Happy first day of summer! Today will be the longest day of the year in terms of daylight we get. Enjoy it, it should be a very pleasant day statewide. Here’s a look at Colorado as the sun was coming up on this first day of Summer.
This last weekend was a good one for rainfall in SW Colorado. Areas around Durango and Pagosa Springs picked up 1-2″ of rain!
It’s been a relatively dry start to the week but that’s about to change as we see another big surge of monsoon moisture move into the state this week.
Weather Headlines:
Moisture increasing from south to north through this week
Increasing temperatures through Friday
Big surge of moisture this weekend with cooler temperatures expected statewide
The monsoon is a seasonal windshift that draws in moisture from the sub-tropical regions to the south of us. Monsoon moisture will increase from south to north through this week. Here’s what that setup looks like.
The overall highlight shows that burn scar flooding and some flash flooding is expected over the next several afternoons. The threat of rain across Colorado really increases Wednesday and stays high through the upcoming weekend.
For the near-term, New Mexico will be the big winner in terms of moisture today.
That’s good news for New Mexico since they are battling horrible drought and several large wildfires – so good news for them.
The forecast will feature increasing rain chances through this week. By this weekend, a cold front is expected to drop south from Friday night to Saturday and that will cool off temperatures but it will also add lift and energy for the already in place moisture to create widespread rain and storms. So, this weekend is looking pretty wet.
Here’s a time series of rainfall across the state.
You’ll notice that southern Colorado is looking to get the most moisture. That’s very typical with a monsoon setup since winds and moisture are being delivered from the south.
Rain totals for several places across Colorado show similar patterns. The further south you are, the more rain you can expect through this wet period. Here’s a few select locations and how much rain they could receive through the end of this month (and beyond)
The 2-3″ of rain for Durango would be make a huge dent in the drought conditions being experienced there. This much rain also comes with the threat of burn scar flooding and flash flooding so although this is a good thing, some negative happenings could occur.
The other story we’re watching is warming temperatures on the eastern Plains with a pretty notable cool down for the upcoming weekend. Mountain and high valley locations won’t see much of a change in tempreatures.
So a busy weather week ahead for much of Colorado. The good news is we are talking about rain chances more than anything. I’ll update the forecast again by Thursday for the upcoming weekend. It’s a busy weekend for weddings, Pride events, the AVs game and many other events so hopefully the weather cooperates but also, hopefully we get the wet weather we need.
Finally, here’s a current look at the drought conditions across the state. Along the I-25 corridor, we’re actually fairing pretty well in terms of drought.
Areas across southern Colorado should see a nice improvement in drought after this monsoon week concludes.
Talk soon!
~Andy
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