SPM 09-26-2019: Light Rainfall for El Paso County and Increase in Drought Area for Colorado

Issue Date: Thursday, September 26th, 2019
Issue Time: 9:45AM MDT

Summary:

Once again, another gorgeous fall day with some very impressive high temperatures for late September. Below are the 24-hour maximum high temperatures across the state from the NWS ASOS network (source: MesoWest). The only place that recorded rainfall was El Paso County. Very light rainfall fell between 10 and 11PM last night with totals around or under 0.05 inches. Otherwise it was a rain-free day across the state.

The newest drought map was released this morning. Quite the change from the last map with an increase in drought area (D0-D4) of 16%. The D1 category increased about 4% and is now just shy of 11% of the cumulative area of Colorado. Eastern Gunnison, Chaffee, Pitkin, and Lake County are also included in the D1 category now with the D1 category drifting further north over the western border (into Montrose and Mesa County).

To see estimated precipitation totals over your neighborhood the last 72-hours, scroll down to 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.