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<br /> <br />. <br /> <br />III. 1995 SPRING/SUMMER FLOOD EVENTS <br /> <br />bllroduction <br /> <br />Flood Threat '95 was the title chosen by the Colorado Flood Task Force and television <br />and radio stations alike as Colorado braced for what appeared to be the most serious flooding in <br />10 years (and possible record flooding statewide) from the melting of one of the state's largest <br />recorded snowpacks. Colorado didn't have particularly unusual winter weather in 1994-95, at <br />least until mid-April. At that point the snowpack was well on its way to being below average. <br />There were concerns about possible drought. However, the wet spring that began in mid-April <br />refused to leave the state until early to mid-June, causing an excess accumulation of wet snow <br />in many of the state's river basins. At a time when the snow that was already on the ground <br />should have been melting, not only was that snow remaining frozen, but new snow was <br />accumulating on top of it which resulted in extremely high (1200%) snowpack percentages. <br /> <br />; <br /> <br />But we got lucky!! When our wannest temperatures of the snowmelt flood season <br />occurred on June 14-16 (3 days in the 90's), cooler weather came to the rescue with a record low <br />high temperature of 59 degrees at Grand Junction on June 17. This cooling trend moderated the <br />snowmelt across Colorado. When hot weather returned in July, many of the state's mountain <br />watersheds did not have enough snowpack left to cause serious flood problems. (Residents of <br />the Roaring Fork River and Clear Creek valleys would certainly dispute that!) <br /> <br />Prior to the spring runoff season, the CWCB developed a model "Pre-Disaster Flood <br />Hazard Mitigation Plan" for use by local governments. Buena Vista, Poncha Springs, Pitkin <br />County, Frisco, and Summit County used parts of the plan prior to high water in their <br />corrununities. A number of corrununities began their own efforts at preparing for the flooding <br />which they anticipated. Unfortunately other communities did not prepare quite as well as they <br />should have. <br /> <br />1995 Floodinf! <br /> <br />During the entire period from mid-May to mid-July there was high water somewhere in <br />each Colorado's four major river basins (South Platte, Arkansas, Rio Grande and Colorado). <br />Depending on the time and on the specific stream reach, the high water was attributable to <br />thunderstorms, general rainfall, snowmelt, rain on snow and failure of "darns" of snow and ice <br />or debris. There were flows ranging from minor nuisance flows of a 2-year frequency all the <br />way to 100-year flows. Small drainages that are normally dry and large rivers all experienced <br />high water. <br />