1. Automated Flash Flood Forecasting Systems ¿Fact or Fantasy? International Workshop on Flash Flood Forecasting San Jose, Costa Rica, 13-17 March 2006 Session 2: Emerging Technologies

2. Urban Drainage and Flood Control District

3. 1976 1996 1985 1972 Motivation

4. Early Prediction & Notification  Meteorological Support (27 years)  National Weather Service  Urban Drainage and Flood Control District (Private Meteorologist)  Local Flood Warning Program  early notification, forecasting, detection and warning capabilities (Basin-Specific Flood Warning Plans)  EOC Activation  communications, weather/flood monitoring, early mobilization, coordination

5. Our Major Dilemma—Time

6. ALERT Systems Automated Local Evaluation in Real-Time

7. ALERT weather station ALERT Rain Gage ALERT stream gage co-located with USGS river gaging station ALERT rain/stream gage Automated Flood Detection

8. Typical ALERT Site

9. Public and Emergency Services Webservers

10. ALERT Mesonet—before the storm

11. Real-Time Rainfall & Stream Levels

12. Emerging Technologies  Internet-driven paging & alarming (push & pull)  GIS integration using XML & SVG (the new Internet language) Multiple data source integration Multiple data source integration Real-time flood inundation mapping Real-time flood inundation mapping Build your own custom displays Build your own custom displays Data processing & analysis by others Data processing & analysis by others  Decision support for emergency managers

13. Rainfall Rate Alarms Automatically disseminated via email and text messaging

14. Automated Alarm Notifications cell phones/computers/pagers/PDAs

15. Data Integration One-Stop Shopping

16. Rainfall Data Integration ALERT Rain Gage NetworkALERT & CoCoRaHS

18. ¿Automated Forecasting? You be the judge…

19. Synchronized Integration Animated Display  TITAN model from NCAR  NWS Radar  ALERT Rainfall Real-time synchronization of surface rainfall measurements, radar imagery and storm track forecasting model output

20. Emerging GIS Capabilities

21. Integrated Flood Threat Recognition

22. Real-Time Hydrologic Models

23. Aviso Watch Yellow Alert Aviso Watch Yellow. Observed water levels. Boulder Creek at Boulder Falls (ALERT 4393). 9:39:36 AM MST Monday, April 18, 2005

24. Aviso Watch – 3000cfs Inundation

25. Aviso Watch Red Alert Aviso Watch Red. Forecast Basin-avg precip. Fourmile Creek at Long Gulch (Sub12). 09:54:57 AM MST Monday, April 18, 2005

26. Aviso Watch – 12,000cfs Inundation

27. Depth Inundation Zones

28. And sometimes we just miss the peak.

29. Thank you Kevin Stewart, Manager Information Services and Flood Warning Program Urban Drainage and Flood Control District Denver, Colorado & Chairman, National Hydrologic Warning Council