We All Wanted Rain, But Too Much Could Cause Severe Flooding In High Park Fire Burn Area
I was not alone in being exuberant about rain finally falling here in Colorado. I let out an audible cheer when rain started splattering outside the studio windows this afternoon and within minutes Facebook was littered with comments from people praising the long-awaited rain.
However, these heavy rains could cause some severe flooding problems in the High Park Fire area.
According to The Coloradoan, the National Weather Service is calling for the possibility of rainfall rates of up to two inches per hour this weekend which could mean extreme flash flood danger, especially in the High Park Fire area.
With grasses and other groundcover incinerated in the fire, there’s nothing to stop the water from just pouring off slopes, especially where the fire has “sealed” the soil beneath an impervious layer of burned vegetation, preventing any water absorption at all, all of that water just rolls off the hillsides, carrying enormous amounts of ash and debris with it.
Great, not enough water before and now we might be getting too much. I think we might not be on Mother Nature’s good side right now.
Fingers crossed for lots of rain, but not lots of flooding.
PS - You can keep up to date with the weather this weekend with the interactive radar on our weather page.
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