Flash Flood — Costilla, Colorado

2019-09-06 · near La Veta Pass, Costilla, Colorado

Event narrative

Costillo County Emergency Manager reported flash flood and rock slide in Forbes Park, CO off the spring burn scar. Several dozen 36 inch boulders moved down the hill and a newly built retention pond was nearly blown out by the force of the water. 15-20 tons of sediment now fill the new pond.

Wider weather episode

A severe thunderstorm developed just north of the region and drifted into northern El Paso County on the evening of September 6th. As the storm moved towards I-25 it began to produce large hail. One report of quarter size hail was sent by a trained spotter. The storm continued to move to the east-southeast before dissipating.

Across Costilla and Huerfano counties, heavy showers and storms moved in from the San Luis Valley. These storms rode up the west side of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains impacting the Spring burn scar and then moved towards the east before dissipating across the Colorado plains.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.5200, -105.2600)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 857836. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.