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<br />not extend to the upper river. as the Pueblo gaging station showed a maximum of only
<br />3,080 cts on July 21. The rainfall was apparently heaviest in the vicinity of Las Animas
<br />and LaJunta, At the former place the rainfall was 3.36 inches July 24-25, and 4,66 inches
<br />for the month. or more than twice the normal. At Pueblo the rainfall for July was only 0,39
<br />inch,
<br />
<br />Flood of 1889, Rains on August 9. 1889, were followed by a flood that caused
<br />overflow from Grape Creek at least as far east as Pueblo, These rains must have been
<br />of the cloudburst type in the Arkansas Valley, as at none of the rainfall stations was the
<br />recorded precipitation heavy except at Pueblo, where 1,02 inches of rain in 1 hour on
<br />August 9 was recorded, This intense rairrtall. with a temperature of 98 degrees before the
<br />stonn. indicates a cloudburst. From the account of the Grape Creek flood it appears that
<br />the flood on the Arkansas River came primarily from that source. It was evidently
<br />augmented by rain at other points, The Denver Republican states that rain began falling
<br />about 5:30 pm on August 9, and flooded the region around Pueblo, and that a "errible and
<br />disastrous rainstorm visited Florence in the evening and lasted 2 hours, The Denver & Rio
<br />Grande is having lots of trouble caused by the cloudburst of Friday night. The
<br />Hardscrabble bridge washed out"
<br />
<br />Flood of 1893, In 1893, one of the driest years of record at Pueblo, a flood
<br />occurred on July 26, which reached a stage 1 0 feet lower than that of the flood of 1921,
<br />The river rose 8 feet in 2 hours at Pueblo, No gaging station record of the discharge is
<br />available, but from the rating curve established for the flood of 1921, with an allowance for
<br />channel clearance made after the flood of 1893, it appears that the peak discharge was
<br />between 20,000 and 25,000 cfs,
<br />
<br />Flood of 1894, The local newspaper on the evening of May 30. 1894, reported
<br />that at Salida rain had fallen continuously for 36 hours and was continuing and that for the
<br />duration and volume the stonn exceeded anything in the memory of the oldest inhabitant.
<br />At the same time. Florence reported that rain had fallen there for the preceding 24 hours
<br />and that the amount was estimated at 3 to 4 inches, The precipitation above Canon City
<br />had little influence on the ensuing flood, as the discharge at Canon City was not greatly
<br />in excess of that during years of heavy mountain snowfall. In the Arkansas Valley above
<br />Pueblo this flood reached a higher stage than the flood of 1921, Below Pueblo, however,
<br />it was considerably lower. At Las Animas, according to the Bent County Democrat of June
<br />8, 1921. the flood of 1894 reached First Street, whereas the flood of 1921 was 4 feet deep
<br />at that point. The city engineer of Pueblo subsequently made a slope-area detennination
<br />of peak discharge and found it to be 3~1, 1 00 cfs, Subsequently the channel capacity
<br />through Pueblo was increased to 40,000 cfs,
<br />
<br />Flood of 1904, The Purgatoire River flood of September 29-30. 1904, caused a
<br />flood in the lower part of the Arkansas Valley in Colorado, No gaging station was in
<br />operation at that time at the mouth of the Purgatoire River, and it is therefore impossible
<br />to detennine the volume of the flood entering the Arkansas River, It is believed, however,
<br />to have been at least as great as the peak discharge of 44.300 cts at Trinidad. Rainfall
<br />in the Arkansas River Basin below the Purgatoire River undoubtedly increased the flood
<br />volume in the Arkansas River. At the Colorado and Kansas diversion dam, 3 miles west
<br />
<br />Colorado Flood
<br />Hydrology Manual
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