SPM 05-17-2020: A Few Thunderstorms Rumbled

Issue Date: Sunday, May 17th, 2020
Issue Time: 9:00 AM MDT

Summary:

A ridge of high pressure built in from the west yesterday, ushering a disturbance out of Colorado and into the central United States. The high pressure presented locations west of the Continental Divide with warm and dry conditions. Before the disturbance left the state, it helped trigger the development of a few scattered showers and thunderstorms to the east, mainly over the Southeast Mountains, Raton Ridge, southern portions of the Front Range, and nearby lower elevations. Gusty winds and moderate rainfall were the main impacts from thunderstorm activity, with small hail mixing in with the strongest storms.

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.