An overnight storm that dumped rain over Evergreen and Kittredge triggered rockslides, washed out bridges, left muddy debris strewn across roads and caused major flooding to homes, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
The storm lingered over the Evergreen area for roughly two hours Wednesday night, dropping about 6 inches of rain, according to unofficial estimates cited by the Sheriff’s Office on its Facebook page.
The downpour set off “numerous” rockslides throughout U.S. 6 from Golden to the Clear Creek County line, according to Mark Techmeyer, spokesperson for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. The rockslides blocked lanes in both directions, which officials closed for about 12 hours beginning at 12:30 a.m. Thursday. They reopened the road after front-end loaders cleared debris.
There were no reported injuries, Techmeyer said.
Reports of flooding damage in Kittredge along Bear Creek note that water line markings on the sides of homes reached 2 to 3 feet and the rain washed out two private bridges near Troublesome Gulch.
The National Weather Service early Thursday reported on its Facebook page total precipitation of up to 3.5 inches in the Evergreen area, causing “rapid rises” along Bear Creek.
Meanwhile, the CoCoRaHS network of rain gauges showed about 3.22 inches of rain fell a few miles directly west of Kittredge overnight.
Overflow from Bear Creek spilled onto Colorado 74, which officials shut down for a few hours because of both flooding and debris. The highway between Morrison and Evergreen has since reopened, Techmeyer said.
“It was a lot of water and it was picking up everything it could in its path,” he said. “It’s a big mess in Evergreen and in Kittredge. They’ve got a lot of work to do.”
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office also reported that entrances to Jefferson County Parks and Open Space may be impacted.
Officials are asking the public to avoid driving near Bear Creek in Kittredge and to avoid driving through flood waters and debris or around road closures.
The National Weather Service urges residents to be especially cautious if they are driving in or near canyons in Evergreen, Kittredge, Idledale and Morrison.
The good news is that the worst of the storms for the area this week has likely passed, according to Zach Hiris, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Boulder office.
Forecasters are monitoring cloud cover, Hiris said, and conditions for Thursday afternoon and Friday will depend on how quickly temperatures warm up and the cloud cover burns off. Scattered showers and storms are possible both days, particularly Friday, which is expected to be a warmer and drier day “leading us into a pretty hot and breezy weekend for most of the area,” Hiris said.
“Thankfully, these storms look like they will be moving a little bit faster than they were yesterday,” he said, adding that they likely won’t produce as heavy of rain.