{"id":795297,"date":"2019-04-29T17:04:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-29T23:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/catastrophic-flooding-in-summit-county-unlikely-but-avalanche-debris-adds-uncertainty-to-runoff-season\/"},"modified":"2019-04-29T17:04:00","modified_gmt":"2019-04-29T23:04:00","slug":"catastrophic-flooding-in-summit-county-unlikely-but-avalanche-debris-adds-uncertainty-to-runoff-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/catastrophic-flooding-in-summit-county-unlikely-but-avalanche-debris-adds-uncertainty-to-runoff-season\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Catastrophic flooding\u2019 in Summit County unlikely, but avalanche debris adds uncertainty to runoff season"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Blue River flows Monday, April 29, in Silverthorne.<\/strong>
Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A blustery winter lifted area snowpack well above normal levels. However, it also produced avalanches of historic proportions that tumbled down into the valleys, bringing with them massive deposits of debris.<\/p>\n

And now comes runoff season. What could go wrong?<\/p>\n

Overall, Summit County officials said they aren\u2019t anticipating major issues. Despite that, they\u2019re still preparing themselves for anything.<\/p>\n

anything.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s tough because every year the primary tactic is wait and see,\u201d said Brian Bovaird, Summit County\u2019s director of Emergency Management. \u201cThis year we do have more snowpack, but if it\u2019s a gradual runoff and more gradual rains, the snowpack isn\u2019t concerning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Treste Huse, a hydrologist based out of the National Weather Service office in Boulder, said that despite a relatively dry April Summit County\u2019s snowpack is still well above normal at about 131% of average.<\/p>\n

Regardless, Huse noted that Summit\u2019s runoff \u2014 in part due to the Green Mountain and Dillon reservoirs \u2014 is typically \u201cwell behaved.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere might be minor flooding, but generally we don\u2019t have issues where we enter a flood stage,\u201d said Huse.<\/p>\n

Additionally, because of drought conditions last year there\u2019s lower than normal reservoir levels heading into the spring runoff. Todd Harman, a representative with Denver Water, said that while the Dillon Reservoir is typically about 85% full at this time of year, it\u2019s currently only at about 70%, meaning there\u2019s additional space to help capture excess runoff.<\/p>\n

WEATHER DEPENDENT<\/p>\n

But unfavorable weather conditions can still be a problem. Huse said that temperature and rain are the major deciding factors in determining how fast runoff comes off the peaks. In an ideal scenario, Summit County would enjoy warm days that melt the snow and ice, and below freezing temperatures at night to slow the process. Huse said that higher temperatures at night would create isothermal conditions wherein the snowpack is largely water, which could create rapid melting and increases in stream flow.<\/p>\n

Natalie Sullivan, a forecaster at the National Weather Service, said that Summit County should see snow continue to pile onto the slopes over the next week, with up to seven inches by Tuesday morning, up to 4 new inches Tuesday night and maybe more on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Of note, Sullivan also noted that this year\u2019s temperatures are consistent with previous years, with highs in the mid-30s to mid-40s, and nighttime lows in the mid-20s to mid-teens. Though, with Summit County\u2019s peak runoff season typically running from mid-May to early June, it still remains to be seen how well the weather will cooperate.<\/p>\n

AVY DEBRIS<\/p>\n

The bigger issue is obstructions in the waterways that could potentially spur flooding. Following a historic avalanche season<\/a> in Summit County and around the state, a considerable amount of debris crashed into the Tenmile Creek, creating concerns about natural dams and sudden flooding.<\/p>\n

\u201cOut of the ordinary this year is all of the debris from the avalanches in Tenmile Creek,\u201d said Bovaird. \u201cIt\u2019s not just trees, but boulders, debris and dirt that got into the waterways there. There are some concerns about debris washing down the creek towards Frisco. But that\u2019s not as concerning as if a lot of that debris blocks up the waterway, creates a dam, blocks the water and breaks loose.\u201d<\/p>\n

The result downstream would likely be flooding in Frisco. Bovaird said that any operations to try and remove or mitigate the debris in the water is unrealistic, and that all they could really do is monitor the situation and be prepared if major buildups to occur. Even if the debris does create issues, Bovaird said that his office doesn\u2019t expect \u201ccatastrophic\u201d flooding even if the worst comes to pass.<\/p>\n

Though, even minor flooding can be very dangerous. Bovaird said it takes just six inches of running water to sweep a person away, and 12 inches to wash away a vehicle.<\/p>\n

While experts with the emergency managers office and the U.S. Forest Service maintain they don\u2019t believe residents in the area will require any extra safety precautions than usual this season, there\u2019s still plenty of resources available for concerned individuals.<\/p>\n

Each year the county publishes a flood preparedness guide<\/a> with helpful information on their website. Denver Water also offers regular updates via e-newsletters and on their website<\/a> on water levels, stream flows and releases at the reservoir. The county and the towns within offer free sand and sandbags for residents and property owners.<\/p>\n

Finally, Bovaird recommended that residents take the time to sign up for Summit County Alert<\/a>, where county officials can send out warnings about potential flooding in certain areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not anticipating any catastrophic flooding,\u201d said Bovaird. \u201cBut we could see some things we usually don\u2019t. The biggest thing is just safety. It\u2019s important for people to just be aware of those hazards, and keep themselves safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Blue River flows Monday, April 29, in Silverthorne.Hugh Carey \/ hcarey@summitdaily.com A blustery winter lifted area snowpack well above normal levels. However, it also produced avalanches of historic proportions that tumbled down into the valleys, bringing with them massive deposits of debris. And now comes runoff season. What could go wrong? Overall, Summit County […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-795297","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-15 02:26:25","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=795297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795297\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=795297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=795297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=795297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}