The Sunday map discussion video is on the server at: http://beta.abc3340.com/weather/video.hrb

Much of central Alabama got rain yesterday as evidenced by the Storm Total Precipitaiton graphic from the Birmingham radar. But even with fairly numerous showers around, not everyone got rain. After complaining about the shower that formed just south and west of me yesterday afternoon, I got a brief shower around 4:30 which gave me all of one hundredth of an inch.

Not much change to our weather pattern today so look for those showers to fire once again this afternoon.

GFS promises another front approaching North Alabama next weekend which will keep showers in our forecast. Warm, moist air all week will mean showers just about every afternoon.

In the tropics we're watching those two systems, one in the vicinity of Hispaniola and one in the southern end of the Leeward Islands. Neither has done much to become better organized since yesterday, and it doesn't appear that conditions favor much chance for organization at least through the next day or two. So we'll just have to keep our eye on these two areas of disturbed weather to see what evolves.

And speaking of the tropics, today marks the first day since July 5th that we have not had an active named storm. The next named storm will be Harvey.

Stay dry and cool during the upcoming week. James Spann will be on vacation so I'm going to fill in for him on the web map discussions. I'm going to make every effort to have them posted by 8:30 am and 4:30 pm. Have a great week.

-Brian-

Big Thompson Canyon is one of the most scenic areas of Colorado. An hour west of Denver, US-34 runs right along the Big Thompson River through much of the 25 mile long canyon.

The weekend of July 31-August 1, 1976 was the Centennial Celebration of Colorado Statehood. Thousands of hikers and campers crowded into the Canyon to enjoy a busy summer weekend of recreation.

On that fateful Saturday afternoon, easterly surface winds were blowing warm, humid air up the Front Range of the Rockies. As the unstable air rose, it condensed into a huge thunderstorm over Estes Park. Winds aloft were very light and the storm remained stationary over the same area for hours. Beginning at 8:30 p.n. that Saturday evening, as much as 12 inches or rain was dumped directly on the canyon by the thunderstorm. Eight inches fell in just two hours at Glen Haven and Glen Comfort.

The rock walls of the steep canyon did not soak up any of the rainfall and the river quickly rose. A 20 foot wall of water poured down the canyon, taking everything in its path, including unwitting campers and residents.

139 people were killed in the flood and the bodies of 6 people have never been found. Before the flood event, the stream flow on the river was a meager 127 cubic feet per second. At the peak of the flood, it was an unthinkable 31,200 cubic fet per second. It took over a year to rebuild Highway 34. Damage totalled over $35 million.

Visitors to Front Range canyons now find signs warning them to climb to safety in case of flash floods.