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climate.colostate.edu
Climate monitoring, climate research, and climate services for Colorado. Based at the Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University. https://climate.colostate.edu
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The June 6, 2020 derecho brought the most severe thunderstorm wind reports in a single day in Colorado records *by far*. So many that there is a spike on June 6 when calculating the climatology of severe winds for the state (bottom panel of graph). Five years ago today. #cowx

Heavy rain is possible across southern Colorado through Weds. Early June is typically dry in SW CO, so this storm could bring 1-2x the usual rainfall for all of June. It may not help much with the poor water supply situation, but will recharge soil moisture and hopefully reduce wildfire risk. #cowx

Are you in NE Colorado? Want to help out the #ICECHIP effort? We would deeply appreciate very large hailstones found by chasers or the community to be bagged & tagged and handed off to one of our teams! For labeling, please: • Write time, lat, and lon of collection!

Four tornadoes confirmed from Sunday east of Denver; three of them rated EF-2! Adams County is one of the most tornado-prone counties in the country, but this is the first EF-2 in the county since July 13, 1996. #cowx

Drought update for the Intermountain West from NIDIS: www.drought.gov/drought-stat...

Today!

Wednesday evening's storms had 64 preliminary reports of severe winds in eastern Colorado. That's second to only the June 6, 2020 derecho in terms of number of severe thunderstorm wind reports on a single day in Colorado! #cowx

New blog post: "The changing drought landscape after a big storm and May heat" This week’s US Drought Monitor shows big changes across Colorado, with improvements in the southeast from last week's big storm, and worsening conditions in the west after a warm, dry April and early May. #cowx #drought

Today!

Healthy precipitation amounts over the last two days in southern Colorado and along the Front Range. Widespread totals >1.5" on the southeastern Plains, and over 3" west of Colorado Springs and around Cañon City. #cowx

It snowed again, but to what effect? bigpivots.com/it-snowed-ag...

We are promoting CoCoRaHS hail reports as part of the upcoming @nsficechip.bsky.social project -- you can learn more about the project at the field day on May 17th in Boulder! (And did you know that CoCoRaHS observers can now submit photos with hail reports?)

"The region’s rivers and streams are likely to be lower than usual between now and July, when rivers typically swell to their peaks, according to Peter Goble, a climatologist for the Colorado Climate Center at Colorado State University." #cowx #drought

Some very big precipitation amounts in the forecast for the next 2 days, especially in southern Colorado. This will be welcome in light of the worsening drought in that area, but there's also a risk of flooding at low elevations and a winter storm warning at high elevations. #cowx

This week's US Drought Monitor shows expanding drought across Colorado, with a new area of D3 (extreme) on the western slope after a dry April and rapidly declining mountain snowpack. We've got our fingers crossed for the storm next week, with some large precipitation amounts in the forecast! #cowx

Coverage from FOX31 on the poor mountain snowpack situation in southern Colorado: kdvr.com/news/local/s... #cowx

It's the time of year when people start asking about when they can plant their gardens, and we've got the data to help! Go to col.st/oOkXW for maps of the timing of last spring freezes, then click a station to get more details (and decide how much risk you're willing to take). Happy planting! #cowx

Tomorrow (Weds) will be the first chance of the spring for severe thunderstorms across eastern Colorado. Brush up on your Colorado severe weather climatology here! climate.colostate.edu/severe_wx_cl... #cowx

Good news: the funding for the Regional Climate Centers has been approved, so products are back up and running on both their website and ours. Another example tool using HPRCC data: our interactive maps of standardized precipitation index (SPI), which is very important for drought monitoring.

You may see messages like this on parts of our website, including the drought page. We rely heavily on maps & data from the High Plains Regional Climate Center, which no longer has funding. We'll do our best to point to alternative data sources, but many of these products are not easy to replicate.

Are you ready for a classic spring Colorado weather day? Warm with critical fire weather conditions in southeast Colorado, followed by a strong cold front this evening and snow in the mountains and along the Front Range. #cowx Forecast maps from the National Weather Service.

