Alpine debris flows triggered by a 28 July 1999 thunderstorm in the central Front Range, Colorado

On 28 July 1999, about 480 alpine debris flows were triggered by an afternoon thunderstorm along the Continental Divide in Clear Creek and Summit counties in the central Front Range of Colorado. The thunderstorm produced about 43 mm of rain in 4 h, 35 mm of which fell in the first 2 h. Several debris flows triggered by the storm impacted Interstate Highway 70, U.S. Highway 6, and the Arapahoe Basin ski area. We mapped the debris flows from color aerial photography and inspected many of them in the field. Three processes initiated debris flows. The first process initiated 11% of the debris flows and involved the mobilization of shallow landslides in thick, often well vegetated, colluvium. The second process, which...

Categories: Publication; Types: Citation, Journal Citation; Tags: Colorado, Geomorphology, North American monsoon, alpine environment, alpine soils, All tags... debris flow, front range, rainfall, topography, Fewer tags