The remnants of another tropical storm sent waves of heavy rain across southern Colorado on Monday, threatening additional flash flooding in multiple riverside communities.
The risk of flooding along the San Juan River in Archuleta County, including in Pagosa Springs, jumped from minor to moderate on Monday, according to a flood warning from the National Weather Service.
Archuleta County Sheriff Mike Le Roux said “continuous rain” started early Monday in and near Pagosa Springs, and the water levels were slowly rising.
The county’s Office of Emergency Management issued a local flood warning alert just before 2 p.m. Monday that will remain in effect until 3 p.m. Wednesday.
“A weather warning indicates a confirmed, current and present danger to this area,” emergency officials stated in the alert, referencing the whole of Archuleta County. “Take necessary safety precautions. All low-lying areas near rivers and water courses are in a pre-evacuation status.”
As of 8 a.m. Monday, the San Juan River was sitting at roughly 7½ feet, about 1 foot below the bank, according to weather service meteorologists.
The river had risen to more than 9 feet by 1 p.m., according to federal monitoring stations.
At 11 feet, the water will approach the area around the River Center shopping complex, meteorologists said. At 12½ feet, portions of the San Juan River Campground will be flooded.
Weather service meteorologists expect the river’s water levels to peak just shy of 12 feet, according to the flood warning, which will remain active through Tuesday morning.
As of Monday afternoon, Le Roux said it didn’t appear that the level of flooding seen Saturday would make a reappearance. Still, county officials are prepping as though the waters are expected to surge at any moment, he said.
The river reached a height of 12.66 feet during the weekend floods, the federal monitoring stations show.
Sunny and dry weather on Sunday allowed the river to recede and the water levels to drop, Le Roux said. And while the rain did return Monday, it wasn’t pouring at the same intensity as over the weekend.
“Every hour that we get less rain is another hour closer to the end of the storm… and when we can start our recovery,” Le Roux said.
But the weather could change in a second, he said.
County officials began damage assessments Sunday, but information on the number of flooded homes or the flood’s impact on downtown Pagosa Springs was not yet available.
Archuleta County deputies spent Monday doing community outreach, warning residents of the rising river and the potential for more flooding. The shelter that evacuated residents used on Saturday is prepped and ready to reopen if needed, Le Roux said.
He estimated that between 50 and 70 homes were evacuated during the height of Saturday’s weather system. All mandatory evacuations were lifted Sunday.
County residents can pick up and fill sandbags to protect their homes at the Archuleta County Public Works Building and the Transfer Station in Arboles, according to the sheriff’s office.
A separate flood watch, also active between Monday and Tuesday mornings, covers parts of the Animas River Basin, the San Juan River Basin and the southwest San Juan Mountains. The watch includes the towns and cities of Pagosa Springs, Silverton, Rico, Durango, Bayfield and Ignacio.
Nearly 400 homes were threatened and roughly 100 were damaged by floodwaters in La Plata County over the weekend.
Vallecito Creek and Grimes Creek, about 15 miles north of Bayfield, saw “unprecedented flooding” Saturday, with river levels peaking at nearly 7,200 cubic feet per second. County officials said that’s more than double the normal water levels during a “significant spring runoff event.”
Rain gauges at Vallecito Lake recorded between 3 and 5 inches of precipitation across the area Friday and Saturday, according to La Plata County officials. Another 1 to 4 inches are expected to fall between Monday and Tuesday.
La Plata County officials plan to hold a community meeting at Bayfield Intermediate School, 720 East Oak Drive, at 6 p.m. Monday to discuss the flood and its impacts.
Get more Colorado news by signing up for our daily Your Morning Dozen email newsletter.