|
Park County Historical Floods
| DAMAGING FLOODS |
| Location | Start Date | Information |
|---|
| Cody Area | 6-Jul-1961 | High intensity rain showers caused flash flooding in an area 5 to 15 miles southwest of Cody with most of the damage to roads, crops and farm land. |
| Big Horn Mountains | 15-Jun-1963 | Flooding caused by heavy rains resulted in damage to homes, equipment, crops, irrigation canals, and roads and bridges. The Greybull River at Meeteetse had a discharge of 13,600 CFS and at Pitchfork had a discharge of 8,610 CFS. |
| Wind River, Absaroka, and Big Horn Mountains | 15-Jun-1963 | Heavy rains in the Wind River, Absaroka, and Big Horn Mountains caused flash flooding during Saturday and Sunday, the 15th and 16th. Considerable damage done to homes, equipment, crops, irrigation canals, roads and bridges. |
| Eastern Park County | 22-Jul-1973 | Extremely heavy rain amounting to 2.62 inches in 1 hour and 22 minutes near Cody resulted in flooded streets and basements. Two bridges were also washed out on Cottonwood Creek near Heart Mountain. |
| Absaroka Range | 5-Jul-1975 | Thunderstorms dumped locally torrential rains over the Absaroka Range during the afternoon and evening hours. Cloudbursts swelled the North and South Forks, and the rushing waters did some damage to lodges and ranches in the area. For example, a flash flood--the leading edge of which contained mud and logs 15 to 20 feet long--swept down Libby Creek and caused some damage at the Crossed Sabres Ranch. Hail, heavy rains, and wind caused scattered crop losses along the east slopes of the Absarokas during the afternoon and evening. A hail and wind storm struck the Cowley-Lovell area around 1500 MST. on the 6th, causing heavy crop losses near Cowley. Farmers in the Heart Mountain area reported a 20 percent loss to some of their crops. Hail measuring up to 1.5 inches in diameter caused damage to hay crops and vegetable gardens along the South Fork. During the early morning hours of the 6th, a power pole near the banks of the Greybull River was felled by a flash flood. Electrical power in Basin was interrupted for nearly an hour. |
| Central and North portions of Wyoming | 15-May-1978 | Heavy wet snow and record rains did very extensive damage to property, crops, and livestock in 12 counties. Hundreds of homes were damaged, and many totally destroyed. Numerous bridges and sections of roads were washed out, power lines downed, with much damage to cars and personal property. Total estimated damages came to $15.5 million. The following are discharge amounts from WEMA Storm Data: Fifteenmile Creek near Worland (May 18) - 4,270 CFS, Big Horn River at Worland (May 19) - 17,500 CFS, Nowood River near Ten Sleep (May 19) - 3,380 CFS, Shoshone River near Lovell (May 18) - 7,680 CFS), Elk Creek near Basin (May 19) - 2,450 CFS, Shell Creek near Greybull (May 19) - 2,150 CFS, Big Horn River near Kane (May 20) - 20,700 CFS, Little Powder River below Corral Creek near Weston (May 18) - 2,410 CFS, Little Powder River above Dry Creek near Weston (May 19) - 4,460 CFS, Little Powder River above Dry Creek near Weston (May 19) - 5,300 CFS, Salt Creek near Sussex (May 18) - 10,200 CFS, Dead Horse Creek near Buffalo (May 18) - 1,420 CFS, Clear Creek below Rock Creek 162? CFS, Powder River near Kaycee (May 18) - 4,200 CFS, Powder River at Sussex (May 19) - 24,000 CFS, South Fork River near Kaycee (May 20) - 8,200 CFS, Bitter Creek near Garland (May 17) - 552 CFS, Whistle Creek near Garland (May 18) - 2,340 CFS, Shoshone River below Buffalo Bill Reservoir (May 19) - 1,230 CFS, Shoshone River near Garland (May 19) - 4,550 CFS, Goose Creek below Sheridan (May 18) - 5,430 CFS, Prairie Dog Creek near Acme (May 19) - 3,940 CFS, Clear Creek at Ucross 1740 (May 19) - 32,500 CFS, Crazy Woman Creek at Upper Station (May 20) - 2,200 CFS, Little Thunder Creek near Hampshire (May 18) - 3,030 CFS, Black Thunder Creek near Hampshire (May 18) - 5,050 CFS, Turner Creek near Osage (May 18) - 2,480 CFS, Beaver Creek near Newcastle (May 19) - 3,870 CFS. The event was estimated to be a 20- to greater than 100-year flood |
| North and South Forks Shoshone River, Wind River | 7-Jun-1981 | Heavy rains occurring the week of the 7th through the 12th caused the flooding on the North and South Forks of the Shoshone River and on the Wind River. Many bridges, campgrounds, highways, and pieces of personal property were damaged. |
| Shoshone River | 8-Jun-1981 | Roads, bridges, recreation area, campgrounds, and head gates damaged; damage estimated at $2.3 million. |
