SPM 07-13-2021: Modest Precipitation in Southwest Slope

Issue Date: Tuesday, July 13, 2021
Issue Time: 8:45 AM MDT

Summary:

Yet another hot and dry day yesterday for most of the state, but some isolated afternoon showers produced very modest rainfall amounts in the Central and San Juan Mountains, between 0.01-0.03 inches scattered across the high elevations.

The Los Pinos Valley in the Southwest Slope benefitted from monsoonal moisture creeping up from New Mexico during an evening thunderstorm. Two CoCoRaHS observers in Bayfield (La Plata County) reported 0.41 and 0.57 inches from an evening thunderstorm, which included small, BB-sized hail. Observers remarked that even with the much-needed moisture, it was still not enough to clear out the smoke and haze from wildfires.

Conditions remained hot and dry over the fires burning in the Northern and Central Mountains, and gusty outflows from isolated thunderstorms increased winds and fire behavior while providing no relief in terms of precipitation. Air operations had to be limited over the Muddy Slide fire due to erratic winds. Smoke remained in the air due to fires in Colorado and the rest of the Western US.

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