New blog post: No good news in the snowpack and water supply numbers. The snowpack in Colorado's southern mountains never got to a good level this year, and now it's melting quickly. This doesn't bode well for river flows in the spring and summer. #cowx

The CoAgMET station at Holly reached 97°F yesterday, and a long list of stations had their warmest day on record for so early in the year, including Lamar (96°F), Pueblo (91), Fort Collins (88), Denver (86), CO Springs (86) and Alamosa (77). We'll crunch more numbers this week as they come in. #cowx

Today in the running for the warmest day this early in the year, especially in southeast Colorado. There have only been a few other times historically when it's reached 95+ so early in the year. #cowx Map at coagmet.colostate.edu

March was much warmer than average across eastern Colorado, with some periods of intense winds and blowing dust as well. And unfortunately, snow accumulation in the southern mountains continued to be poor, leading to expansion of drought. See more details in our March monthly summary! #cowx

Elevated fire weather conditions tomorrow (Saturday) across much of the state, with critical conditions (hot, dry, windy) in the southeast. #cowx

It's been chilly and snowy this week, but we are headed for an extended period of warm and dry conditions next week and beyond. Not good news for the already low snowpack in the mountains and expanding drought in western Colorado. #cowx

For any followers in southern Colorado, we'll be at the State of the Rio Grande basin symposium in Alamosa tomorrow (Saturday, March 29), along with a great lineup of presenters! www.adams.edu/news/fedarko...

This week's US Drought Monitor shows worsening #drought over northern Colorado, and a large new area of D0 (abnormally dry) in central and southern Colorado with little recent precip. NoCo may see some relief with a storm this weekend, and 🤞 for a potential even bigger storm late next week #cowx

What season is it anyway? Read our latest blog post about definitions of seasons and what they mean in Colorado, and why spring (however you define it) might be the most important season for Colorado's water resources. #cowx

It's maybe difficult to discern in the video, but under that gap in the clouds in southeastern Colorado there is an incredible amount of blowing dust. Winds have been gusting over 60mph all afternoon. #cowx Also an even bigger dust plume apparent across TX/OK. (Imagery from @cira-csu.bsky.social)

Coverage of the Colorado drought and snowpack situation from @coloradosun.com #cowx

In February, eastern Colorado experienced wild swings, including both bitter cold and unusual warmth. In the west, it was just warm. February also marked the end of one of the driest climatological winters on record in western Colorado. Read more in our February 2025 state climate summary! #cowx

Drought continues to expand across the western slope after one of the driest winters on record, and below-average snowpack in the southern mountains. Some good news is that the pattern looks quite active for the mtns the next couple weeks, we'll see how much of the deficits can be made up. #cowx

College basketball isn’t the only thing heating up across North Carolina this March. During the @CoCoRaHS Rain Gauge Rally, we're looking to add new @NC_CoCoRaHS observers to help us measure precipitation each day. Learn more and sign up at cocorahs.org.

*Very* windy in southeast Colorado this morning. The CoAgMET station at Walsh (Baca County) has had numerous gusts over 60mph this morning, with a maximum thus far of 65mph at 7:30am. #cowx coagmet.colostate.edu/graph/5min/w...

Statement: U.S. leadership in scientific innovation is at risk, with wide-ranging consequences for public safety and the economy. The AMS urges strong support for NOAA & other federal scientific agencies working in weather and climate. Read the rest of our latest statement: bit.ly/3DhfegUI

It's going to be quite a spring day in Colorado: snow in the mountains, rain and thunder at lower elevations, blizzard warning on the plains, and high winds and fire danger in the southeast... #cowx

Latest blog post: checking in on the mountain snowpack at the end of February. Not looking too bad in the north, but not good at all in the south. Plus, if you make it to the end, a note about our federal government partners and how important they have been to our work, and to the country. #cowx

there's a CoCoRaHS map for that! The observer WNW of Conifer reported snowfall rates up to 4.5" per hour and a total of 21". #cowx maps.cocorahs.org

www.summitdaily.com/news/colorad... #cowx