Watch out for High Flows & Possibly Flooding of Banks

The Uncompahgre River’s flows are beginning to increase and will peak in May, June or early July, due to spring runoff from snowmelt. As you can see from the graph above, the flows have remained above 50 cubic feet per second (cfs) at the stream gauge downstream and north of Ouray for the past three weeks. While flows are generally below 50 cfs from December through March, they will reach 1,000 cfs or above in June or July as is the typical annual pattern. 

Though flooding is not expected, unusual weather events or land and rock slides can raise stream levels to overflow banks. The higher flows are also faster, so extra caution is recommended around rivers and creeks over the next couple months.