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

I
I
I
I
'.
I
I
.
I
.
I
I
I
I
I
.
.
I
-.

I' v,\1, ~
V\I~ _\- I _ }_

,,\;v:.P '~\"-~ ,7 \f\OV) IN.M.J:".
to/' );01<,,' ___ '--.
it 1:/' \, period. Because of the amount of rain that fell within the
~$~~ basin!prior to this st~m, t~~rainfall of June 16 a~d 17

could'have brought the snowpack to its saturation p01nt and
~ - .---.-. ~
VSVj.created a volume of runoff greater than what fell as rainfall
~ i; 11'0 during the storm. By examining the storm hydrograph the
~i~L ~;/ snowmelt and rainfall runoff components of the gage hydro-
.\ ~'JI ~graph may be seen. Snowmelt portion of the flow is interpreted)
.;r,f/' ~ ~ - '--/tJ<rv..J-
0\ (~t,i \ to account for approximately-2_00 c~s. The instantaneous peak i ~Gr~vr
~~~ discharge of the flood amounted to 1250 cfs. The difference, \\
~ .
, or 350 cfs, is directly attributed to rainfall. ~
f _ ~

Flooding within the town of Breckenridge was a function
primarily of backwater from culverts and bridges that were
plugged with debris. Consequently, flooding was most exten-
sive around each of the major crossings and localized in the
stretches between the crossings.
- ,.\." .
On July 23 the same year the Blue River left its banks
for a second time. The flood was again attributed to a storm
of high intensity centered over another small tributary.
~ Because of the time of year, it is not known whether a signif-
~-icant portion of the snow pack remained in the basin. There
"
~ was, however, a base flow in the river at the time of the
;r storm.
D
"""

A newspaper article describing
shown below. The story was carried

the storm of June 1965 is

in the Summit County

Journal:

Summit County Journal
Brec~enridge, Colorado
Friday, June 25, 1965

ANGRY FLOOD WATERS TORE AT SU~~IT DURING STOIDl

Low-lying, tumbling, rolling, black clouds crowded out the
mountains on the east, while from overhead came ominous,
threatening rolls of thunder. Suddenly the pent-up fury of
the angry gods in the sky was unleashed, and nature went on
a mad rampage, demonstrating her relentless power. Water
disgorged from the skies in torrents, while the sun in the
west, peeping through an opening in the clouds, threw a