Debris Flow — San Miguel, Colorado

2020-07-27 · near Telluride, San Miguel, Colorado

Event narrative

A mudslide that measured 35 feet wide and was 3 to 5 feet deep occurred around midday and blocked Bridal Veil Road. More than 40 people were temporarily stranded while county road crews created a temporary passage. Additionally, boulders the size of small refrigerators were seen tumbling down. Radar estimates showed one hour rain rates of up to half an inch.

Wider weather episode

Monsoonal moisture continued to advect into western Colorado on the backside of an area of high pressure. Numerous showers and thunderstorms developed over the area on July 27th, many of which produced periods of moderate to heavy rain. After receiving 1 to 3 inches of rain on average over the course of a few days, portions of southwest Colorado were well saturated and vulnerable to flash flooding and debris flows. A couple of mudslides were reported across San Miguel and Ouray counties as a result of the heavy rainfall.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.9193, -107.7751)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 896648. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.