Debris Flow — San Miguel, Colorado

2024-08-11 · near Telluride, San Miguel, Colorado

Event narrative

Steady heavy rains during the evening of August 11th resulted in multiple mudslides and flooding overnight in east Telluride, Bridal Veil Falls Area and Tomboy Road. This resulted in closures of several nearby passes including from the East Spur at the Town of Telluride entrance east to Black Bear, Black Bear Pass itself, Tomboy Road and Imogene Pass. Time of event was based on radar estimate.

Wider weather episode

Deep monsoonal moisture remained in place with convection ongoing during the morning hours. This led to a later start to convection on the afternoon of August 11th but precipitable water values climbed to over an inch as deep monsoonal moisture continued to increase from the south, combined with a shortwave trough and sufficient lift from an upper level jet helped provide support for stronger storms towards the late afternoon and evening that led to 1 to 2 inch per hour rainfall rates on top of already saturated soils leading to significant debris flows and flash flooding, especially across southwest Colorado.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.9174, -107.7602)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1208346. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.