SPM 06-06-2020: Surge of Moisture Reaches Western Colorado

Issue Date: Saturday, June 6th, 2020
Issue Time: 9:00 AM MDT

Summary:

As the long-anticipated Low pressure system started to finally make its way inland on the West Coast yesterday, westerly flow aloft became more southwesterly and a surge of Pacific moisture slid into Colorado. This moisture provided the fuel for widespread showers and thunderstorms across the Western Slope and High Country, with more widely scattered coverage over eastern Colorado. A few storms over western Colorado produced severe wind gusts and associated damage, including downed power lines, uprooted trees, and a large section of fence blown over in Mesa County. Some of the highest wind gust reports include:

77 mph: 4 miles NE of Cameo (Mesa County)
70 mph: Meeker (Rio Blanco County)
68 mph: Douglas Pass (Garfield County)
67 mph: 12 miles NW of Greystone (Moffat County)

As far as rainfall was concerned, rates were generally light-to-moderate owing to the fact that dry air near the surface mitigated the moisture surge’s impacts. Some of the higher rainfall totals according to CoCoRaHS observations (as of 8 AM MDT) are as follows:

0.54 inches: San Juan County
0.44 inches: Mesa County
0.43 inches: Delta County
0.42 inches: La Plata County
0.36 inches: Archuleta County
0.35 inches: Moffat County

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.