Issue Date: Friday, May 17th, 2016
Issue Time: 9:02AM MDT
The veteran ridge continued its grasp across Colorado on Thursday with hardly a cloud seen across the state. With strong subsidence in the mid-levels and ample sunshine, the atmosphere was quick to warm. Afternoon high temperatures near 90 F were common in the 5,000-6,000 feet elevations. In the lower elevations, a few locations such as Lamar saw afternoon temperatures of 100 – 105F along with relative humidity in the 10-15% range. At La Veta Pass (elev. 10,200 feet), high temperatures reached the mid 50s F.
The long duration of the ridge has sparked numerous wildfires across the southwest U.S. Fortunately, these have stayed out of Colorado thus far. However, New Mexico has not been as lucky with 2 fires now exceeding 10,000 acres and not much immediate hope for containment.
Snowpack has rapidly receded with the transition to summer. Only 3 SNOTEL sites across the state are showing remaining snow this morning. The highest value is Tower (North Platte River basin) with an impressive 16.5 inches of snow water equivalent left, right on par with average.
Flooding was not observed on Thursday.
