Soggy basements, closed buildings, impassable roads after Monday deluge

The impressive thunderstorm that rattled through Larimer County on Monday night left a trail of flooded basements, swollen retention areas and impassable roads Tuesday, with weather experts warning of another day of potential flooding across Colorado.

Monday's storm dumped as much as 3.3 inches of rain in central Fort Collins, according to measurements taken through the volunteer CoCoRaHS rain gauge program launched in the aftermath of the city's deadly Spring Creek Flood of 1997. Measurements in other parts of the city and county ranged widely, with gauges in Wellington measuring between 2 and 4.4 inches of precipitation.

The official Fort Collins weather station on the Colorado State University campus measured 3.83 inches of precipitation from the storm, but that amount might still be adjusted based on variations among the various gaugues at the station and the difficulty of acquiring measurements in such heavy rainfall, state climatologist Russ Schumacher said.

Flooding from the storm wreaked havoc across the area, as underground Old Town Fort Collins businesses like Blue Agave Grill and Sonny Lubick's Steakhouse could be seen cleaning up the water Monday night. Four buildings on the Colorado State University campus were closed Monday night into Tuesday for crews to perform cleaning and repairs.

Fort Collins police also temporarily closed the intersection of College Avenue and Mulberry Street late Monday due to standing water. Farther west, Buckhorn Road (Larimer County 44H) was rendered impassable Monday night, according to a Larimer County emergency alert. County officials had not updated the road's status as of 2 p.m. Monday.

Floodwaters inundate Old Town Fort Collins eateries

Dinner rush took on a new meaning for Blue Agave Grill, a garden-level restaurant near Oak Street Plaza, and Old Town’s underground Sonny Lubick Steakhouse.

The heavy rain brought an estimated 2 to 3 feet of standing water to both restaurants' doors Monday, Blue Agave general manager Mark Sluss and Sonny Lubicks Steakhouse owner Colin Randall told the Coloradoan on Tuesday.

The restaurants both ended up flooding with 2 to 3 inches of water, Sluss and Randall said. Blue Agave’s diners were led out through the restaurant’s kitchen after it closed around 8:30 p.m. Monday, Sluss said.

Some of Sonny Lubick’s diners elected to hunker down with glasses of wine and wait out the storm before being led out the eatery’s back exit, Randall said.

Blue Agave planned to reopen at noon Tuesday while Sonny Lubick Steakhouse remained closed. The steakhouse plans to reopen Wednesday.

Hail shatters lights in Old Town Square

Tuesday's cleanup included work to remove glass from lights that shattered due to hail in Old Town Square on Monday night.

The downtownfoco Instagram account showed video of glass bits being removed by vacuuming equipment. "Huge thanks to the Parks Department for the legwork on cleanup!" the account posted in a comment.

Four CSU buildings closed Tuesday for flood cleanup

Crews worked through the night at Colorado State University to remove water from a half-dozen or so buildings that were flooded by water coming under doors, a university spokesperson said Tuesday morning. Flooding ranged from an inch or two of water to as much as 2 feet in one building, a facilities worker said.

There was a “brief power outage” Monday night in some residence halls, spokesperson Jennifer Dimas said, but power was restored later that night.

The retaining walls well beyond the usual banks of the lagoon west of Lory Student Center served their purpose, collecting a significant amount of water from the west side of campus that otherwise might have spilled into buildings, university spokesperson Nik Olsen said.

Mitigation projects undertaken following the 1997 Spring Creek Flood minimized the impacts of this storm, he said.

Morgan Library, along with Eddy and Rockwell halls and the forestry building, were all closed Tuesday to allow for additional cleanup work. Students impacted by those closures should contact their instructors for additional information, and staff should contact their supervisor. Officials hoped to reopen all four buildings as soon as possible, Olsen said.

A safety alert was sent to students and staff Monday night, and campus officials met at 5 a.m. Tuesday to share information and assess the situation, he said.

“We couldn’t have done it without our crews, who came in on calls throughout the night; our custodial crews, who were already on; and our police officers, who minimized risk to students and staff,” Olsen said. "Fortunately, nobody was injured our hurt.”

Student and parent orientation tours were operating as usual Tuesday morning, and construction work on projects across campus appeared to be uninterrupted by the rainfall the previous night.

Flood watch extends across much of Colorado for Tuesday

Much of Colorado, especially the Interstate 25 corridor north of Pueblo and the Eastern Plains, is under a National Weather Service flood watch through the end of the day Tuesday. Per the watch, flooding caused by excessive rainfall is possible across much of the state, with thunderstorms capable of producing up to 2 inches of rain in 45 minutes or less expected to roll through the state Tuesday afternoon and evening.

In Fort Collins, there's a chance of thunderstorms, with probability rising from 20% during the day to 70% Tuesday evening before 11 p.m.

A more than 50% chance of precipitation will persist during afternoons through Friday, with daytime highs in the mid- to upper-80s and overnight lows in the high 50s.

And during all this rain, a hay fire?

Despite Monday night's wet conditions, Poudre Fire Authority firefighters were sent to the scene of a hay bale fire in northeast Fort Collins. The fire broke out in the area of Country Club Road and Thoreau Drive, producing impressive flames but no danger to buildings or safety. Firefighters remained at the scene Monday night into Tuesday to ensure the fire didn't spread. A pungent smell from the smoldering hay continued to be noticed by area neighbors on Tuesday.

Hay that becomes too wet can heat rapidly, smolder and spontaneously combust in the right circumstances, though PFA did not point to a specific cause of Monday's fire.

PFA also responded to a report of a tuber in distress on the Poudre River late Monday but ultimately found no evidence of that report being factual following a search involving a foot search of the river and a PFA drone.

47 years ago, the Big Thompson Flood killed 144 people

Monday was also the 47th anniversary of the devastating Big Thompson Flood of 1976, which killed 144 people in Larimer County and stands as Colorado's deadliest natural disaster.

On July 31, 1976, a year's worth of rain fell on the mountains west of Loveland in 70 minutes, creating a deluge that scoured the canyon between Estes Park and Loveland. A foot of rain fell in the area in just more than an hour, sending a wall of water down the canyon that destroyed everything in its path.

An estimated 3,500 people were camping, fishing and relaxing in the canyon that night. Along with those killed, five more have never been found.

Storm's start makes this wettest July in 26 years

The measurements taken at the official weather station included 1.39 inches of total precipitation before the daily observation period ended at 8 p.m. MDT for Monday (.01 inches was recorded before the start of the storm) and 2.45 inches Tuesday, Schumacher said. That pushed the monthly total for July to 4.06 inches, making it the wettest July in Fort Collins since the 6.71 inches recorded in 1997.

CSU's weather station uses 8 p.m. MDT (7 p.m. MST) as the starting point for each 24-hour day, Schumacher said.

Coloradoan reporters Kelly Lyell and Erin Udell contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Fort Collins thunderstorm leaves wake of flooding, impassable roads