Shortly after a burn ban was enacted in Pitkin and Eagle counties, an apocalyptic storm broke over the midvalley during the Monday afternoon rush hour, causing mudslides, lightning-sparked fires and hail damage.
A mudslide blocked Lower River Road about one mile from its junction with Upper River Road and forced the closure of the road from 5-9 p.m., frustrating drivers seeking to escape the weather-induced crawl on Highway 82. Another mudslide impacted travel on Woody Creek Road near Lenado, but affected fewer people.
There was some flooding on Highway 82 near Watson Divide, which prompted authorities to name the “Watson Divide River,” which was crossing the highway from the south to north, said Pitkin County Sheriff’s Deputy Ann Stephenson. Luckily there were no accidents or injuries, said Stephenson, who theorized that it was probably because rush-hour traffic was moving slower through the area than it normally would and so drivers had time to notice the hazard and take caution with it.
“It was pretty intense,” said Stephenson of the storm which started at about 4:45 p.m. and heavily impacted a swath of the midvalley from approximately Aspen Village to Lazy Glen. “It was a real gully washer.”
The storm lasted about 45 minutes, Stephenson estimated, and delivered intense rain, hail and strong winds. Heavy precipitation made it look like it had just snowed, she said. In the Basalt area, where not as much rain was falling, lightning sparked a few fires. Two of the fires were on Basalt Mountain and in the Wildcat Ranch area, where smoke and flames were reported.
Lightning also likely caused a fire that had burned 100 acres southwest of Parachute as of press time.
In the eye of the storm was the Gardner residence, on Lower River Road about one-and-a-half miles from the Old Snowmass Conoco turnoff, which received 4-5 inches of hail in the yard and water pouring through light fixtures and ceilings into the house.
Donna Gardner was home alone when the storm broke sometime between 4:30 and 5 p.m., said her daughter Kelli Gardner. A microburst of hail that acted like a twister hit the house and “spun trees around,” said Kelli, bringing down a fairly large cottonwood tree in the yard. Donna, fearing that other large cottonwoods on the property might come down, took shelter in the laundry room.
Kelly described the storm as just one dark cloud sitting over the house that unleashed pea-sized hail and really strong winds.
“As many years as I’ve been here I haven’t seen anything like that,” she said. “The hail was just wild.”
Hail sliding off the roof piled up 2 feet deep on a porch, she said, and caused flooding in the kitchen. Water was pouring through light fixtures and speakers, damaged a stove and flooded into the master bedroom. It caused electrical surges and the fire department advised the Gardners to turn off their electricity until everything dried off.
“We got more than everywhere else,” Kelli said, and because it was so warm and the hail piled up so quickly and melted it was able to get into everything. “This was a freak show.”
Elsewhere, mud and debris washed onto Watson Divide near the top but was cleared fairly quickly. In Snowmass Canyon, huge volumes of water washed down the hillsides, some of it cascading over the retaining walls but not impacting traffic, said Stephenson.
“I have not seen that kind of volume in quite a while,” she said.
Rivers rose quickly and the Roaring Fork was reportedly red with mud. Fishermen in the Roaring Fork River were advised to come out of the river as the rushing muddy water sped toward them.
“It was a pretty good show,” said Stephenson, who was manning the Lower River Road roadblock. “I’m just glad nobody got hurt.”
lutz@aspendailynews.com
