SPM 06-06-2018: Widespread Record- and Near-Record Heat with a few Overachieving Thunderstorms

Issue Date: Wednesday, June 6, 2018
Issue Time: 10:35AM MDT

Summary:

Yesterday marked the hottest day of the year so far for many in Colorado, with a number of stations approaching or breaking their record high temperatures for the day. The image below shows the high temperatures at stations across Colorado yesterday, ranging from 70°Fs in the mountains to over 100°F in a few spots on the eastern plains! In addition, the righthand panel shows how temperatures at 4:00pm MDT yesterday compared to the records for the day, with many stations nearing (within 3°F, in yellow), tying (orange), or breaking (red) their daily record highs. Notice that the heat was particularly prominent on the eastern plains.

In addition to the heat, some thunderstorms were observed over the eastern plains yesterday evening. While little in the way of thunderstorm activity occurred near the typical afternoon peak across the state, a cluster of storms fired up across Kit Carson, Yuma, and Cheyenne counties around 9:00pm last night. These storms lingered across extreme eastern Colorado until almost 4:00am, producing up to 0.48” of rain at gauge sites with a radar-estimated maximum near 1.5”.

No flooding was reported on Tuesday. 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.