SPM 05-25-2018: Isolated Thunderstorms Produce more Wind than Rainfall

Issue Date: Friday, May 25, 2018
Issue Time: 09:30AM MDT

Summary:

A couple isolated thunderstorms were able to kick off near the Palmer Ridge yesterday afternoon along a weak line of convergence. With moisture limited to the west, due to the building ridge, a strong outflow boundary was produced. The La Junta airport measured this gust at 37 mph. As the isolated thunderstorms traveled east, they moved into 45-50F dew points over Cheyenne and Kit Carson County. This small increase in moisture helped drop some impressive rain totals under the cores of the storms. Radar rainfall estimates were just over 1.5 inches with a CoCoRaHS station SW of Burlington recording 0.49 inches. These storms also produced 1 inch hail in Kit Carson County.

Flooding was not reported on Thursday. For rainfall estimates in your area, scroll down to 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 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.