Today marks the preliminary deadline for the Colorado Climate Center鈥檚 data collection from the September floods. Scientists have precise estimates of鈥�

Nearly a year's worth of rain was dumped on parts of the state in four days this fall. The downpour from the heavens created a slurry on the mountainsides that scrubbed away soil, trees, boulders and buildings. Scientists say the flooding may have been a once-in-a-thousand-years event.

It was the warmest year on record and brought a series of extreme weather events, from wildfires and floods to drought and a devastating derecho. Polls show a big jump this year in the number of people connecting such disasters with climate change.

This year's weather will be one for the record books; 2012 is slated to be the hottest summer on record. "We've already passed all kinds of tipping points," environmentalist Bill McKibben says. He's wondering if President Obama will take a different approach to climate change in the coming year.