Most natural hazards are related to weather in one way or another. Colorado's weather in 2016 was a seesaw back and forth between very wet conditions and drought. The new year started out with lots of mountain snow in January and was followed by a record warm and dry February. March through June 15 was very wet, followed by gradually intensifying drought conditions through the remainder of the year. Several polar vortex outbreaks caused below-zero weather in November and December punctuated by mild, warm and dry weather.
The warm weather in February caused freeze-thaw conditions and Glenwood Canyon had a major rockslide near the Hanging Lake tunnel that closed I-70 for weeks afterward. Hwy 550 above Ouray had another rockslide in February that partially blocked the highway. Smaller rockslides were reported in Manitou Springs, Clear Creek Canyon, I-70 near Lawson, and Telluride. Landslides took out the Kebler Pass road, Hwy 90 in Uncompagrhe and Hwy 145 outside Telluride.
5 people were killed and 5 injured in avalanches and ski area accidents in 2016. 4 of those killed were skiers that hit trees at ski resorts during March. 2 backcountry skiers had the ride of their life at over 60 mph when they were swooped on top of a massive avalanche at Red Mountain Pass. Miraculously, both were uninjured but the local sheriff issued speeding tickets for crossing Hwy 550 above the speed limit.
The wet conditions in the spring caused very high river levels, just below flood stage. 9 people drowned, mostly in rafting accidents caused by the high water. It was a year that had more people injured or killed falling off mountain trails than I can remember in the past 30 years. 6 people died and 12 were injured in 2016. 4 incidents took place in Rocky Mountain National Park, 2 on Long's Peak.
It was a quiet tornado season with the exception of a tornado in Wray that injured 5 people and a downburst in El Paso county that killed an elderly man after his trailer home rolled over. Severe thunderstorms brought high winds, lightning and hail in July. A golfer in Arvada was killed after being struck by lightning. Several feet of hail fell in Denver and Colorado Springs along with hail storms causing heavy roof damage. A climber on Long's Peak was struck by lightning, fell 300 feet and broke his neck, miraculously rescued by a firefighter and his nurse wife from Boise who happened by shortly after the fall.
Bear encounters were far less in 2016 than in 2015 because food stocks were plentiful after a wet spring. This didn't stop 5 bears in separate incidents from opening car doors, getting in, closing the door, and then destroy the vehicle trying to get out. There were 2 moose charging incidents - one in Steamboat Springs and the other in the Indian Peaks wilderness. There were the usual number of pet snatchings by mountain lions this year but a rare mountain lion attack took the headlines in June. A 5-year-old boy was attacked by a juvenile mountain lion near Aspen while playing in the yard at home around sunset. His brave mom was shocked to see the mountain lion grab her son's head and she came to the rescue, kicking and beating the cat and prying the jaws loose. An ER visit was necessary but the boy survived with non-life-threatening injuries.
100+ mph winds returned to Colorado after a long absence. In February a record 148 mph gust was recorded above Monarch Pass. A woman in Larkspur was seriously injured when the February windstorm launched a metal shed that struck her. March high winds downed power lines and knocked over vehicles. 2 chinook blasts in December produced 4 readings over 100 mph in Bouder County in December. Windstorms downed trees onto houses and power lines which were responsible for starting a number of wildfires.
The drought produced numerous wildfires, many started by arsonists. 2 drifters from Alabama had an illegal camp fire that got out of control and burned 600 acres and destroyed 8 houses near Nederland. They were fined $1 million. The Beaver Creek fire north of Steamboat Springs started in June and burned over 38,000 acres through November and cost over $30 million in firefighting costs. A teenage arsonist that started the fire was arrested in October. The Hayden Pass fire near Crestone started in July and burned more than 16,000 acres. In October, high winds downed a power line and started the Junkins fire near Westcliffe. Fanned by 80mph winds, 15,000 acres were scorched in just 12 hours. Aggressive firefighting limited the total damage to 19,000 acres over a 3 week period.
No 2 years of weather have ever been the same in Colorado. I have no predictions for 2017 other than it will be different than 2016.
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