This Month in Climate History: June 3, 1921 Colorado Flooding

[knocker]

What started out as just another day in June over 90 years ago, rapidly turned into one that would never be forgotten in the town of Pueblo, Colorado. A cloudburst enveloped the town the afternoon of June 3, 1921. During a typical cloudburst, over half an inch of rain may fall in a matter of minutes, and that is exactly what happened in Pueblo, creating devastating consequences for the heart of the town where the Arkansas River and Fountain Creek meet. At about the same time the rains were drenching the downtown area, there was another downpour about 30 miles north over Fountain Creek. According to a Climatological Data Report from the Denver Weather Bureau Station maintained in the NCDC archive, while there was no official Weather Bureau rainfall reporting station in Pueblo at the time, well-authenticated records indicated that a total of 6 inches or more fell between June 3 and June 5. Although private citizens measured many of the reported rainfall amounts in tubs and buckets, the remarkable erosion in the area also confirmed the exceptional amount of precipitation reported.

 

 

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/news/month-climate-history-june-3-1921-colorado-flooding