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<br />AREAS SUSCEPTIBLE TO FLOODING <br /> <br />i <br />I <br />I <br />,\ <br />I <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />Causes of Floods <br /> <br />Major floods in the Windsor area have been produced in three <br /> <br />different ways. The most'severe floods have resulted from spring <br /> <br />and summer cloudbursts. Warm, moist air from the Guif of Mexic9 <br /> <br />. <br />(Holzman, 1937, p. 24) blowing from the southeast, is deflected <br /> <br />upwards in front of the mountains. The associated cooling causes <br /> <br />precipitation in the form of brief, 'local, and extremely intense <br /> <br />rains (Follansbee, 1948, p. 14. ). The rain falls on an area, ex- <br /> <br />tending from 50 ,miles east of the foothills to an elevation of 7500 <br /> <br />feet in the ,mountains. <br /> <br />, <br />Mountain rive'rs such as ,the South Platte, Big Thompson and <br /> <br />Cache la Poudre are also subject to spring floods of a different <br /> <br />origin. The combination of warm weather and rain on unusually large <br /> <br />mountain sum" packs caus~s high vlater, on mountain streams. The <br /> <br />streams cause subsequent flooding on the rivers that head in the <br /> <br />mountains. <br /> <br />The third major cause of flooding has been the failure of <br /> <br />reservoirs. The failures have often occurred under the stress of <br /> <br />large volumes of spring runoff, <br /> <br />Factors that Influence Floods <br /> <br />In addition to the primary causes of flooding, there are a <br /> <br />number of factors or circumstances which influence the size of <br /> <br />floods. Any factor that effects the amount or rate of runoff, or <br />