Colorado Weather: Flash Flood Threat Ramps Back Up In The Mountains

DENVER (CBS4) - After much less rain in Colorado on Sunday, monsoon moisture will bring widespread thunderstorms to the mountains on Monday causing a threat for more flash flooding, mudslides, and debris flows.

The rain will initially develop west of the Continental Divide by early Monday afternoon. Some thunderstorms could impact areas already hit hard from recent flooding including the Grizzly Creek burn scar near Glenwood Springs which has caused an extended closure of Interstate 70.

The rain will then spread east of the Divide and into the Front Range Mountains by late afternoon and early evening.

Because the rain is expected to be heavy and the storms will be moving slowly, the National Weather Service has issued a Flash Flood Watch for almost every mountain area in the state from 12 p.m. until 10 p.m. Monday. The only mountain area left out of the warning is the Pikes Peak region west of Colorado Springs.

For the I-70 corridor between Georgetown and Copper Mountain and areas north and south of the interstate, the heaviest rain should occur between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. with flooding possible even in areas without burn scars. That said, the East Troublesome, Cameron Peak, and Williams Fork burn scares will be particularly susceptible to flash flooding and more mudslides late Monday.

For the Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins areas and all locations below 6,000 east of the mountains, the chance for showers and thunderstorms through Monday night is relatively low. The Denver metro area has a 10-20% for a thunderstorm. The chance is even lower on the Eastern Plains where the main weather story will be smoky skies. An Air Quality Alert has been issued for roughly the western half of Colorado due to wildfire smoke. The alert is also for summer ozone (pollution) in the Denver metro area.

The best chance for rain in the Denver metro area will wait until Tuesday with smaller chance returning again on Wednesday.