SPM 05-01-2020: Light Rainfall Accumulations for Northwest Colorado

Issue Date: Friday, May 1st, 2020
Issue Time: 9:15AM MDT

Summary:

With Colorado under the influence of an upper level ridge yesterday, there were quite a few “hot” high temperatures. Most of the state was near or at their daily record high with monthly high temperatures being tied or exceeded a couple places along the Urban Corridor and in the San Luis Valley. Pueblo reached 93F and Grand Junction 89F. As an upper level trough moved across the state yesterday afternoon and overnight, northern Colorado received some light precipitation with the scattered storms. The highest totals were between 0.10 and 0.20 inches over the Northwest Slope and Northern Mountains, and the far northeast corner of the state received about the same. It was also quite windy yesterday afternoon with a report of a 56mph gust in Craig at 3:45PM MDT. Low temperatures overnight were quite warm as well. Lamar and Holyoke ASOS stations barely dropped below 60F. As anticipated, flooding was not reported.

Above is the climatology for the month of April (precip – top; temperature – bottom). Overall, southwest Colorado and the Southeast Mountains were rather dry when compared to climatology. The Urban Corridor fared well thanks to those last set of snow storms. The upper elevations of the Northern, Central, and San Juan Mountains also were quite dry. If you thought April felt warmer than usual, you’re right! Statewide temperatures were all above normal with the Raton and Palmer Ridges much about normal. These warm temperatures definitely helped kick off the melting of the snowpack. More on that in Monday’s FTO.

For precipitation estimates in your neighborhood on Thursday, scroll down to the State Precipitation Map below. Note the 0.5 inches in Summit County is incorrect.

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.