Issue Date: Monday, September 24th, 2018
Issue Time: 10:05 AM MDT

Summary:

Not much action yesterday as WSW flow aloft continued to entrain the dry air mass over Utah into the state. There was still enough moisture for some high clouds over the mountains in the afternoon, which helped provide some shade from the warm temperatures. For the first day of fall, it sure felt more like summer. By the late afternoon, the trough to our west began its migration eastward. The upper-level jet associated with the trough mixed some strong surface winds over northwest Colorado, so a Red Flag Warning was issued. None of this was helpful for containment of the Ryan and Silver Creek fires. A gusty of 59 mph was recorded at the Douglas Pass ASOS with a gust of 45 mph recorded at the Craig ASOS during the early evening hours. While there were some showers associated with the right entrance region of the jet later in the evening, they were high-based and produced some gusty winds. Precipitation totals slowly increased overnight as earlier showers helped wet the lower levels of the atmosphere as well as a cold front passage. Radar rainfall estimates were highest over the northwest Northern Mountains where estimations were around 0.3 inches. The Dry Lake SNOTEL site near Steamboat recorded 0.2 inches for the 24-hour period. Totals just over 0.1 inches were estimated over the Central Mountains from the overnight/early morning rainfall. Unfortunately, these low totals also did not do much to help with the containment of the ongoing fires.

To see how much rain fell over your area yesterday, scroll down to the State Precipitation Map below.

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Issue Date: Sunday, September 23rd, 2018
Issue Time: 09:35 AM MDT

Summary:

Saturday was seasonably warm and dry, with clear and sunny skies across Colorado. No precipitation was reported yesterday, save for two CoCoRaHS stations in Las Animas county that recorded less than 0.1 inches of rain overnight. Some areas of the state saw temperatures approaching record warmth as the unusual heat continued. Wildfires, particularly in the northwest and southwest parts of Colorado, continued to grow on Saturday. One of the largest fires in the state, the Ryan Fire in Jackson County, is still roughly 0% contained and grew to 3,000 acres yesterday. The Silver Creek fire near Kremmling is still not completely contained as well. The Bull Draw, Plateau, and Burro fires also are a major threat in the Southwest Slope, with the heat, wind, and now dead fall leaves making it difficult for firefighters to contain these strong blazes. No flooding or other storm reports were recorded yesterday.

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Issue Date: Saturday, September 22nd, 2018
Issue Time: 09:45 AM MDT

Summary:

The vast majority of the state was warm and dry yesterday. With high pressure continuing to build from the west, hot, low-humidity air from the southwest moved into the western parts of Colorado. Partly sunny and occasionally breezy weather was the story across the western slopes and the mountains through the afternoon. A couple of high-elevation storms were able to pop up in Saguache County along the Continental Divide, where the dry, warm air mass hadn’t fully worked in. For the eastern areas of the Raton Ridge and the very southern regions of the Southeast Plains, it was sunny skies with a few high clouds. No local storm reports were recorded, and a few CoCoRaHS stations in Huerfano and Las Animas counties reported less than a tenth of an inch of rainfall. As expected, no flooding was recorded on Friday.

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Issue Date: Friday, September 21st, 2018
Issue Time: 10:35 AM MDT

Summary:

The upper-level trough continued to push eastward through Colorado yesterday. Behind the trough, a very dry air mass filled into the area. It was such an arid air mass that there were no clouds present over the CO/UT border yesterday morning despite ongoing showers and cloud cover over the higher terrains throughout the night. Without much instability able to build over the western area of the eastern plains and only minimal low-level moisture, rain rates were light to moderate. Most totals over the Southeast Plains were in the 0.1 to 0.25 inch range. As you moved further east, a bit more instability was able to form, so storms were more convective in nature. A CoCoRaHS station outside of Springfield recorded 0.75 inches. Radar rainfall estimates over the CO/KS border were up to 1 inch. The higher totals were just over the border with radar estimates up to 1.75 inches. A second set of storms formed over the Northeast Plains associated with a surface low, but again, higher totals remained in Nebraska. Max 1-hr rain rates up to 0.2 were estimated by radar.

To see how much rain fell over your area yesterday, scroll down to the State Precipitation Map below.

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