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<br />2 <br /> <br /> <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />1.0 Introduction <br /> <br />On July 25th 1999, a portion of the Saguache Creek basin located <br />northwest of the town of Saguache, Colorado experienced a localized yet intense <br />period of rainfall. Heavy rainfall flooded Saguache Creek and its tributaries both <br />north and south of Highway 114. The resultant flash flooding washed out of <br />roads and bridges along with the inundation of crop and rangeland located in <br />and along these flooded tributaries. The only rainfall observation associated wit <br />this storm was an unofficial report of approximately 7 inches of rain in three <br />hours noted by an unidentified camper, (See Figure 1) <br /> <br /> <br />Location <br /> <br />Figure 1 <br />of the Saguache Flash Flood of July 25, 1999 <br /> <br />This flood event was brought about by an intense stationary thunderstorm <br />complex that formed about mid-afternoon along the mountains to the northwest <br />of Saguache, Colorado, This storm was but one of three impressive flash <br />flooding events that occurred over western Colorado between July 25th and July <br />31 st. <br /> <br />About the same time that the Saguache flash flood occurred, a deep mudslide <br />closed 1-70 just east of the Eisenhower Tunnel with up to 12-20 foot deep mud <br />drifts across the highway, 1 -70 remained closed for almost 24 hours as crews <br />struggled to remove the mudslide, rocks and debriS from the interstate, Six days <br />