SPM 08-01-2019: Moderate Rainfall over the Northeast Quadrant and Northwest Slope

August 1, 2019 by ·

Issue Date: Thursday, August 1, 2019
Issue Time: 10:45AM MDT

Summary:

Light and moderate rainfall was measured throughout the state yesterday as moisture increased steadily from the southwest. Storms began early in the afternoon over the Raton Ridge, where radar derived up to 0.5 inches, and a CoCoRaHS station reported 0.98 inches. An upslope moisture surge to the north of a surface low over the eastern plains produced thunderstorms over the Urban Corridor and areas of the southern Front Range around 6PM. Slow steering winds eventually pushed storms off to the east, but not before some decent rainfall totals were recorded over the Denver and Colorado Springs metro areas. CoCoRaHS reports up to 0.5 inches were measured throughout Jefferson and Denver Counties, and up to 0.4 inches over El Paso County. Back-building storms over the Palmer Ridge allowed for radar derived 2-3 hour rainfall totals up to 2 inches over eastern Adams County. An Areal Flood Advisory was issued by the NWS over the area last night around 6:30PM, but no flooding was reported.

To the west of the Continental Divide rainfall totals increased to the north, favoring the western state border. A moisture plume moving through Utah allowed for persistent storms over the Grand Valley and Northwest Slope. Heavy rainfall of 0.5 inches was reported to the NWS around 1PM yesterday near Plateau City in Mesa County. A RAWS station near Dinosaur National Monument in Moffat County reported 0.45 inches.

For a look at precipitation over your area, please visit the State Precipitation Map below. Note: The Grand Junction Radar is undergoing maintenance until August 3rd, so QPE over western Colorado may have underestimations over areas without observations.

Click Here For Map Overview

The map below shows radar-estimated, rainfall gage-adjusted Quantitative Precipitation Estimates (QPE) across Colorado. The map is updated daily during the operational season (May 1 – Sep 30) by 11AM. The following six layers are currently available: 24-hour, 48-hour and 72-hour total precipitation, as well as maximum 1-hour, 2-hour and 6-hour precipitation over the past 24 hour period (to estimate where flash flooding may have occurred). The 24-hour, 48-hour and 72-hour total precipitation contain bias corrections that are not disaggregated into the hourly estimates, so there will likely be some differences. The accumulation ending time is 7AM of the date shown in the bottom right corner. Also shown optionally are vulnerable fire burn areas (post 2012), which are updated throughout the season to include new, vulnerable burn areas. The home button in the top left corner resets the map to the original zoom.
Filed Under: State Precipitation Map ·

SPM 07-31-2019: High Based Storms and Gusty Winds

July 31, 2019 by ·

Issue Date: Wednesday, July 31, 2019
Issue Time: 10:55AM MDT

Summary:

High based thunderstorms produced gusty winds and isolated pockets of heavy rain over the western slope yesterday afternoon and early evening. Dry air underneath the storm bases limited rain accumulation below 0.5 inches in most areas, but repetitive storms over the southwest quadrant of Colorado lead to CoCoRaHS reports in northern Gunnison County up to 0.52 inches. The highest rainfall for the day was measured by a RAWS station in western Archuleta County near Chimney Rock National Monument, where two isolated thunderstorms produced a rainfall total of 0.65 inches. It is possible that the report was contaminated by hail, however the Grand Junction radar is undergoing maintenance, so careful analysis of hail contamination is difficult. A brief Areal Flood Advisory was issued over the 416 Burn area with satellite indicating heavy rainfall, but there were no reports of flooding.  Weather was calmer to the west of the Continental Divide, with a few isolated thunderstorms over the Front Range, Southeast Mountains and eastern plains. Radar derived up to 1 inch and 0.5 inches over Lincoln and Pueblo Counties respectively. Most storms to the east of the Divide did not amount to much rainfall due to dry air underneath the storm base. Notable storm reports to the NWS include:

58 mph non-thunderstorm wind gusts 2 miles SE of DIA in Denver County
47 mph thunderstorm related wind gust at Meeker Airport in Rio Blanco County
0.5 inches heavy rain 2 miles southeast of Delta in Delta County
45 mph thunderstorm related wind gust at Eagle County Regional Airport in Eagle County

For a look at precipitation over your area, please visit the State Precipitation Map below. Note: The Grand Junction Radar is undergoing maintenance until August 3rd, so QPE over western Colorado may have underestimations over areas without observations.

Click Here For Map Overview

The map below shows radar-estimated, rainfall gage-adjusted Quantitative Precipitation Estimates (QPE) across Colorado. The map is updated daily during the operational season (May 1 – Sep 30) by 11AM. The following six layers are currently available: 24-hour, 48-hour and 72-hour total precipitation, as well as maximum 1-hour, 2-hour and 6-hour precipitation over the past 24 hour period (to estimate where flash flooding may have occurred). The 24-hour, 48-hour and 72-hour total precipitation contain bias corrections that are not disaggregated into the hourly estimates, so there will likely be some differences. The accumulation ending time is 7AM of the date shown in the bottom right corner. Also shown optionally are vulnerable fire burn areas (post 2012), which are updated throughout the season to include new, vulnerable burn areas. The home button in the top left corner resets the map to the original zoom.
Filed Under: State Precipitation Map ·

