South Central and Southeast Colorado 2017 Summer and Early Fall Climate Summary
Barbara Crimond | Dec 04, 2017 | Comments 0
After a wet spring of 2017, the first month of “Meteorological Summer” warmed up and dried out across south central and southeast Colorado. While some portions of Eastern Colorado saw spotty amounts of above normal precipitation through the month of June, along with bouts of severe weather, most of south central and southeast Colorado saw above normal temperatures and below normal precipitation for the month as a whole.
July started where June left off, mainly hot and dry across south central and southeast Colorado. The summer monsoon started to bring in some moisture into western Colorado after the first week of the month, with the monsoon increasing into the middle of the month and remaining in full swing across south central and southeast through the end of the month. For the month as a whole, above to well above normal precipitation and generally above normal temperatures, were experienced across much of south central and southeast Colorado.
August started off where July left, with ample “monsoonal moisture” in place across the region, leading to daily showers and thunderstorms spreading across south central and southeast Colorado. However, the monsoonal moisture tap started to dry out into the middle of the month, which led to much more isolated storms across the area, with this drier weather pattern persisting through the end of the month. For the month as a whole, generally below normal temperatures and precipitation were experienced across south central and southeast Colorado, save for localized areas of above normal precipitation across the far southeastern Colorado Plains.
For Summer Season as a whole, generally around normal to slightly above normal temperatures were experienced across South Central Colorado through the I-25 Corridor, with below to well below normal temperatures experienced across the southeast Colorado Plains. Near normal to slightly above normal precipitation was experienced across most of south central and southeast Colorado through the summer of 2017, with well above normal precipitation experienced across portions of the San Luis Valley and the southeast Colorado Plains.
September, the start of “Meteorological Fall,” started where August left off, mainly warm and dry across south central and southeast Colorado. This warm and dry pattern persisted through the middle of the month before a substantial pattern change brought cool and wet weather to south central and southeast Colorado through the end of the month. This pattern change also brought nearly a week straight of cloudy conditions to much of southeastern Colorado, with more than a couple consecutive days of cloudy conditions highly anomalous any time of the year across eastern Colorado. For the month as a whole, generally above normal temperatures and precipitation were experienced across south central and southeast Colorado, with areas of well above normal precipitation across portions of southern Colorado.
October was a generally warm and dry month across south central and southeast Colorado, with several weather systems and associated cold fronts moving across the region throughout the month. These weather systems brought big temperature swings and some light rain and snow across the region. For the month as a whole, generally above normal temperatures and below normal precipitation were experienced across south central and southeast Colorado, save for at or above normal precipitation across portions of the central mountains.
By Mark Wankowski
Precipitation levels in inches for southeast communities from September through November, 2016 and 2017
Sept through Nov 2016 | Sept through Nov 2017 | |
Walsh | 0.73 |
4.10 |
Springfield |
1.11 | 2.07 |
Las Animas | 0.47 |
2.55 |
Eads |
1.19 | 1.86 |
Burlington | 2.06 |
2.30 |
Trinidad |
1.37 | 5.73 |
La Junta | 1.43 |
3.72 |
Holly |
0.96 | 2.92 |
Lamar | 1.37 |
2.61 |
Wiley |
n/a |
1.87 |
Filed Under: City of Granada • City of Holly • City of Lamar • City of Wiley • Consumer Issues • County • Featured • Public Safety • Recreation • Weather
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