SPM 09-07-2021: Hot and Dry Labor Day

Issue Date: Tuesday, September 7th, 2021
Issue Time: 9:15 AM MDT

Summary:

Labor Day was hot across the state, and included the return of smoke and haze, especially along the Urban Corridor where smoke pollutants and late summer ozone combined to drastically reduce air quality. In terms of precipitation, another day of short-lived, afternoon isolated thunderstorms on the Raton Ridge and Southeast Plains at the New Mexico and Oklahoma borders – but again, most of the action (and moisture) stayed south. Precipitation totals were light, less than 0.25 inches.

While this year had a largely uneventful Labor Day and “unofficial” end of summer – this time last year Colorado was experiencing a rapid shift in conditions when record heat changed to record in cold in just a few days. Denver also had its earliest snow in over 20 years. The Boulder WFO shared the following information on twitter, including notable records broken one year ago:

Remember a year ago when we went from record heat to snow and record cold in just a couple days? Not this year! We'll stay quite warm and dry through the week.
Read all about last year's event and records here… https://t.co/fTkcyhnBiT #COwx pic.twitter.com/eOs2qI9TYn

— NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder) September 7, 2021

No flooding was 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 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.