SPM 05-03-2020: Scattered Thunderstorms Rumbled Across Northern Colorado

Issue Date: Sunday, May 2nd, 2020
Issue Time: 9:20 AM MDT

Summary:

An increase in moisture worked with a passing disturbance to produce scattered showers/thunderstorms across the northern half of Colorado yesterday. Showers and thunderstorms got started around lunchtime, beginning as garden-variety activity, with a few stronger storms mixing in during the late afternoon and evening hours. These stronger storms produced two severe reports: 1-inch hail in Rio Blanco County, and 65 mph wind gust in Arapahoe County.

Showers and thunderstorms came to an end around sunset over the mountains, with a few light flurries continuing over the highest elevations of the Northern Mountains into the early morning hours. East of the mountains, thunderstorms rumbled into the nighttime, with activity ending over the Urban Corridor between 10 and 11 PM, and exiting the state to the east just after midnight.

Flooding was not reported on Saturday. For rainfall estimates in your area, check out our 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.