Big Thompson River
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The Big Thompson River is a tributary of the South Platte River, approximately 78 miles (123 km) long, in the U.S. state of Colorado. On July 31, 1976, during the celebration of Colorado's centennial, the Big Thompson Canyon was the site of devastating flash floods that swept down the steep and narrow canyon, claiming the lives of 145 people, 6 of whom were never found. This flood was triggered by a nearly stationary thunderstorm near the upper section of the canyon that dumped 30 centimeters (12 inches) of rain in less than 4 hours (more than 3/4 of the annual rainfall for the area). Little rain fell over the lower section of the canyon, where many of the victims were. Around 9PM a wall of water more than 6 meters (20 ft) deep raced down the canyon at about 6 m/s (14 mph), destroying 400 cars, 418 houses and 52 businesses and washing out most of U.S. Route 34. [5] This flood was more than 4 times as strong as any in the 112-year record available in 1976, with a discharge of 1,000 cubic meters per second (30,000 ft³/s). However, paleoflood data obtained from radiocarbon dating of sediments indicates that such flooding occurs in the area every few thousand years. (source: wikipedia)
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4 comments
Beautiful shot, very captivating image with a story to match. Thanks for sharing these with us, Ray.
said AggieFox95
Very nice endeed
said andrei_sky
Like a paint! Love all 3 entries! very well done. Good luck.
said lnayvelt
Wonderful colorful shot! Good luck! From Russia with love, Alexander.
said russpsych
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