Crestone Weather Notes For 2011

A record low temperature was tied for the date on January 1, when the thermometer fell to -13.2�. The record was first set in 2008.

On January 21, the snowpack in Crestone was down to only a trace, the first time this has happen in Crestone in January since the drought year of 2002, and only the second time this has occurred since records were first kept in 1982.

January turned out to be the driest January ever recorded, with a total of only .07" of precipitation recorded, breaking the old record of .10" set in 1995. Crestone also saw the second least amount of snow to fall in January, with only 1.6", the record is 1.3", set in 1983.

Crestone set two record low temperatures for the day on February 2.  In the morning, the thermometer dropped to -20.7� (or -21�F), breaking the old record which was -20�,  set in 1985. This reading is the second coldest temperature ever recorded in Crestone since 1982, when records were first kept. Then that afternoon, the high was only 6�, setting a new record low high for the date. The following day, February 3, Crestone set another record low when the thermometer dipped to -21.6 � (or -22�F), this broke the old record set in 1985 of -14�, and over took the prior day's record for the second coldest recorded temperature in Crestone.

Crestone set a new record for daily snowfall for the day on Feb 8, with 11.2 inches recorded. The old record for the date was 4.5 inches. A couple of locations around town recorded over a foot, however outside of Crestone, much less snowfall was recorded, with the San Luis Valley receiving on average around 5 inches of snow.

More record low temperatures were set in February. First on February 9, the thermometer dropped to -16.0�F. The old record was -10�,  set in 2003. Then the next day another record low was set, this time when the thermometer dipped to -11.0�. The old record was -8�, set in 1986. 

The year's first measurable rain comes the earliest ever, on February 19, with .03" recorded. This was only the second time rain has fallen in February and the first time measurable rain has ever fallen in February. Before 2004, it had never rained in the months of December, January and February, but since it has rained 5 times in those months, including 2 times with measurable rainfall.

A record high temperature was recorded on March 16, with a reading of 65.7� (or 66�). The old record was 65�, set in 1994.Then the next day, the low temperature of 37� was a new record high low for the date. The old record high low was 35�, set in 1994.

9% humidity reading in the afternoon on March 20.

Record high temp reached on April 2 with a temperature reading of 72.3�, old mark was 69�, set in 2002.

A 3 hour dust storm hits on April 3.... Visibility was down to 100 feet around 145 PM.....a 51 MPH wind gust was recoded at the Crestone Charter Schoolm (4 miles west of the Crestone/Baca station).... and at 240PM, with heavy dust still in the air, snow pellets started to fall with the temp at 47� which helped to clean out the air.

Trace of snow fell at noon on April 19 with the temperature at 47�. Then on April 23, snow pellets fell in the afternoon with the temperature at 52�.

0.3" of hail accumulated on the ground after a hail storm hit on April 25.

The 1.4" of snow that accumulated in April was the fourth least amount of snow to ever fall in the month.

A record low high temperature was set on May 1 with a reading of 34.5�. The old record was 41�, set in 2008.

Record low temp reached on May 2 at 13�, old record was 15�, set in 2008. This is also the coldest temperature recorded in Crestone in the month of May.

The 0.4" of snow that accumulated on Thursday, May 19 was a record snowfall for the date, breaking the old record of 0.2", set in 2007

The low temperature in Crestone on May 20 dropped to 25�, breaking the old record low for the date of 26�, set in 1983.

Snow began to fall in the afternoon of May 20 with the temperature at 48�.

May ended up being a very dry month, both for the lack of precip, and very dry air. Crestone saw 9 days in May with humidity values under 10%, with these afternoon readings: 6% humidly readings during the afternoons of May 5 and 6; 5% on May 7; 4% on May 8; a 7% reading for May 16; 8% on both May 26 and 27; 9% on May 29; and finally, a reading of only 3% on May 31 tied the record for the lowest  humidity reading ever recorded in Crestone.

June 2 and 3 saw haze all day, with heavy smoke at times coming from fires burning down south in New Mexico and Arizona. Hazy days would presist thru June 6.

