SPM 09-02-2019: Record Heat for September

Issue Date: Monday, September 2nd, 2019
Issue Time: 9:10 AM MDT

Summary:

Strong high pressure allowed for abundant sunshine to heat Colorado yesterday, setting record highs across the state. Denver (98°F), Boulder (98°F), Alamosa (87°F), Colorado Springs (95°F), Pueblo (101°F), and Grand Junction (100°F) all set record high temperatures for the date. In fact, Denver’s record high temperature set a new record for the entire month of September. With the extreme heat came a few isolated thunderstorms, mainly over the higher terrain of the San Juan and Southeast Mountains, that produced very little (if any) rainfall at the surface. Weak surface convergence over the eastern plains resulted in a little extra cloud cover, but there was not enough forcing for thunderstorm development.

No flash flooding was reported yesterday. For a look at precipitation estimates in your area, please see 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 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.

Note: The 24-hour, 48-hour and 72-hour total precipitation do not contain bias corrections today due to errors in the CoCoRaHS data. This means there may be underestimations in QPE over the southwest and southeast corners of the state.