FLOOD08183

• County: Summit
• Community: Breckenridge
• Stream Name: Blue River
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Title: Floodplain Information Breckenridge
• Date: 9/1/1974
• Prepared For: Summit County
• Prepared By: Leonard Rice Consulting Water Engineers, Inc.
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Floodplain Report/Masterplan

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TABLE 1

DRAINAGE AREAS

Blue River above gage 119.0
Blue River above Reservoir 43.5
Lehman and Carter Gulch 3.0
Illinois Gulch 3.5
Sawmill Gulch 2.5
French Gulci'l 11. 0
Cucumber Gulch 4.0
Swan River 38.5

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!1ost of the drainage areas are rather_~n;for;)in size, except
for the Swan River, which contains 30% of the area above the
u.S. Geological Survey gage. Approximately 80% of the drain-
age basin above Breckenridge is controlled by the reservoir.

The climate of the Breckenridge area can be characterized
as alpine in that the mean annual temperature measured at a
recording gage in nearby Dillon, is approximately 35oF, and
most of the annual precipitation of approximately 18 inches
occurs in the form of snow. Snow depth variations recorded
at a snow course station on Hoosier Pass reveal that snow
depths can range from the 18 inches of February of 1944 and 1945
to over 66 inches recorded April 1, 1952 and 1965. Snow depths
also vary considerably with elevation. The average April 1
snow depth recorded at Hoosier Pass is approximately 47 inches,
whereas the average snow depth recorded in Frisco, a station
much lower in the basin, for April 1 is 28.7 inches. Most of
the precipitation over the basin occurs as snow during the
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winter and spring months. However, the Blue River basin is
subject to cloudburst activitiy with high intensity rainfall
of short duration during_the~er and fall. Most of these
type of stormhill have occurred by the end of July.
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