SPM 05-07-2019: Uptick in Afternoon and Evening Showers and Thunderstorms

Issue Date: Tuesday, May 7th, 2019
Issue Time: 10:40AM MDT

Summary:

Some low clouds and fog to start the day over eastern Colorado with moisture return behind a cold front. The California low started to move inland yesterday, which brought some upper level support for afternoon storms. Mid and upper level energy and the return of low level moisture helped increase showers and thunderstorms over the northern high terrains yesterday afternoon. As storms moved into the adjacent plains during the afternoon hours, they did not produce much (if any) rainfall until they reached they reached the plains. A handful of Severe Thunderstorm Warnings were issued with the main action over the Southeast Plains and Palmer Divide. Half dollar sized hail (1.25 inch) was reported near Limon and a 68 mph gust was recorded near Springfield. The highest 24-hr storm totals were over Elbert County were 1.5 inches fell and Baca County where 2 inches were reported over the far southeast corner. Dense fog began in the evening and has continued through this morning.

With continuous upslope flow and a moist, decently unstable environment, another set of storms moved off of the mountains during the early evening hours and rolled into the Urban Corridor. These storms brought rainfall totals for the 24-hr period anywhere between 0.05 and 0.75 inches. Copious pea sized hail was also reported in North Denver. Light showers continued through this morning against the foothills with dense fog being reported over the mountains and eastern half of the state. Flooding was not reported yesterday.

To see precipitation totals over 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 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 vulnerable fire burn areas (post 2012), which are updated throughout the season to include new, vulnerable burn areas. The home button in the top left corner resets the map to the original zoom.