Two record temperatures were broken on Monday,
February 3. The first reading absolutely
blew apart the old record for the date of 51 degrees, when the
thermometer rose all the way up to 61 degrees by mid afternoon. That
reading was a full
10 degrees higher then the old record high that was set back in 2000. This reading was also the soonest Crestone has seen the 60
degree marker in any one year - ever, as the old earliest date was a 61
degree reading on February 20, 1995. This reading was also only 4
degrees off from the warmest February temperature ever reached, which
was set on February 28, 2006.
A second record was also set for February
3, as the average temperature for the date was broken, at 45.5 degrees.
The normal average temp for this day should be 20.1 degrees.
On February 4, and for the second day in a row, the Crestone/Baca
saw two more weather records for high temperatures broken, both once
again for the daily and average highs for the date. While not as warm as
the day before thanks to cloud cover, the recorded high temperature still was
broken, as the 56 degree reading broke the old record of 55 degrees,
which was set in 1999. Then the day's average
temperature was also broken, with a reading of 45 degrees, breaking
the old record of 40 degrees, set in 2018.
Day three of the streak of record breaking
high temperatures happened at the Crestone/Baca Weather Station on February 5,
with three new records set.
First, another record high temp for the date was set when the high
reached 55 degrees, breaking the old mark of 53 degrees, set in 1995.
Then, for the
third day in a row, the day's average temperature was broken when it
reached 44 degrees. The old
record was 40 degrees, set in 1999. Also broken was the highest low
temp ever seen for the date, when the thermometer only dropped down to
32 degrees, breaking the old record of 30 degrees, which also took place
in 1999.
Another new day arrives on February 6 and
then passes and another two record highs were broken, this happening for
the fourth day in a row. The first one was for the warmest temp ever seen on
February 6, when the
high reached 56 degrees, breaking the old record of 55 degrees, set in
1999. Then the average temperature for the day was also broken for the
fourth day counting, with a reading of 42 degrees. The old mark was 39
degrees, set in 1995.
Finally, for the fifth day in a row, more record
highs are seen, this
time, with three more new records set on February 7. The first
of three records broken was for the high temperature for the date, when the old record
of 53 degrees, set in 2015, was broken when the thermometer reached 55 degrees.
Then the second record to fall was the warmest low ever for February 7,
as the overnight reading only dropped down to 35 degrees, smashing the old mark
of 31 degrees, set in 2001. This also marked the earliest first 24
hour free, nonfreezing day of the year. Finally, the third record
surpassed on this date was the average temperature, which was 45.5
degrees, rounded off by the NWS to 46 degrees. This reading destroyed the old record for the date, which was 38 degrees, set in 2001.
A new record high temp was tied in the Crestone/Baca
on March 1 at 59 degrees. This reading was first reached in 1999.
Another record high temp was reached on March 27, when another tie was
seen for a record high temperature for the date, when the thermometer
rose to 68 degrees in the late afternoon. This reading was first reached
back in 2004.
The first trace of Rain for 2025 falls on April 15.
Three record lows were seen in April.
While snowy cold days do happen here in April, and are normal, the high
temperature for any day staying at or below freezing, is rarely ever
seen - yet that's exactly what took place on Saturday, April 5. With the
snow that fell lasting the entire morning and afternoon, helping to keep
the air cold all day, the high temperature reading was only 32 degrees
(and that wasn't reached until 520 pm, with the temperature for most of
the day in the mid to upper 20s). So this reading broke the old record
low high for the date which was 41 degrees, set in 2024. This freezing
low high also set the record for the coldest ever daily high in April.
The old record was 35 degrees, set on 2 dates, April 4, 2002 and April
3, 2023. Yet it didn't stop there with those two records being broken,
since the average daily temperature for the date was just 26 degrees,
and that was a new record low, too. That reading destroyed the old
average low record of 40.2 degrees.
The first
measuable Rain of 2025 falls on May 4.
Snow grains fell on May 7 with the temperature at 46 degrees. In most
places around the world this would be something never seen before, but
here at just under 8,100 feet, this happens at least once each spring
because of how high the Crestone Baca is in elevation. In fact, it was the second
time that week it snowed with the thermometer above 40 degrees!
On June 2, record precipitation was seen for the date when 0.45 of an
inch of rain was recorded.
The high temperature for August 21 was 90 degrees, tying the record high
for the date, which was first reached in 2007. This also ties the second
latest date of the year for the Crestone-Baca to see 90 degree
temperatures in the month of August, or any date in the entire year. The
latest date the Crestone/Baca ever saw a 90 degree day was 91 degrees,
reached on August 24, 2020.
Then for the second day in a row, another record high temperature for
the date was reached, this time breaking the old record of 89 degrees,
set in 2007, when the thermometer rose to 90 degrees at 355 PM. At that
time, a cold front then hit town and the temperature dropped 18 degrees
in less than an hour, seeing a reading of 72 degrees by 445 pm. This 90
degree reading also now sets and becomes the second latest date in the
year where a 90 degree reading has been reach. That record for second
placed had been just tied the day before (see above).
