SPM 08-01-2018: Rising Pressure Heights and Dry Air Suppress Afternoon Thunderstorm Activity

Issue Date: Wednesday, August 1st, 2018
Issue Time: 09:15 AM MDT

Summary:

Continued entrainment of dry air from the north and rising pressure heights suppressed shower and thunderstorm activity across the state on Tuesday. Below are the relative humidity values from yesterday at 4PM. Most regions are in the 20-30% range with stations over western Colorado in the single digits. Thankfully winds were weak, so there were lesser fire concerns. Some moisture was able to hang on over the far southern border, so there were a few showers and thunderstorms over the San Juan and southern tip of the Southeast Mountains during the afternoon. The Cumbres Trestle SNOTEL site in the area recorded 0.4 inches. As we start August, the drought continues to worsen over the Southeast Plains/Mountains and northwest corner of the state with only limited improvements over the Northern Mountains and Front Range. Here’s to hoping this next surge of monsoon moisture will help alleviate the dry soils, and at the same time, avoid recent burn scars.

To see how much precipitation over your neighborhood the last 72-hours, 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 24-hour, 48-hour and 72-hour total precipitation contain bias corrections that are not disaggregated into the hourly estimates, so there will likely be some differences. The accumulation ending time is 7AM of the date shown in the bottom right corner. Also shown optionally are fire burn areas (post 2012), which are updated throughout the season to include new burn areas. The home button in the top left corner resets the map to the original zoom.