| 30N Cody, Clark | 24-Aug-1987 | Unusually heavy rainfall occurred over the drainages of the Line Creek and Bennett Creek near Clark. Officials for Park County reported 4 to 5 inches of rainfall over north Park County. This rainfall created many areas of standing water with 4 minor washouts occurring on the Line Creek road. The town of Clark is located 30 miles north of Cody. |
| Park, Big Horn, and Washakie | 7-May-1988 | The winter-like storm system of the 6th and 7th produced heavy snowfall above 6000 feet and drenching rainfall below. Between 1.5 and 5.0 inches of rain fell in less than 24 hours. This damaged the newly planted crops of beets and barley to extent that 500 acres of beets will have to be replanted. Estimated damage from flooded houses, washed out bridges, damaged culverts and canals, damaged roads, and other damage to irrigation works and utility lines ranged from $500,000 to more than $1 million. Rainfall amounts in less than 24 hours included 1.73 inches at Lovell, while Cowley, Deaver, and Frannie received 2.40, 1.60, and 3.30 inches of rain, respectively. Most of the flood damage occurred in Park County, which was later declared a disaster area. At least 17 bridges or crossings were destroyed and 6 roads washed away by the flood waters in Park County. |
| Cody | 10-Jul-1989 | From the early afternoon through the evening, severe thunderstorms packing hail and strong winds moved through western Wyoming. At 1345 MST dime size hail occurred at the east entrance of Yellowstone National Park. One hour later, the same storm hit Cody and deposited 1.79 inches of rain in 15 minutes along with 0.75-inch hail. Many downtown streets and low spots were flooded. At 1543 MST, thunderstorm winds gusting to 85 mph tore through Basin. Extensive damage done to power lines and poles left the town without electricity for a few hours. There was also damage done to trees, automobiles and roofs. At 1615 MST Worland had a thunderstorm wind gust to 58 mph. Finally, the last report of strong winds from a severe thunderstorm came out of Rawlins, where a gust to 63 mph was logged at 1920 MST. |
| Crandall | 23-Jul-1989 | |
| 11 SW Cody | 18-May-1991 | Thunderstorms dropped 1 to 2 inches of rain on parts of the South Fork River Basin, west of Cody during the evening. A county road was washed out in places and covered with water in other places along Carter Creek. |
| Powell | 3-Jun-1991 | At 1500 MST and 1630 MST, 2 inches of rain and small hail fell in Powell, damaging crops and flooding basements. |
| 10 NE Cody | 6-Jul-1994 | Flash flooding along Deer Creek washed out a road south of Powell. The cost to repair the road was estimated at $6,000. No estimates of rainfall were available due to the lack of population across the effected area. |
| 22 W Cody | 9-Jun-1997 | Flash flooding on Canyon Creek. North Fork Highway had to be cleared of debris. |
| 5 NW Cody | 14-Jun-1997 | Flash flooding at Trail Creek Ranch. Buildings flooded. |
| Powell | 13-Jun-1998 | Flash flood in the Powell area, especially Garland Flats and golf course. At least one home flooded. No damage estimates exist. Caused by slow-moving thunderstorm producing very heavy rain. |
| Cody | 16-May-2000 | Almost 2.5 inches of rain in 12 hours between the evening of the 16th and the morning of the 17th caused some flooding of businesses. Nearly one quarter of Cody's annual precipitation fell during the 12-hour period. |
| Powell | 12-Jun-2001 | Heavy rain flooded streets, caused power outages. Amounts ranged up to 3.25 inches. Heavy rain and snow downed power poles and lines on Heart Mountain near Cody. |
| 23 W Cody | 9-Jul-2001 | Flash flooding along Green Creek on the north fork of the Shoshone River. Eyewitnesses reported a 3-foot wall of mud and water. |
| Clark | 10-Jul-2001 | Flash flooding along Line Creek. Mobile home, outbuildings destroyed; homes flooded and roads and bridges washed out in the Line Creek subdivision. Property damage estimated by emergency management official. |
| South Portion | 16-Jul-2002 | Strong thunderstorms caused flash flooding across portions of southern Park County. The first area of flash flooding and damage was reported near Valley. Heavy rain washed out bridges and portions of gravel roads. Also, the heavy rain and runoff resulted in 4 to 5 feet of mud on the roads. The second area of flash flooding and damage occurred between Cody and Wapiti, along Rattlesnake Creek. A 10 foot wall of mud and rock slid through cabins. Also, 1.03 inches of rain fell in Wapiti. The third area of flash flooding and damage occurred west of Meeteetse, near Pitchfork Ranch and Poverty Flats. Two to three bridges were damaged, as well as a 200 yard long, 6 feet wide portion of a road. The Park County Emergency Manager estimated the damage from the flash flooding between $250,000 and $300,000. |
|
