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Abstract
This work investigates long term trends in observed monthly maximum 24-h precipitation for Boulder, Colorado, which experienced a historic 24-h rainfall in September, 2013. The long term precipitation trends for four cities (Fort Collins, Evergreen, Lakewood, and Greeley) in the area around Boulder are also analyzed, yet the historic event observed in Boulder was not observed in those cities. The maximum precipitation trends for Fort Collins, Lakewood, and Boulder, which have presumably similar geographic features, showed increases in the mean, variance, and probability of experiencing certain rainfall thresholds over time. Each of the aforementioned values were decreasing over time in the city of Evergreen, which appears to be geographically dissimilar from the other cities investigated. Lastly, the trend lines for Greeley were highly variable, yet have an increasing trend since the mid 1900s. The trend lines for individual months showed that these increasing trends are not spread among the 12 months. Certain months are experiencing greater maximum rainfall on average, while others are experiencing less.