SPM 05-11-2018: Hot and Dry for Most with Isolated Showers/Thunderstorms

Issue Date: Friday, May 11th, 2018
Issue Time: 9:30 AM MDT

Summary:

Dry and summer-like conditions could be found across much of the state, as the warming trend continued and pushed temperatures above Wednesday’s high temperatures. Offering a respite from the heat were isolated showers/thunderstorms, which dotted the state during the afternoon/evening hours, mainly along/north of I-70 where better moisture and upper-level support coincided. The strongest storms of the day rumbled across the Northeast Plains, where a few instances of severe hail were reported to the National Weather Service:

1.5 inch hail: North of Holyoke (Phillips County)
1.25 inch hail: 6 miles South of Julesburg (Sedgwick County)
1 inch hail: 6 miles SSE of Wages (Phillips County) and 1 mile SE of Holyoke (Phillips County)

A few light rain showers continued this morning across the higher terrain of the Northwest Slope, where surface moisture convergence, orographic effects, and upper-level support have kept the activity going. Overall, rainfall was light due and virga was plentiful as the near-surface moisture remained a bit on the low side, with only brief periods of moderate rainfall underneath the strong thunderstorms in northeast Colorado.

Flash flooding was not reported yesterday. For a look at precipitation estimates in your area, please see 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 accumulation ending time is 6AM of the date shown in the bottom right corner. Also shown optionally are fire burn areas since 2012. The home button in the top left corner resets the map to the original zoom.

Note: We have identified a possible underestimation in QPE over the southwest part of the state. We are working to on this issue, and will provide an update as soon as possible.