SPM 07-30-2019: Heavy Rainfall, Severe Thunderstorms, and Funnel Clouds to Start the Work Week

July 30, 2019 by ·

Issue Date: Tuesday, July 30th, 2019
Issue Time: 10:00AM MDT

Summary:

Wild weather day with heavy rainfall over the Palmer Ridge and eastern plains. A couple models yesterday morning were showing some strong CAPE over these areas, but the storms really overproduced when compared to the ensemble data. It truly was a worst case scenario. Dew points yesterday afternoon were in the 50°Fs to the west and 60°Fs near the CO/NE/KS border, which helped set the stage for heavy rainfall. Storms began to fire over the Northeast Plains along the dry line just after 2:30PM and had no trouble breaking the cap. The severe thunderstorms slowly dipped south throughout the evening and the slow steering winds (most totals are over a 2-hour period) in a moisture rich environment caused some very high accumulations. On top of that, golf ball sized hail and 80 mph winds from the outflow boundary caused two semis to be flipped over in Kit Carson County. There were two Flash Flood Warnings at 6PM for Kit Carson and Cheyenne Counties with flash flooding reports to go along with those. Highway 24 was washed out in Kit Carson near County Road 33 and 34 with water a few inches deep reported over multiple roadways in the area. 4 inches of rain were reported 12 miles north of Stratton with another report of 5.5 inches near were Highway 24 was washed out.

Back to the west, another couple of storms formed along the Palmer Ridge/Front Range intersect over the same period along the same boundary. They eventually created one storm that produced several inches of hail covering the roadways around 4:30PM in the Colorado Springs area (it looked like snow!). This same storm produced two funnel clouds and had a Tornado Warning from ~4:50 to 5:30PM MDT. There was a heavy rainfall report of 1.25 inches 3 miles west of Falcon, CO. The Upper Sand Creek USGS station near Lochwinnoch Lane recorded 0.99 inches during the storm. The ALERT gage near West Creek recorded 1.4 inches for the day with 1.16 inches falling in 1-hour. MetStorm (after the bias correction) estimates up to 1.42 inches in the core, but 1-hour rain rates (not bias corrected) indicates up to 1.9 inches fell. Two CoCoRaHS in the Monument area recorded 1.61 inches, so thinking the unbias corrected values are closer to reality. The storm eventually moved southeast into the Southeast Plains and merged with the storms to the north. They exited the state into the KS/OK Panhandle around 1AM MDT, but not before dropping 2.25 inches in western Kiowa County.

To see estimated precipitation totals over your neighborhood on Monday, scroll down the State Precipitation Map below.

Click Here For Map Overview

The map below shows radar-estimated, rainfall gage-adjusted Quantitative Precipitation Estimates (QPE) across Colorado. The map is updated daily during the operational season (May 1 – Sep 30) by 11AM. The following six layers are currently available: 24-hour, 48-hour and 72-hour total precipitation, as well as maximum 1-hour, 2-hour and 6-hour precipitation over the past 24 hour period (to estimate where flash flooding may have occurred). The 24-hour, 48-hour and 72-hour total precipitation contain bias corrections that are not disaggregated into the hourly estimates, so there will likely be some differences. The accumulation ending time is 7AM of the date shown in the bottom right corner. Also shown optionally are vulnerable fire burn areas (post 2012), which are updated throughout the season to include new, vulnerable burn areas. The home button in the top left corner resets the map to the original zoom.
Filed Under: State Precipitation Map ·

SPM 07-29-2019: Warm and Dry Weather Statewide

July 29, 2019 by ·

Issue Date: Monday, July 29, 2019
Issue Time: 10:20AM MDT

Summary:

The state dried out yesterday as warn, dry air moved over the area from the west. Dewpoints to the west of the Continental Divide dropped into the 20°Fs, providing little moisture for afternoon storms. Light rainfall was recorded over the southern Front Range, Southeast Mountains and Raton Ridge. The highest measured rainfall for the day was a CoCoRaHS station to the southeast of Trinidad in Las Animas County with 0.17 inches. Other notable reports include 0.05 inches measured by a RAWS station in Manchester in Teller County, and 0.06 inches measured by a CoCoRaHS station to the north of Monument in El Paso County.  The cold front that passed over the eastern plains yesterday kept temperatures near the seasonal average, but was not deep enough to produce thunderstorms over the area.

For a look at precipitation in your area, please visit the State Precipitation Map below.

Click Here For Map Overview

The map below shows radar-estimated, rainfall gage-adjusted Quantitative Precipitation Estimates (QPE) across Colorado. The map is updated daily during the operational season (May 1 – Sep 30) by 11AM. The following six layers are currently available: 24-hour, 48-hour and 72-hour total precipitation, as well as maximum 1-hour, 2-hour and 6-hour precipitation over the past 24 hour period (to estimate where flash flooding may have occurred). The 24-hour, 48-hour and 72-hour total precipitation contain bias corrections that are not disaggregated into the hourly estimates, so there will likely be some differences. The accumulation ending time is 7AM of the date shown in the bottom right corner. Also shown optionally are vulnerable fire burn areas (post 2012), which are updated throughout the season to include new, vulnerable burn areas. The home button in the top left corner resets the map to the original zoom.
Filed Under: State Precipitation Map ·
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