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Boulder Creek CZO assessing flood in Lower Gordon Gulch

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Debris at stream gauge for Lower Gordon Gulch. Photo Nate Rock

18 Sep 2013

Image: Debris at stream gauge for Lower Gordon Gulch. Photo Nate Rock [Click image to enlarge]

Boulder

BcCZOII member, Nate Rock, was able to access Lower Gordon Gulch via Golden Gate on 17 September 2013 only to find that the GGL gauge had been destroyed by the epic Boulder County floods. Fortunately the ISCO did collect 24 samples every 2 hours beginning on 11 September and the time lapse camera (see below) was also still functioning. These measurements will provide useful information to the BcCZOII as they begin to piece together data collected during the storm.

The ISCO has a new battery and is sampling every 4 hours. Nate was also able to get a pretty good manual discharge measurement and marked the high flow points around the gauge.

Nate is planning to head to Upper Gordon Gulch in the morning (Sept 18th) and will update when he is back in Boulder.

Stream gauge at Lower Gordon Gulch. Photo Nate Rock

Debris at stream gauge for Lower Gordon Gulch. Photo Nate Rock

Time lapse annimation of the flood at Lower Gordon Gulch

Gordon Gulch is a relatively small basin (3.7617 km^2) in the mountains above Boulder, Colorado at an elevation of 2588 m. The CZO camera captures the influx of the water at the stream gauge and then cover and wash the gauge away (frames from Sept 9-17 2013).

Stream gauge at Lower Gordon Gulch. Photo Nate Rock

Debris at stream gauge for Lower Gordon Gulch. Photo Nate Rock

News Category:
RESEARCH | INFRASTRUCTURE

Photos

Boulder creek catastrophic flooding

Failure at about Forest St. from North Boulder Park (photo credit: Suzanne Anderson)

The Gilbert White Memorial Flood marker (top of the black base is the 50 year flood level). (photo credit: Suzanne Anderson)

Pictures of the flow upstream and downstream of the bridge and the flooding on 75th east of the walden ponds. (photo credit: Harihar Rajaram)

Photos taken on a trail run this morning - base of Flatiron 1, above Chatauqua. Photo Noah Fierer

Stream gauge at Lower Gordon Gulch. Photo nate Rock

Large rock removed out of the debris stuck under the bridge! Photo nate Rock

Post storm at Upper Gordon ISCO washed 15 m Upper Gordon Gulch. Photo Nate Rock

Post storm at Upper Gordon Gulch Stream Gauge

Sampling at Upper Gordon Gulch post storm (Need caption)

Upper Gordon post storm (Need caption)

Erosion on the road at Upper Gordon Gulch

Water flowing at Upper Gordon Gulch

Rachel Gabor, Aneliya Sakaeva, and Chris Jaros helped collect samples of floodwater from Boulder Creek, Monday Sptember 16 2013

Sampling the Boulder Creek floodwater on Monday Sptember 16 2013 with a bucket method

Sampling the Boulder Creek floodwater on Monday Sptember 16 2013

Boulder Flood 2013 (Photo Nate Rock)

Boulder Flood 2013 (Photo Nate Rock) Lower Gorden Gulch

Boulder Flood 2013 (Photo Nate Rock)

Boulder Flood 2013 (Photo Nate Rock) people watching flood waters

Boulder Flood 2013 (Photo Nate Rock) Boulder Creek in Boulder

Boulder Flood 2013 (Photo Nate Rock) Road closure

Boulder Flood 2013 (Photo Nate Rock)

Boulder Flood 2013 (Photo Nate Rock) collecting samples

Boulder Flood 2013 (Photo Nate Rock) Debris in road

Boulder Flood 2013 (Photo Nate Rock)

Boulder Flood 2013 (Photo Nate Rock) Sampling

Boulder Flood 2013 (Photo Nate Rock)

Boulder Flood 2013 (Photo Nate Rock) Flooded highway

Boulder Flood 2013 (Photo Nate Rock) Rescue helicopter

September 12th 2013. Wettest day on record.

Prior to Wednesday, the single wettest day on record was July 31, 1919, when 4.80 inches of rain were recorded, according to Bob Henson, a science writer at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. (Daily Camera POSTED: 09/12/2013 04:54:28 AM MDT)

Sept 17 pictures of Stream gauge at Lower Gordon Gulch added.

Sept 18 pictures of Stream gauge at Lower Gordon Gulch added.