September 2013 Southwest Floods
Science Center Objects
Learn more about USGS flood activities related to the September 2013 Southwest Floods that occurred when rains brought major flooding to parts of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah.
Unusual end-of-summer rains produced flooding in the Southwest United States, including devastating floods in the Colorado Front Range and major floods in central New Mexico.
Colorado Flood Info
The three-day rainfall of nearly 13 inches caused major flooding in river basins near Boulder, Colorado. Available flood data includes:
- NWS Service Assessment: The Record Eastern Colorado Floods of September 11-17, 2013. (published June 2014)
- Exceedance Probability Analysis (PDF) for the Colorado Flood Event, 9-16 September 2013 from the Hydrometeorological Design Studies Center (HDSC), National Weather Service, NOAA, released September 17, 2013
- 7 Day Precipitation Map
- 30 Day Precipitation Map
USGS Activities in the News:
- NBC NEWS (Sep 13): Colorado disaster: What is a 100-year flood? It's not what you think.
- StormChasingVideo.com (Sep 12): Colorado's Big Thompson Canyon Extreme Flash Flooding
- Payton Peterson (Sep 13): Longmont Downtown to East - Aerial Footage
- ABC News (Sep 12): Dramatic Rescue as Flash Floods Submerge Colorado Driver
New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah Flood Info
Major flooding occurred in the Upper Gila River and Paria River Basins in Arizona, Utah, and new Mexico, beginning on September 9th, resulting in road closures and damage to homes. Click the images below to view flooding along the Rio Puerco river.
USGS Activities in the News: