Crestone Weather Center
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MONTHLY CLIMATOLOGICAL SUMMARY FOR CRESTONE, CO

(For Daily Climatological Stats, go here)

2008

MONTH MEAN
TEMP
HIGH TEMP DATE LOW TEMP DATE HEATING DEGREE DAYS COOLING DEGREE DAYS TOTAL PRECIP WIND SPEED AVG WIND GUST HIGH DATE DOM
WIND DIR
Jan 12.0� 42.3� 1/5 -19.7� 1/17 1643   0 0.57 4 35 1/29 S
 Feb 22.0� 45.5� 2/29   -9.6� 2/6 1244   0 0.72  5     28      2/14   SE
  March 31.4� 64.4� 3/26    1.4� 3/4 1040   0 0.47    4    42    3/30   SE
April 38.9� 73.4� 4/29    9.8� 4/12   728   0 0.35     7     38   4/24  SE
May 49.2� 82.4� 5/31#   14.7� 5/2   484   0 0.50    7    44   5/8  SE
June 60.2� 87.4� 6/28   28.9� 6/13   144   6 0.74 6 36 6/11 E
July 66.4� 89.4� 7/31   40.3� 7/9     18  65 1.01 5 32 7/7 ~ E
Aug 63.8� 91.1� 8/2   39.4� 8/17     69  32 2.65 4 35 8/5 ENE
Sept 56.2� 78.2� 9/7   33.5� 9/13   263    0 0.46 5 32 9/9 ENE
Oct 45.3� 76.0� 10/1     9.9� 10/23   609    0 0.28 5 40 10/11 E
Nov 33.5� 63.9� 11/1     3.1� 11/7   948    0 0.74 4 27 11/4 E
Dec 20.0� 46.9� 12/2   -9.3� 12/27 1394    0 1.44 5 32 12/26 E
                           
TOTALS 41.8� 91.1� 8/2 -19.7� 1/17 8584 103 9.93 5 44   5/8  E

# Also on 5/19.......   ~ Also on 7/1
Temperatures recorded in degrees Fahrenheit. Wind Speed recorded in MPH. Precipitation recorded in inches. Heating/Cooling degree base: 65.0�

Crestone Weather Notes For 2008:

The low temperature dropped to -12� on January 1, which broke the old coldest reading for the date, which was -10�, set in 1988.

On January 5, the temperature finally rose above the freezing mark. This marked the first time since December 21, 2007 that had happened, ending 357.5 straight hours (or 14.9 days) below freezing. January 5 was also only the second day since December 10, 2007 to have temps above freezing, with 619.5 hours out of  625.5 hours (almost 26 days) spent below 32�.

Low temperature drops to -19.7� (or -20�) on January 17, not only breaking the record low for the day, which was -14�, set in 1984, but the reading also marks the coldest January temperature ever recorded since records started being taken in Crestone in 1983 ( -16�, was the old mark, set twice, in 1984 and in 2007. The all time low temp is -26�, set in the month of February). Also, the daytime high on that same day only reached 10�, which set a low high temp record for the date. Then on the following morning another low record fell, with a reading of -16.4� (old mark was -13� set in 1984).

On the afternoon of January 25, the temperature rose above the freezing mark for about 30 minutes, marking the first time since January 11 when that last happened, ending 337.5 straight hours (or 14 days) below freezing. As it was on Jan 11, the temperature rose above freezing for less than 10 minutes, as a brief afternoon snow shower passed through town and actually rose the temperature, which is unusual for Crestone.

On January 31 a new record low was set for the date with a reading of -11�, the old mark was -10�, set in 1985.

New record low set on February 6 when temp drops to -9.6�, breaking the old mark of -8� set in 1985.

A brief duststorm hit around 5 PM on March 30.

The month of April ended on a windy and dusty note, with most of the area experiencing a dust storm in the afternoon on April 30.

On April 30, the low temp stayed above freezing with a reading of 37�, marking the first 24 hour period this year where the temperature stayed above freezing, and the first 24 hour period that this had taken place in Crestone since October 11, 2007.

This April ended up being the fourth driest April on record with only .35" of precip.

The high temp for May 1 was 41�, set at midnight (1am daylight savings time - the afternoon high was 39�), and that reading breaks the record for the lowest high temp for the date, which was 43�, set in 1999. The low temp for the day of 16� was a record low, breaking the old reading of 21�, set last in 2004 and also in earlier years. This 16� reading also breaks the all time low temp for May, which was 19�, set back on May 11, 2006.

The low temp in Crestone on May 2 was 15�, which broke the old record low for the date of 20�, set in 1997. This reading also breaks the record for the coldest temperature ever recorded in the month of May for Crestone, the old record was 16�, set just the day before (see note above).

For the third May day in a row, a record low temperature was recorded with a reading of 15.6� (or 16�). The old record low for May 3 was 21�, set in 1988.

First rain of the year falls briefly on May 6, mixed with hail. First measurable rain of the year falls two days later on May 8.

Another cold May night this year sets another daily record low, with a reading of 24� on the 16th, old record for the date was 29�, set last in 1998 and also in earlier years.

The high temperature for June 5 was 48.6�, setting a new record for the lowest high temperature for any day in the month of June in Crestone. The old record low high for June was 56�, set on June 25, 1995.

The low temperature on June 12 dropped to 29.3� at 612am, breaking the old record low for the day which was 32�, set in 2004. Then on June 13, for the second straight morning, another new low temperature reading was set for the day at 28.9�, at 524am. The old record low was 31�, set in 2004.

Two hail/rain events to note: On July 9, with partly sunny skies at 3:55 PM, light hail fell for less than 5 minutes, followed by a two minute downpoured of rain, with .07" of precip falling in those two minutes.... On July 12, at 5:15pm, moderate hail fell for less than 10 minutes, with a total of .26" of both melted hail and rain recorded in less than 20 minutes. The temperature also fell 27� in 10 minutes as the hail came down, from 82� to 55�.

For the first time since 1999, the temperature did not reach the 90� mark in the month of July.

On August 2 a record high temperature for the date was tied with a reading of 91.1� (first reached in 2005). Then on August 4 another record high for that date was tied when 88.9� was reached (89� was first reached in 2000).

On August 4, very heavy rain mixed with just a bit of small hail fell from 3:30 PM to 3:55 PM, resulting in .52". At the same time only .11" was recorded a mile north in the town of Crestone and no precip at all fell just 2 miles to the west.

Summer cool down hits on August 16 when a record low high for the day is set at 66� (old mark was 72�). Also on this day, snow fell in the nearby mountains above 12,000 feet and local officials in the town of  Mosca spotted a tornado 12 miles east of their town. Then on the next day, another record low high for the day is set at 63� (old record was 70�).

Only a total of .46" of precip falls in September, making it the second driest September ever recorded since record keeping began. The temperature also never fell to freezing in the month, marking the first time since 1998 that took place.

The first freeze of the season doesn't hit town until October 6, marking the second latest date that this mark was reached. The latest first freeze on record is October 9, 1990.

Record high temp tied on October 31 at 65�, first set back in 1995.

Record low temp on November 7 of 3.1� breaks the old mark of 8�, set back in 2000.

Snowstorm hits at night on December 9 with blowing snow and 11.2" total accumulation, with more than 20" recorded up in our mountains at 11,000 feet near Willow Lake.

December, with 21.4" of snow, turned out to be the second snowiest December since records have been recorded. It also was the third wetttest December on record.

The 9.93" of precip that fell during the year is the fifth lowest amount ever recorded.

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