Deluge closed Highway 59

A heavy downpour rolled through a stretch of northern Yuma County, last Thursday evening, May 18. Yuma received a relatively gentle rain that led to one-half inch or more of precipitation, as was the case around most of the area. However, there was a stretch about 14 miles north that experienced a torrential rain. Troy Gorman said about 3.5 inches fell in one hour at home just west of Highway 59 on County Road 53. Keaton Gorman, who lives on the other side of the highway, was driving home when it hit. He said he finally had to pull over because he could not see past the hood of his pickup. Dick Mekelburg said a field about three miles north of his house, around roads 47 and P, received four inches. The rains caused the creeks in the area to flow heavily, with water rushing over Highway 59 between roads 53 and 54. A center pivot sprinkler at Road 52 sat in water Friday morning. The highway was closed Friday morning. There was so much debris that the Colorado Department of Transportation brought out a snow plow to clear it off. Sterling received four inches of rain and several inches of small hail that same evening, which might have been the same band that ended up rolling through northern Yuma County. The CoAgMet station at the Irrigation Research Foundation facility recorded 0.84 of an inch. It has now recorded 3.51 inches in May.