Water-logged region likely to get one more day of rain

Four condominiums on the city's northeast side were evacuated Saturday night and a portion of Woodmen Road was shut down because of continuing rain in Colorado Springs. And more rain is expected through Sunday.

Rain pelted the city for the third day in a row, filling gutters, flooding drainages and spurring a flash-flood watch extending across southeastern Colorado.

The watch wasn't expected to expire until this evening, when the soggy weather is expected to dissipate and give way to more seasonable conditions on Monday, with highs in the 70s and less chance for rain.
"We've basically got one more day of this," Paul Wolyn, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pueblo, said on Saturday evening.

Woodmen Road, at risk of flooding because of an unfinished retaining pond, is expected to remain closed from Black Forest Road to Marksheffel Road until at least 4 p.m. today.

The National Weather Service issued flood warnings for the Arkansas River in La Junta and the Purgatoire River near Las Animas in southeastern Colorado, where heavy rains over the last two days caused the rivers to swell.
In the mountains, the Colorado Department of Transportation closed Loveland Pass for a couple hours Saturday morning because of snow and ice and required chains on commercial vehicles on the westbound approach to the Eisenhower Tunnel. About six inches of snow was reported in Rocky Mountain National Park, shutting down Trail Ridge Road.

Since Thursday, Colorado Springs has received 2.45 inches of rain - roughly a third of the year's total of 6.7 inches. In a normal year, the city would have recorded 12.8 inches of rain by now.
"We're still dry for the year, but we made a dent in it," Wolyn said.

Fire crews were called to 2651 Avalanche Heights about 11:10 a.m. Saturday after a resident noticed that a large wall made of concrete blocks had shifted because of ground saturation, said Colorado Springs Fire Department spokesman Lt. Carl Lyman. The address is near the intersection of Vickers Drive and Union Boulevard.

Residents of four condos above the wall - eight people - were being asked to evacuate by nightfall because a buried gas line could be damaged if the wall gives way, Lyman said. If the retaining wall crumbles, a mud slide would likely terminate at the front porches of the condos below without much damage, he said.

City engineers were on hand to explore ways to fortify the structure. It wasn't immediately clear when those repairs would be complete.

City and state engineers also are inspecting a holding pond near Black Forest and Woodmen roads that filled and required that water be diverted to prevent a breech. The heavy flow of water may flood Woodmen Road or potentially undermine the roadbed causing a roadway collapse. Once the water flow is controlled, engineers will determine if the roadway is safe to reopen.

"We wanted to make sure we were prepared in case something happened," Colorado Springs Fire Lt. Carl Lyman said.
Even with the extensive rain that hit some parts of the region, "There haven't been any significant problems," Lyman said. "No stuck cars, nothing like that."

Heavy fog blanketed access roads to the new St. Francis Medical Center early Saturday. Rain pounded the Powers corridor, knocking out traffic signals. In areas northeast of downtown, rain caused localized street flooding.

Drivers who failed to slow down on Interstate 25 were at increased risk of hydroplaning, especially in the Monument area, said Colorado State Patrol Master Sgt. Tony Rasnake.

There were trace amounts of snow in the mountains overnight, but no reports of accumulation, said Chris Cuoco, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Junction. He said rain was expected Saturday night and that more snow might fall later.
"This storm is going to be fairly slow moving out," Cuoco said.

The cause was a low-pressure system that moved south from Wyoming into northwestern Colorado.

Gazette Reporter Andrea Brown and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact the writer: 636-0366 or lance.benzel@gazette.com