SPM 09-01-21: Hot, Dry, and Largely Uneventful End of August

Issue Date: Wednesday, September 1st, 2021
Issue Time: 10:20 AM MDT

Summary:

August went out uneventfully for most of Colorado with yet another hot, dry and smoky day. There was some afternoon convection in the high elevations due to daytime heating, though little if any precipitation with a lack of available moisture. With the continued heat, Colorado Springs saw a record high temperature of 94 degrees yesterday. The end of August also brings time to review the weather for the month and the end of meteorological summer (June-July-August). Along the Urban Corridor, Denver had its fifth driest August on record, but there were large differences in the spatial distribution of precipitation between the official reporting station at DIA versus Downtown Denver, which received 2.39 inches more than the airport.

This is going to officially finish as Denver’s 5th-driest summer on record, but that’s pretty misleading.

DIA (official site) June-August precip: 1.45”
Central Park: 2.77”
Downtown: 3.84”

DIA was a bit of a desert this summer.#9wx #COwx pic.twitter.com/UX8b0ZLE2X

— Chris Bianchi (@BianchiWeather) September 1, 2021

Colorado Springs also had a drier than normal summer for the third year in a row, coming in 2.78 inches below average. Conversely, Pueblo received 1.4 inches more than normal for the summer months.

Today marks the end of our rainy season and in Colorado Springs, it's now the third consecutive year with below average summer rainfall. Pueblo on the other hand came out wetter than normal. #cowx pic.twitter.com/FOqgabstxZ

— Alan Rose (@AlanRoseWX) September 1, 2021

In the SPM below, there appears to be an area of heavy rainfall over Lincoln-Kit Carson-Cheyenne Counties. This is actually an artifact from large wind farms in the area and an overnight inversion causing the radar beam to be reflected downward, rather than above the turbines.

Finally, during the late overnight and early morning hours, showers began in the Northwest Slope, Grand Valley, and Southwest Slope as the remnants of Hurricane Nora push a late season surge of monsoonal moisture in the area. As of this morning, precipitation totals are still light, Trace – 0.10 inches, but rain will continue and pick up in intensity and coverage throughout the day (see today’s FTB for more information).

No flooding was reported on Tuesday. 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 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.