the north of Durango, said Jim Pringle, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Grand Junction. About 8 p.m., that cold air developed into an intense thunderstorm over the Shearer and Trew creeks. But when the rainfall peaked about 8 p.m. Tuesday, the National Weather Service was detecting only three-tenths of an inch of rain. Pringle was just getting ready to issue a small stream and urban flooding alert when the first reports of mudslides started rolling in. At about the same time, Aspen Trails resident David Kozak's wife came inside the house to report that "the creek is just roaring." The couple live about 100 yards from Trew Creek, which in a normal year runs about five feet deep. During the current drought, the creek has been bone dry, Kozak reported. On Tuesday night, it was running about 40 to 50 feet across. Kozak went out with a flashlight to check on his neighbors. Along the way, he saw live Ponderosa Pine trees about 50 feet tall that had been toppled and swept away by the flood waters. "People's cars were picked up and moved 100 yards,. Kozak said. ee neighbor whose storage shed was swept away found clothing that had been scattered a quarter-mile away, he said. "That's what's kind of amazing about it," Kozak said. "Nothing can stop it. That's the kind of force involved." http://www.rockymountainnews.comlcr/cdalarticle_print/l ,1250,DRMN_21_1285881 ,OO.html 7/26/02 -