SPM 05-19-2020: Summer Sizzle

Issue Date: Tuesday, May 19th, 2020
Issue Time: 9:20AM MDT

Summary:

Quite the warm day as many places reached the 90F mark for the first time this year. The warmest temperatures I saw were near the La Junta area with reports around 93F. Grand Junction reached 91F, and Alamosa beat it’s daily record for a second day in a row (84F and 87F, respectively). This warm start is looking a bit like 2018, although snowpack was a lot higher this winter. There was no moisture around for afternoon storms, although there may have been some light sprinkles over the Palmer Ridge. The virga helped create a beautiful sunset for the Urban Corridor. However, these early season hot temperatures and lack of rainfall are definitely worrisome with the current drought situation.

For precipitation estimates in your neighborhood over the last 24- to 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.