Colorado Weather: Denver and Adams counties under flood warning, Denver metro sees flooding on roads and low areas

Courtesy of Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
The heavy rainfall has caused road damage in Cherry Creek State Park on Thursday, May 11, 2023.

Updated at 7:07 p.m. on Thursday, May 11, 2023.

There is currently flooding on roads and low-lying areas — including basement apartments — around the Denver metro.

Motorists should avoid unnecessary travel and should not attempt to cross flooded roads. The state's Department of Transportation's road conditions map shows heavy traffic on interstates 70 and 25.

Flash Flood Warnings are in place for parts of Cheyenne, Kit Carson and Yuma counties. Several counties along the Kansas border continue to be on Tornado Watch, including Cheyenne, Kiowa, Kit Carson and Yuma. 

Much of the Denver-metro area and northern Front Range are under a Flood Watch – including Boulder, Greeley, and Fort Collins.

Flood warnings are in place for Denver and Adams counties, specifically along the lower part of Sand Creek. Officials have closed several impassible roads in Adams County. A flood advisory is in place for Cherry Creek and Plum Creek in Douglas County.

In Denver, Cherry Creek is also flooding over its banks. The bike lane was underwater for much of Thursday afternoon and water affected some traffic lanes on Speer Boulevard. According to the Denver Office of Emergency Management, various portions of the city are seeing low to moderate flooding.

Sarah Bures/CPR
Cherry Creek jumped its banks and inundated much of the bike path along Speer Boulevard in Denver Thursday afternoon.

Flood watches are also in place for Fort Collins and Boulder. And the National Weather Service says there’s a good chance more hail will hit areas east of I-25. Strong winds over 60 miles per hour are also possible.

In Teller and Park counties, more than 8,000 people were without power.

There’s less of a chance of tornadoes today. But with constant rain in the forecast for the next 24 hours, flooding is the major concern.