Debris Flow in Rio Blanco County, Colorado

This incident was reported to the NWS Grand Junction office by the NWS Incident Meteorologist assigned to the Lee Wildfire. Debris flowed across County Road 5 from due to heavy rain on the adjacent Lee burn scar. A tractor trailer attempted to drive through the debris flow and became stuck. The truck was eventually unstuck and the road was cleared. No damages or injuries or fatalities were reported.

A plume of anomalously rich monsoonal moisture pushed into eastern Utah and western Colorado in the days prior to these debris flows. On the day of the flows, precipitable water values were in excess of 1.00 inch across the region. Daytime heating acting on the complex terrain of the region allowed for the formation of thunderstorms during the afternoon. These storms were capable of producing heavy rainfall with very high rain rates. Over the course of the day, multiple of these storms moved over the recent Lee and Elk RBX burn scars in Rio Blanco county, triggering multiple debris flows.