FLOOD03713

• Designation Number: 173
• County: Boulder
• Community: Longmont
• Stream Name: Dry Creek No. 1
• Basin: South Platte
• Title: Floodplain Information, Flood Control and Drainage Plan - Dry Creek Number 1
• Date: 4/1/1980
• Designation Date: 2/1/1981
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Floodplain Report/Masterplan

"Longmont Times-Call"
Sat"tdsy-Septcmbet3,1938

Flood

Comments

_Thtee and a half inches of rain in
one 24-hour period is "unu."al" for
northern Colotado.

of water. And there have been other
flood. along the lowlands .18 bad as
this one.

_Boating was added to the variety of
amusements at Roosevelt park. Some
one asked for the concession for a
motor boat.

-The filling station bays on South
Main Street were hard hit. Every
station from First Avenue to the
St. Vrain river was surrounded by
water.

-The big flood was in June 1898, ac-
cording to the old_t;mcs who remem-
berwhentheentire distance from
the Burlington railroad to the foot
of Burlington Hill was a solid sea

-Over in the Marshall Country south-
east of Boulder much of the highway
was washed out and will have to be
rebuilt.

An indication of the flooding of St. Vra.n Creek tributaries including
Dry Creek No. 1 is described in U,S. Geologicat Survey Water_Supply paper
No. 997. E~cerpts from this document include:

35

The stormofSeptetllber 2-4, 1938, wasfeltintheSt.Vrain
Creek Basin chiefly cast of the mountains, as the peak discharge
at the Lyons gaging station, whiCh occurred at ] a.m., September
3, was only 1,650 second-feet. At Longmont the p~ecipitation
for the 3-day pe~iod wa~ 4.54 inches, and at Fort Lupton 3.99
inChes. aelo" Lyons the diochllrge inc~eUed rapidly, o...ing to
run-off frOM tributary streams, ~Ome of which are ordinarily dry
gulchu...

The peak discharge at the gaging atation near the mouth
VrainCreek wu 8,360 .econd-feet at 6 p.m., September
she...n by a slope-area measurement made by L, T. Burgess,
Hydrographer of the State of Colorado.

of St.
3, as
Chief

"

From the "LongmontTimes-Calt"
Oecember2,I940
Art;cle by Bertha Ramey

A day Or two before Memor;al Day
in 1894, a steady rain began which
finally reached flood proportions,
and the entire lower portion of the
town was washed away. The river
rose to the railroad t~acks, and a
portion of the depot was inundated.
No lives were lost,but many pe~sons
had thrilling stodes to tell
large houses and barns were swept
away, as well as all bridge. of the
re~ion. The road to Longrnont was
not futly repaired for two month..

E~cerpts
Monday

from tbe"Longmont Times_Call"
June 6, 1949

Rescued

81. Vraln goes Rampage

Here

as

AS a ~esult of weekend heavy rain
in this district and in the moun-
tains, the St. Vrain went on rising
slollly. At II p.m. Saturday night
the local chapter of the American
Red Cross removed several familieS
from their homes southwest of town
near the Western Solvents Plant
when water surrounded them.

Water also flooded OVer Kighllay
87(Longrnont-Denver road) just south
of the First Avneue tracks, inunda-
ting several stores and fillin8-
stations.

Longmont's only way
the ai~port is south
across the St. Vrain
isintsct, then west
Road and north to the

oftrave] to
of Longment
bridge which
onthellelson
airport.

~o. 30. the southbound C.& S. WaS
"evptal hours late Sunday and
arr~ved here at 8 a.m., ., ,It was
helduntil Ip,m. while a stretch
of ttack near the Golden We.t mill,
which had been undermined by 'the
water was re-inforced. Two carloads
of limestone ...ere dumped along the
track where the water was waist-
deep.

Left Hand Creek, wherewaten
were rushing uncontrolled ,had taken
out all irrigation headgates along
the stream bed and watcr was run-
nine rampant oVer pasture and farm-
iand southwest of Longmont and west
of !:iwot this moroin~.

26