Floods & Precipitation Events

Flash Floods Teaching Box: Flash floods happen when quick and heavy rainfall causes placid waterways to turn into raging torrents. This teaching box is filled with explorations and readings that help secondary students learn the science of flash flooding. Students will learn that storms with unusually heavy rainfall can cause a flood, that the shape of the land and the ability of the ground to hold water influences whether a flood is likely, and they will learn how flash flood risk and probability is assessed. Get your feet wet by bringing the science of flash floods to your classroom. 

Flood Risk, Planning and Response Learning Activity: Floods happen, even in Boulder County. In this learning activity students learn why floods happen, how to prepare for them and what to do in a disaster.
                                          Student Guide   –   Teacher Guide   –   Activity Guide

Flood Risk Planning and Response: In this unit, students learn about 100 year floods and why floods happen, how to prepare for floods and what to do in a disaster. Student Guide  /  Teacher Guide

Record rain, steep canyons fueled Colorado floods: Video explaining the atmospheric and geographic conditions that set up events of September 2013.

NOAA / National Weather Service Colorado Precipitation Maps: The National Weather Service developed a series of maps showing annual exceedance probabilities (AEPs) of the rainfall for the Colorado event that started on September 9, 2013. The Colorado event delivered total rainfall amounts that exceeded 15 inches in some locations as it slowly moved through the area and caused extensive river flooding. These maps highlight the rarity of this event.