Heavy rain with thunderstorms this afternoon and evening
KOAA Weather
and last updated 2021-05-17 08:05:44-04
Todayâs Forecast:
We re going to see a very active afternoon and evening across southern Colorado as strong to severe storms move out of the mountains and across the plains.
Light rain overnight will continue through the early morning in areas like Fremont and El Paso Counties, but most of the region will start cloudy, foggy, and cool.
Storms will develop this afternoon over the southern mountains around and just after lunch, growing stronger through the mid-afternoon to the end of the day. Storms will move east across the plains overnight, spreading out with heavy rain and a few severe threats.
Drought conditions in April increased in much of western Colorado, as already dry conditions were made worse by well-below-average precipitation, the Colorado Water Supply Outlook stated in its May report.
Higher temperatures in the high country worsened the situation with substantial loss of snowpack, which fell to 72 percent of median statewide by the end of April.
While the northeastern plains saw more moisture, the storms did little to help conditions west of the Continental Divide.
Statewide, 33 SNOTEL sites saw the lowest precipitation on record, while 15 other sites recorded the second-lowest precipitation on record for April. Most of those SNOTEL sites were west of the Continental Divide.
Soaking rain and snow showers across the region today
KOAA Weather
and last updated 2021-05-03 08:54:32-04
Todayâs Forecast:
Heavy rain has fallen overnight from southern Colorado up to Denver, and we even have snow out there!
Most of our region will see just rain today, but snow levels will fall down to the Monument and Black Forest elevations of 7,000 feet at times.
KOAA Weather
Snow accumulation 5/3/2021
Snow accumulations will be focused at 8,000 feet or higher. At those elevations, we could see anywhere from 3 to 7 inches of snow.
We ll be dry tonight but there will be areas of freezing, so be careful with sensitive outdoor plants in the Pikes Peak Region.
Snow Showers Expected Later Wednesday Then Warming While Rain is in the Forecast
Another morning and another day that we have to talk about scattered snow showers and some scattered rain showers. Most of us woke to temperatures in the 20s and 30s. This afternoon, highs will only reach into the 30s and 40s for SE Colorado.
By this evening, clouds will re-increase across the region and then rain and snow showers will develop. Rain showers are expected around Pueblo, Kim, Lamar, La Junta and Springfield. Mostly light rain will fall. For areas around Woodland Park, Colorado Springs, La Veta and the Palmer Divide will see snow showers develop this evening.
SYNOPSIS:
Several storm systems moving across the Rockies through the month of March provided beneficial and much needed precipitation to much of south central and southeast Colorado. This is especially true across southeast Colorado, which recorded widespread precipitation amounts of 1 to 2 inches throughout the month, with local amounts exceeding 3 inches. The COOP observation in Eads, Colorado recorded 2.47 inches of precipitation in March, which is 1.54 inches above its monthly average. This is also over half (53 percent) of the total precipitation (4.64 inches) recorded in all of 2020!
With that said, the latest US Drought Monitor, issued Thursday April 15
th 2021, indicates marked improvement in drought conditions across portions of South central and southeast Colorado since the beginning of Water Year 2021 (October 2020-September 2021).