Record Low High Temperature for the Date, set

(posted on Wednesday June 10 by Keno)

 

On Tuesday June 9, besides the record snowfall, the Crestone Baca area also saw a record low high temperature of 57 degrees. The old record was 58 degrees, set in 1992.

 

Rare June Snow!
(posted on Tuesday June 9 by Keno)

 

Just how rare was this morning's June snowfall? Very rare, with this being only the fifth time since 1982 that snow has been reported in June in the greater Crestone-Baca area below 11,000 feet, with accumulating snow now only officially happening 3 times. At the weather station this morning I recorded 0.7" of snow, making this the second snowiest day ever in June, with June 13, 1983, still holding the official record for the most snow to ever fall on any one day in June, when one inch was recorded. Besides these snowfalls, the only other official accumulating snow on the ground in June for Crestone was 0.3" in June of 1999. But it should be noted that one unofficial snowfall of 0.5" from June of 1996, was reported by the late Jim Erdman. Jim was a retired scientist who lived in Crestone for many years and whom handed over his daily Crestone weather records to me shortly before his passing a few years back. Crestone's official weather observer at the time, the late Hal Reinhart, was out of town and didn't submit a report on that day, so officially that snowfall never happened..... But it did. 

 

Record Precip on Monday in Crestone
(posted on Tuesday June 2 by Keno)

 

The Crestone/Baca Weather Station on Monday, June 1, recorded a record amount of precipitation for the date when .40 of an inch of rain and hail was recorded at the station between 2:50pm  and 7:00pm. The old record for the date was .36 of an inch, set in 2009.

 

Record Low Snowfall for Crestone seen in April
(posted on Friday, May 1 by Keno)

 

For only the third time since weather records have been kept, the greater Crestone/Baca area saw pretty much a snowless April, in a month that is usually the second snowiest month of the year. Only a trace of snow fell on 3 days during the past month, tying the April's of 1988, 1991, and 2001 for the least amount of snow ever seen in the month. Also, the 0.4 of an inch of total precip for April was the second lowest total ever recorded. Only in April of 1988, when only a trace was recorded, did the Crestone-Baca area see less. Thanks to this total lack of snow and rain since January 1, the mountains above town (where we received our water supply from) are now well below normal for snowpack, at just 55% of normal, as of the latest reading on April 30. Thanks to all of this, the entire Crestone/Baca area in now in a severe drought, with all open fires and burning banned.

 

We are now at a point where an increase in the snowpack for this season is highly unlikely, as even a big dumping of snow up high will now only melt away fast, thanks to the strong sunlight and much warmer temperatures that we see in a normal May. Normally the snowpack in our mountains doesn't start to drop until mid-April, but for this snow season, it started to decrease in mid-December, and since the middle of March, it has been falling at a record rate. A small sample of a few of the snowpack totals for this season: In November things looked great, with the snowpack at 120% of normal. But it was all downhill after that. By March 1 that total dropped to below normal readings, at 96%, meaning that today it has now plummeted 41% since that time, resulting in a record amount of melting snow for this time of the year.

 

 

- Public Service Announcements -

 

The Deadline for the U.S. Census has been extended

It is suggested that you go online and fill out the Census form instead of having a rep drop by your home. You DO NOT need a Census ID number to do this, and if you live in the greater Crestone area, you more than likely don't have one. It doesn't take long at all to fill out the Census form! So plan on doing this ASAP. You can do this by going to this website: https://2020census.gov/en/ways-to-respond/responding-online.html. For more info, call this telephone # 1-844-330-2020. Please make sure you and your family all get counted today!

 

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U.S. Tax Deadline Changed
(from https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus)
 
The deadlines to FILE and PAY federal income taxes for 2019 are extended to July 15, 2020.

 

 

Snowfall Probabilities

(from the NWS for Southern Colorado only)

 

 

 

Drought Conditions for Colorado
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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