in this image you can see the ditch is now disconnected, even with 1500 cfs flowing through. it's going to take some effort to change that.

Interesting geomorphological event occurred during the Animas River's flood last week: The river broke out of a levy that had contained it since the 1970s, into an abandoned gravel pit in the floodplain. Now the river prefers its new route, leaving an important ditch without access to the river.

Updated timelapse showing the #sanjuanriver #flood arriving at the bridge near Mexican Hat, Utah. Now at 38,000 cfs. Seems like it is going to test all this USGS gear providing these images!

USGS river gages dropping like flies as this insane #flood wave moves downstream on the #sanjuanriver. The gages "at Four Corners" and "near Bluff" are yet to receive the wave.

Watch the #SanJuanRiver near Mexican Hat, Utah go from ~700 to ~17000 cfs in this timelapse made from images at the nearby #USGS river gage location. Final frame is from this morning. A higher #flood peak of ~33,000 cfs is heading this way, moving through Farmington, NM as I type...

we are now up to 10,800 cfs in-town Durango, it seems like it really wants to break the 1970 record!

The #SanJuanRiver is still experiencing major flooding in #Pagosa Springs ... meanwhile, over 20,000 cfs are moving downstream *below* Navajo Dam...meaning that upper flood wave affecting Pagosa isn't even contributing. crazy!

Not all gages reporting, but the #AnimasRiver is now >7700 cfs (as of 6:30 AM oct 23), which makes it the largest #flood since 2005 (so far!). Still likely to see that number rise over the coming hours.

Exceeding 8000 cfs on the #animasriver is almost guaranteed at this point, which would be the highest number in 21 years. If we get to 10,000 cfs, which seems entirely possible, it will be the biggest #flood since 1970 (11,600 cfs).

Unfortunately our neighbors in #pagosasprings are likely to see another flood on the san juan river that causes damage in their downtown area...which suffered a historic #flood from a similar event just last october. CBRFC says this one could be worse. Watching all of these rivers today.

Here we go! Already over 3000 cfs on the #animasriver and the rain train isn't going to be done for a while. With all the saturated soil and snow in the high country, this is going to be an event to remember in #durango.

As southwest Colorado gets pummeled by yet another hurricane remnant, I can't help but think of all the enormous #landslides (young and old) perched in the mountains above us. Here are some snaps from a field trip to a scarp near #Durango: ~60m thk dip slope failure in K rocks tilted to ~10 degrees

December 2025 was a hot one in the Four Corners States - how did it stack up against the longer-term climate records in the region? A: yep, definitely hot.

December 24, 2025 - Chapman Hill in Durango, CO. I am impressed as the resilience of this man-made patch of ice against the wildly persistent high pressure "heat" dome we've been under for the past 3 weeks.
My kid is happy to have something to ski on.

Watching the sun set on the southwestern US. We are lucky to be alive in a time where we can so casually look back at our planet from space.