Debris Flow — Rio Blanco, Colorado

2018-10-04 · near Meeker, Rio Blanco, Colorado

Event narrative

Mud and rocks were deposited onto Colorado Highway 64 between Meeker and Rangely as a result of heavy rainfall on already saturated soils.

Wider weather episode

A potent disturbance embedded in a southwest flow aloft produced strong thunderstorms which moved across west-central and northwest Colorado. These storms produced heavy rain in a short amount of time on top of saturated soils from heavy rainfall the previous day. This led to some debris flows and flash flooding across portions of Mesa and Rio Blanco counties.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (40.0800, -108.1900)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 778452. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.