1) Debris flows are triggered by high intensity, short duration rainfall that produces abundant runoff. Rainfall of 9mm over 15 minutes did not produce a debris flow, while 18mm over 10 minutes did. 2) Rainfall characteristics that typically trigger debris flows in dolomitic environments include a core of 10-15mm of rain over 10-15 minutes, with pulses over 5-6mm/5minutes. 3) Two debris flows in July and August 2015 in Italy were examined. The triggering rainfalls had cores of 11.6mm over 5 minutes and 13.8mm over 15 minutes respectively.