The National Weather Service has declared a flash-flood warning from noon to 9 p.m. today for all of Western Colorado up to the Wyoming state line and west into the southeastern quarter of Utah.
It will be the third day in a row when heavy rains and flash flooding are possible.
It missed you today, but it may not miss you tomorrow, meteorologist Jim Pringle with the Grand Junction office of the weather service said Wednesday evening. Theres a good probability youll see some tomorrow.
Weather service forecasters said flash floods are most likely in the steep terrain of the southwestern San Juan Mountains and along the narrow slot canyons in southeastern Utah.
The flash floods are possible because of predictions of heavy rain through tonight and into Friday. There is at least a 60 percent chance of heavy rain this afternoon and tonight and 50 percent Friday afternoon and evening, Pringle said. Deep monsoonal rains continue to be likely through the weekend, so the potential for localized flash floods will continue through Sunday.
The rains already have saturated ground soil, leading to mudslides Monday on the train tracks of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad along the north Animas River and Lizard Head Pass and Tuesday on Colorado Highway 145 near Norwood. More rock and mudslides are expected as soil becomes even more saturated.
What you want is a nice rain like Ouray had today, about 0.15 of an inch when it rained lightly for about two hours so it soaked in, Pringle said.
Pringle said one or two lanes on Interstate 70 near Eagle were closed temporarily Wednesday because of water, mud and debris on the road.
His office had received reports of half an inch of rain in 30 minutes at the official climate station in Cortez, and radar showed more than 2 inches in the western two-thirds of San Miguel County, where it is too sparsely populated for on-the-ground reporting.
Most significant rainfall on Wednesday occurred in some pretty remote areas, he said. It just wasnt in Southwest Colorado. Garfield and Rio Blanco counties both received in excess of 2 inches, Pringle said.
Heavy rains in the mountains west of Boulder washed out a road two miles northwest of Nederland.
Nederland police also reported hail and flooded streets in town Wednesday, although the storm had weakened by late afternoon, and the road was reopened. The area was one of several across Colorado under flash-flood warnings or advisories as the monsoon season took hold.
The National Weather Service says the Nederland area has received 2 to 4 inches of rain. Snowplows were used to move the hail that piled up several inches deep on the ground west of Nederland.
[email protected] The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Parts of El Paso County and western Colorado also are reporting heavy rainfall. A few roads have been washed out in the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests.
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