SPM 06-04-2018: Moisture and Upper Low Combine for Much Needed Rainfall over Southern Colorado

Issue Date: Monday, June 4, 2018
Issue Time: 09:00AM MDT

Summary:

An upper low passed over the four corner region yesterday, bringing with it moisture and lift for some much needed rainfall over the southern half of the state. Early morning showers started the day for the San Juan Mountains, which helped ready the lower atmosphere for more measurable rain in the afternoon and evening hours. By mid-afternoon, much of the southern half of the high country was seeing rainfall. As you moved north, moisture became more limited, so thunderstorms over the Grand Valley were producing very gusty winds. A mesonet station in Montrose recorded a gust of 60 mph. Rainfall estimates over this area were 0.25 inches.

Due to underestimations of QPE by the SPM over the southwest portion of the state, some rain gage totals were pulled over the area. A CoCoRaHS station in Pagosa Springs recorded 0.33 inches with the Grayback SNOTEL site in the area receiving 0.8 inches. Alamosa even got in on the action with a CoCoRaHS station in town recording 0.55 inches. The Great Sand Dunes recorded 0.70 inches of rainfall. Moving east over the Southeast Mountains, La Veta Pass recorded 0.73 inches and Ute Creek SNOTEL recorded 1.3 inches of rain. According to radar estimates, the big winner for the day was on the Pitkin and Eagle County Line, where rainfall estimates were just over 1 inch.

There were no reports of flooding as of Monday morning. For rainfall estimates over 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.