Measurable precipitation which fell late in the evening on June 19 was the first since May 20 and the first significant precip since April 24. Snow fell and accumulated in mountains above 10,000 feet on the same day.

A record high low temp of 58� was recorded on June 28, old record was 56�.

Smoke and haze engulfed Crestone and most of the San Luis Valley and surrounding mountains at night on June 29 from a fire burning down south in Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Going by relative humidity readings only, June was the driest month ever since such records were first taken in Crestone in 2002. Only 4 days in the entire month saw humidity values with afternoon readings staying above 10%, with only one day (June 30) with the reading staying above 15%. There were 5 days with afternoon values of 5% or less.

The 2010-11 snow season ended on June 30, with only 33.7" of snow recorded for the entire season. This was the third lowest total ever recorded in a snow season since records were first kept in 1982.

A record high low temperature was set on July 6 at 57�, the old record was 54� .

7% humidity values reached in the afternoons of July 1, 4 and 5.

The 0.46 inches of rain that fell in Crestone on July 10, was a record high amount for the date. The old record for the date was 0.34 inches, set on July 10, 1990.

A record high low temperature was broken on July 17 at 62�, smashing the old mark of 56�, and just missed tying the all time highest low temp ever recorded in Crestone by just one degree.... Then another record high low was broken July 18, at 58�, the old record was 55�.

High temp of 93� on July 23 is not only is the warmest day of the year so far, but the warmest day Crestone has seen in the last 5 years.

Days in August with below 10% humidity: Aug 8 - 8%; Aug 9 -  6%; Aug 10 -  8%.

The low temp for August 19 was 59�, a record high low.... The old record was 55�, set in 2002.... This also ties the record for the second warmest ever low temp in August, and ties the record for the fifth warmest low temp ever recorded for the entire year.... Then on  August 21, the low temp only drop to 55�, breaking the pervious record high low for the date of 54�, which was set in 2007.

A record high temperature was set on August 23 at 87�, breaking the old record of 86�, set in 2000... Then the next day, August 24, saw another record high broken with a reading of 87�, breaking the old record of 86�, which was set in 1994. 

August 2011 turned out to be the warmest August on record for Crestone.

A record high temperature was tied on September 1, at 86�.... The record was first set in 1985 and then reached again in 1990.

A record low high temperature was set on October 7 at 44�, the old record was 46�. The 0.3" of snow that fell was also a record high amount, breaking the old record for the date of a trace, set several times in past years.

An early snowstorm hit Crestone on October 8, with several weather records broken. A record snowfall was set with 9.5" of snow recorded. This breaks the old record for the date of 0.1", set in 2009 and 1991. 10" of snow was reported in Chalet 2, with 15" up around 9500 feet by the retreat centers, both locations are south of our weather station..... The 1.13" of liquid precipitation recorded on this day was a record high amount for the date. The old record for the date was 0.70", set in 2006.... Finally, a record low high temperature was set in Crestone on October 8 at 39�. The old mark was 44�, set in 1991.

2.45" of liquid precip made for the fourth wettest October on record, and the 11.1" of snow made for the fifth snowiest October ever, too.

It snowed shorty after midnight on November 8 this year, with just 0.1 of an inch accumulating. So why is so little snow a big deal? Because not only was this the first time measurable snow fell on this date, but November 8 was the only day in November that never saw measurable snow before. October 13 now becomes the latest date on the calendar in a snow season (which starts on July 1) where no measureable snow has fallen on.

On December 5 the high temperature set a record low high at 18� (the old mark was 21�), then the next day on December 6, a record low temp was set at -10�, breaking the old record of -8�, set in 2005. Also on December 6, another record low high was reached when the high was only 9� (far surpassing the old record of 22�). Then on December 7, one more record low was set at -7�, breaking the old record of -6�F, set in 2005.

With a total of 9.56 inches of precipitation recorded in 2011, the year ended up being the fifth driest ever on record.

In the first 18 years of official weather record keeping (1982 till 1999), Crestone only saw one year (1989) with less than 10 inches of total precipitation fall. Since 2000, Crestone has seen 6 out of the last 12 years with less than 10 inches of precipitation fall in a year, including 3 of the last 4 years.

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