A downpour took place on September 12 when .24" of rain fell in just 5
minutes.
One of the biggest thunderstorms to hit the Crestone-Baca Weather
Station (located in Chalet 1) in years, came to town on Wednesday night
on October 15 at around 740 pm (officially 640 pm Mountain Standard Time
[MST] - since the NWS doesn't report on Daylight Saving nothing Time
[MDT]), and ended around 1130 pm (or 1030 pm MST). During that short
time span, 1.10" of heavy rain and hail fell, breaking the old record
for the date which was 0.45", set in 1994. The hail that hit the area
was the largest hail seen at the station in 2 years.
The Crestone-Baca area saw record precip on Monday, October 13, with the
old record high amount of 0.16" (set in 2009), being shattered, when
0.59" of rain fell on our area. Up high snow was seen.
The latest first measurable snow in the Crestone/Baca for a
snow season (and the latest first day of measurable snow ever seen since
records have been kept) was reach on November 17, when 0.1 of an inch
was recorded in snow pellets at 1125 am. This broke the old record set
on November 15, 2010.
Record high temperatures were seen in Crestone-Baca for 7 straight days
between December 19 thru the 25th! For the 19th, the old daily record
high temperature was destroyed, when the thermometer sped past the old
record of 48 degrees and went all the way up to 52 degrees. The old
record was set back in 2003. Then on the next day, on the 20th, a record high temperature was tied at 51 degrees. This tied the old
record reached back in 2004. Want more?... I got several more, as for
the third day in a row, another record high temperature for the date
was surpassed when the high temp of 51 degrees broke the old record for
December 21 of 49 degrees, and that record was only set the year before
in 2024! Next up we have what took place on December 22, not just a new
record high temperature, but the highest temperature ever
recorded in December, as the thermometer topped out at 55 degrees,
breaking the old record of 50 degrees by 5 degrees (the old record was set in 2005).
That day also temporary broken the record for the most days in December with
readings of 40 degrees or higher, but there was more of that still to come
in the month, so
keep reading below.
On December 23, we saw another record high at 44 degrees, this time it
tied the record first set in 2005. Then on Xmas Eve and on Xmas Day, we
would see the warmest Xmas holiday temperatures ever reached - for both
days. The warmest Xmas Eve ever, saw a high above 50 degrees,
when the thermometer rose all the way up to 54 degrees at 158 pm,
breaking the old record of 47 degrees, set in 2005. Then for the next
day, the Crestone-Baca would see the warmest Xmas Day ever, as not one,
but three record high temperature
records were broken on December 25! The first record was for the high
temperature reading, when the thermometer reached 54 degrees, breaking
the old mark of 52 degrees, set back in 1999. But no, that wasn't the
only record to fall, as two other firsts for Xmas day took place. Our
area didn't see any freezing temperatures for the holiday, as the low
for the day was a warm 35 degrees, and that was a new record low high
reading, destroying the old record of 27 degrees, which happened way
back in 1987. With that record reading along with the record high, well,
that means the average temperature for the day was also broken - by a
even more crazy margin of a full 10 degrees (!), at 44.5 degrees. One
thing for sure, temperature wise, it sure didn't feel like Xmas in 2025,
not by a long shot!
Two last notes on all of this warm weather in December. The string of
days of temperatures at or above 50 degrees (6 days total) had never
occurred in December before in our area, and the number of days with the
temperature above 40 degrees (20 in total) also was something never seen
before. Perhaps even more interesting was that we still saw a White Xmas
for 2025 - if you don't count snow falling on Xmas day and go
by the snowpack already on the ground (which counts). Going by NWS rules
on this, there must be at least 50% snowpack on the ground on Xmas Day
for a White Xmas, along with at least one inch of snow on the ground.
For 2025, more than 50% of the land had snow cover on Xmas Day and there
was more than an inch on the ground - with 5.2 inches of
snowpack on Xmas morning, thanks in part to the fact that we saw a lot
of snow fall in the first week of the month; most of that never melted,
since the sun is so
low in the sky in December, along with early sunsets (and even with the
record warm temperatures), that was the reason for little of the snow
melting. So, we saw a very warm - yet white
Xmas day, indeed! Bet that's something that is highly unlikely to ever
take place on Xmas again. But them again, with climate change and global
warming out of control, I guess anything is possible in the future.
Okay, the very last note was that yes, December 2025, went down as the
warmest December ever for the Crestone/Baca, as the average temperature
for the entire month was 30.7 degrees. The old record was 30.5 degrees,
set in 2010. Now, while we only broke the record by just 0.2 of a degree,
both of these two records are just so outrageously high for the last
month of the year, as the now third warmest December ever, is 28.8
degrees (seen in 2017). So, 2010 and '25 are now the only two years
since record keeping has been taken, where our area saw an average high
each day of over 30 degrees in December!
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