From The Pueblo Chieftain (Chris Woodka):
The runoff may have reached its peak Wednesday. “I’d be surprised if we went any higher than this, but I don’t think runoff is over by any means,” said Joe Flory, river operations manager for the Colorado Division of Water Resources. The Arkansas River peaked near 6,000 cubic feet per second at Avondale on Wednesday, but was dropping steeply after releases from Pueblo Dam were cut by 1,000 cfs in the morning. The reduction in flows reflects what is happening upstream of Lake Pueblo, rather than restricting dam releases if flows at Avondale top flood levels. Operations at the dam require flood storage if the U.S. Geological Survey gauge at Avondale tops 6,000 cfs…
At Parkdale, west of Canon City, flows dropped to 4,300 cfs Wednesday, following three days above 5,000 cfs. The levels dropped because cooler weather returned to the mountains to slow runoff and because some Eastern Slope storage rights came into priority, Flory said. The Pueblo Board of Water Works, Twin Lakes Reservoir and Canal Co., and cities with water rights in Turquoise Lake were all able to use in-basin storage rights during the peak flows, Flory said…
The ups and downs of the past few weeks, which can create spikes in the graphs tracking flows along the river, are a return to historical trends, where runoff comes in stages over several weeks as temperatures rise and fall. During the drought, snow was there one day and gone the next. Over the past few years, however, the runoff has taken more time, as the forests retained snow under the trees and in shaded valleys. “There’s a lot of snow you can’t see from the road, hidden under the trees,” Flory said.
From the Windsor Beacon (Marcy Miranda):
The Colorado Division of Wildlife Resources’ Web site reported that the Poudre River was running faster than 4,000 cfs (cubic feet per second) at 9:45 a.m. Tuesday and had reached a height of 8.14 feet above its normal running level. The record height for the Poudre River in Fort Collins is 10.5 feet. Flood stage is considered to be 12 feet. Windsor Public Works and Windsor-Severance Fire Protection District officials were closely monitoring two Windsor-area bridges which span the Poudre the Weld County Road 13 (County Line Road) bridge and the 7th Street (Weld County Road 17) bridge.
From the Fort Collins Coloradoan (Bobby Magill):
The river’s high flow early Wednesday morning reached just above 7.25 feet and about 2,900 cubic feet per second, or cfs. The Poudre reached a peak of just above 8 feet and nearly 4,000 cfs on Tuesday morning, according to U.S. Geological Survey data. “I think it’s done,” Poudre River Basin Commissioner George Varra said of the river’s rise. “The only variable is if we get a rainstorm on top of the snow, then we’re going to get another surge down here.”
The weather is shaping up to do just that, said Don Day of DayWeather in Cheyenne. As the National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for northeastern Colorado on Wednesday afternoon, Day’s forecast showed the chance for severe weather and tornadoes was very high in Larimer County and the Eastern Plains. That will likely be followed by heavy rain this weekend. “Rain falling on snow causes a lot of melting,” he said. “We should not consider ourselves out of the woods (for flooding) until Monday or Tuesday.” Steady rain will be widespread across the region on Friday night and Saturday, with another shot of moisture expected on Sunday. Depending on how the weekend storm shapes up, rain in the center of the storm will likely be measured in inches, he said.
From The Greeley Tribune (Mike Peters):
Just when they were hoping the flooding from the Poudre River would ease off, rising water forced the closure of three Greeley streets Wednesday and caused minor flooding at a west Greeley home. The flooding, which stems from the higher-than-normal melting snow runoff that has swelled the Poudre River, caused the closure of 71st Avenue, 83rd Avenue and 95th Avenue, all along the river on the west side of Greeley. In addition, the National Weather Service said water levels in the Poudre rose about 6 inches Tuesday night in the Greeley area, reaching 8.17 feet. Forecasters said they hoped the river would start receding Wednesday night.