SPM 05-29-2020: Warm with High Country Showers and Storms

Issue Date: Friday, May 29th, 2020
Issue Time: 10:20AM

Summary:

Temperatures climbed to well-above seasonal normal west of the Continental Divide on Thursday, under a stout upper-level ridge over our state. Lower elevation locations like Grand Junction topped out over 90F, which is at about 10F above normal for late May. Even the highest elevations, like Copper Mountain, approached 60F. There was also enough moisture for scattered shower and storm activity, mostly relegated to the higher elevations. Gusty winds were also observed across western areas with gusts of 59mph and 57mph reported at ASOS stations in La Plata and Montezuma counties, respectively. Cooler conditions prevailed east of the Continental Divide with some isolated storms crossing the landscape. Although there were some brief heavy downpours across the state, total rainfall was limited to about 0.5 inches.

For precipitation estimates in your neighborhood over 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.