CatMan and I went for a bike ride today. It was "Bike to Work Day" so I wasn't sure it would be the best day to ride. We left around 2pm and we usually ride for around 4 hours so I figured the bike paths would be crowded on the way home. But since today was supposed to be the "good weather" day, we decided to brave the sea of humanity.
Since it was sorta hot and muggy we decided to ride west up Bear Creek towards Red Rocks. It was a lovely ride up to the top of Bear Creek Dam, and we stood around for a while chatting with a few other cyclists at the rest area at the top.
Then we noticed a storm blowing in over the foothills to our north and decided we'd better move along. Since the storm was to our north and moving east rather quickly, we decided that instead of just turning around and heading home, we'd have less chance of getting rained on if we rode about 10 miles south and hooked up with the South Platte at Chatfield.
So we headed southward and every time we'd peek over our shoulders at the storm, the clouds were bigger and blacker and more ominous looking. I didn't get a photo because honestly, we were just pedaling as fast as we could to try to stay south of the storm.
And we stayed completely dry until we got all the way to Chatfield - at which point we had to turn north. Within a mile or so the raindrops started falling and we ended up taking shelter in an underpass - one of the few that aren't flooded. It rained pretty hard for 30-40 minutes.
It was a good soaker to be sure, and I was good and grateful that we'd found shelter, but it wasn't really anything terribly out of the ordinary.
After about 45 minutes the rain slowed and we continued northward. It was around 5:45pm by then, so I was sorta expecting to see all of the "bike to workers" heading home, but we saw almost nobody. As we got further north we started to see tree branches down on the path, signs that had been blown over, and the few cyclists we did see looked a bit shell shocked.
It was clear that the storm had been worse in the northern part of the metro area, but even as I was riding home along the gulch by my home (which is still in South Denver), I could tell that a LOT of water had fallen.
This is the path I usually ride home.
It was still flooded in spots like this, but you could see by the bushes and grass that the water had been a good 3 feet higher at the peak of the storm.
At that point I detoured onto the streets where I started seeing a lot of cars with their hoods open and people trying to jump start them. Hmmm..
Anyhow, when I got home and turned on the news I learned just how bad it had been. Apparently the storm turned into a super cell that sat right over the city dumping over 2 inches of rain in less than an hour! There were trees down all over town, power outages, hail, and LOTS of flooding - even a few reports of people swept away in raging creeks and streams with water levels rising 4-5 feet in a matter of minutes. Fortunately, the hail missed my house, and there weren't any signs of damage.
But here are some photos I gathered from the web to show you what other folks in the city were dealing with:
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| Starting to understand all the cars that wouldn't start... |
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| Streets became rivers... |
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| Yikes! |
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| There's a bike path under there somewhere... and I think this is after the water levels had gone down a few feet... |
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| Happy Bike to Work Day!!! Those poor people! |
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| I think this may be my neighborhood creek at the height of the flooding... not sure since the photo wasn't labeled, but it looks like it. |
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| Near CatMan's house... those cars aren't in the street, they're parked at the side! The sidewalks are totally flooded. |
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| Scary!!! |
I did get a decent shot of the rainbow though...
Anyhow... I'm really, REALLY glad that we didn't ride north today, because if we had, this might have been a much different blog post. As it is, we just got a bit wet, and I can handle that!
Here's hoping the weather in your neck of the woods is a tad bit... um.... less noteworthy!
Too much excitement for me. I know you've said that the weather this year is worse than normal, but how much worse is it? My son is toying with a job in Ft. Collins.What should he expect?
ReplyDeleteWell, I haven't spent any time up in Ft. Collins, but the weather this year as WAAAY not normal! I mean, Colorado weather is always gonna be a bit unpredictable - it sorta goes with the geography of sitting right at the base of a big mountain range. But this year it's just crazy! I've NEVER seen this much water in Denver. Of course, the official rain measurements are taken out at DIA - which is a good 25 miles east of the city, so the numbers in the record books are pretty un-remarkable.
DeleteAnyhow, usually the weather is one of Colorado's big selling points. We have over 300 days of sunshine per year, mild temperatures in the winter and general all around beautifulness. So I'm really hoping this isn't the "new normal!"
OMG,that is insane! There must be a lot of chaos going on, with people not getting to their jobs, not getting work done and everything?
ReplyDeleteMaria
Ha! Now that's an angle I never would have thought of. Actually, most of our big storms tend to hit in the late afternoon, so I don't think people have had as much trouble getting to work as they have getting home! And all that water was gone within about an hour of it falling.
DeleteI saw some storm/flood footage of Denver on the national news this morning and thought of you. Glad your bike trip missed the brunt of that storm!
ReplyDeleteI think I have "Acu-weather-CatMan" to thank for the fact that we stayed mostly dry. He's amazingly good at reading the skies.
DeleteSheesh! Your flooding just goes on and on, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteIt's been crazy. We usually get about 15 inches of rain per year - and if you look at the official totals we're not that far off... but that's because the official rain totals are now taken at the airport, which is actually at least 25 miles east of the city. The measurements in the city are near 30 inches, and it's only June! Our wet season - the July monsoons, are yet to come!
DeleteOh boy oh boy. That is wild weather! We had a wet June a few years ago when it rained for something like 25 days of the month - quite depressing - but at least none of this crazy flooding!
ReplyDeleteOy! I think that would seriously throw me into a deep depression! We Colorado girls aren't used to this wet weather! :-)
DeleteWow, you get some really fierce weather! I am glad you are safe!!!
ReplyDeleteIt was crazy! But I sorta feel like I missed all of the excitement - just saw the aftermath!
DeleteI've been following your wet adventures. I truly hope you get dried out soon.
ReplyDeleteWe have also been having abnormally wet weather, when I can get into the garden I spend my time pulling weeds that are "growing like weeds" with all this rain.
Thank goodness there is no flooding
Stay safe
Marieann
I know what you mean about the weeds! I'm shocked at the amount of mowing I've had to do this spring. My lawn isn't used to getting regular water! :-)
DeleteI think you should consider staying within a couple miles of your house for the next few months. S#$t's getting crazy.
ReplyDeleteHa! Now there's a plan. Seriously, I'm really hoping this isn't the "new normal!"
DeleteI feel really bad complaining about "all" of the rain we've had now! It is nothing compared to what you've been dealing with.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a remarkable spring to be sure. I'm not sure our rain totals would be that impressive by the numbers, it's just that this place isn't built to handle that much water!
DeleteIsn't is shocking how few people actually pay attention to their surroundings and then plan accordingly. I can't tell the number of times I felt a change in the weather that the forecast didn't call for and was able to get out of harms way. I am constantly amazed that our weathermen/meteorologists are able to be paid so well and have such job security with how faulty their forecasts are.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about the weather forecasts. I used to constantly get caught off guard on bike rides, wearing the wrong type of clothing because I listened more to the forecasts than to my senses. I am getting better though!
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