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<br />JARREIT AND TOMLINSON: REGIONAL INTERDISCIPLINARY PALEOFLOOD METIlOD <br /> <br />2959 <br /> <br /> <br />106" <br />-co;;;;;;';TT- _n_n___ <br /> <br />BUFFALO PAS~\ LARIMER <br /> <br />\ <br /> <br />39l <br />I MESA <br />I <br />0 25 50 75 100 MILES <br />I I I I I I I I I <br />0 25 50 75 100 KILOMETERS <br /> <br />I~D~~;~~:-----j <br /> <br />. Grand DENVER 1[ <br />r .Junellon <br />Map area : <br />i COLORADO ! <br /> <br />:_._____________1 <br /> <br />Figure 1. Location of the regional interdisciplinary paleoflood study area for northwestern Colorado, which <br />is highlighted by the bold dashed line. The northwestern (NW) and southwestern (SW) Colorado topographic <br />boundary formed by the Colorado Plateal. (CP) are labeled and shown as hatched area. The White River <br />Plateau (WRP) and Gore (G), Rabbit Ears (RE), and Park (P) mountain ranges are labeled and denoted with <br />different patterns. <br /> <br />local/regional hydroclimatic variations and is somewhat lower <br />in selected basins east of the Continental Dividl; [JaTTett, <br />1990bJ and most basins west of the Continental Divicle [Jarrett, <br />1993]. The elevation limit of about 1 m3 5-1 km-2 seems to <br />vary from about 2400 m in the southern Rockies to about <br />1700 m in the northern U.S. Rod,,, Mountains [Jarrett, 1993J. <br />M. Quick (University of British Columbia, unpublished data, <br />1993) indicated that the elevation limit in the Canadian Rocky <br />Mountains is somewhat lower than the elevation limit for the <br />northern U.S. Rocky Mountains. <br />These results, which are supported by analyses of extreme <br />rainfall data and paleoflood studies [JaTTett, 1987, 1991)b;JaTTett <br />and Costa, 1988; Grimm, 1993; Way/homas and Jal7el/, 1994; <br />Pntess, 1996; Bn-en, 1996] contrast dramatically from published <br />values of PMP and PMF for the Rocky Mountains. PMP esti~ <br /> <br />mates are 250 mm in 6 hours and 510 mm in 24 hours in the <br />upper Yampa River basin [Hansen and Schwarz, 1981; Hansen <br />et ai., 1988J. For comparison, in eastern Colorado (Denver), <br />PMP values are 675 mm in 6 hours and 920 mm in 24 hours <br />[Hansen et a!., 1988]. J. F. Henz (Review of probable maximum <br />precipitation in Wyoming-Level lI, Phase 1 Report, draft, <br />prepared for Wyoming's State Engineer's Office, 1991) re- <br />viewed the use and applicability of current PMP methodolo- <br />gies in Wyoming [Hansen el al., 1988J. He concluded that <br />additional meteorological research is needed to improve esti- <br />mates of extreme precipitation in the Rocky Mountains of <br />Wyoming. Buckley [1995] concluded that there are no signifi- <br />cant rainstorms even remotely comparable to the magnitude of <br />PMP estimates for mountains in Wyoming. Eastwood [1995] <br />developed regional relations to estimate the frequency of ex- <br /> <br /> <br />.. <br />. <br />i <br />I <br />j <br />1;1 <br />ii <br />Ii <br />... <br />il: <br /> <br />I <br />, <br />L;' <br />" <br />I-t <br />l <br />If <br />!~ <br />',' <br /> <br />11 <br /> <br />j" <br />\L <br />I,. <br />l' <br />.,1 <br />I~ I <br />,1 <br />n, <br />n; <br />d <br />., <br />1 <br /> <br />