Scattered storms this afternoon…some could get pretty strong.

A cool double rainbow formed to the east last evening where we live about a mile north of Hatcher Lake.

5-22-21: 12:30pm update…Be happy you aren’t flying west today!

A very fast moving jet stream is streaking above from south to north of us today, especially to our west. This will give our atmosphere the energy it needs to form rapidly moving storms this afternoon and early evening.

The strong jet stream above us will mix down during the afternoon, giving us the potential for some hefty wind gusts to over 40mph. along with storms. Although the Storm Prediction Center only has us in the light green zone (normal thunderstorms), you don’t have to go far to our east to be in the Yellow zone (Slight) where a Severe Thunderstorm Watch will likely be issued. 12:40pm Edit: There is now a Tornado Watch until 8pm for the front range. We are close enough in my opinion to see some borderline severe storms this afternoon here.

Shawn will do a weekly recap of our storm totals on Sunday, but as of this morning, it’s been a wonderful week of badly needed rain. At this point most of us have gotten our average May rainfall amount of 1.20 inches. Below is what our area COCORAHS reporters have logged since Monday.

A quick note…Our home has a view of the Coyote Loop Trail and I have been very surprised to see people doing the three mile hike today in shorts and no rain gear. Besides the risk of being struck by lightning today, getting soaking wet when temps are in the 50’s can be close to life threatening when you are at least a mile away from the trail head. These storms are forming very quickly so if you are planning a hike today, please go prepared! Better yet, don’t go today.

My forecast…

The rest of the day…Mostly cloudy with highs remaining in the 50’s and low 60’s if the sun comes out. There will continue to be a chance for fast forming and moving thunderstorms this afternoon and into this evening. Winds will be picking up out of the south and could gust to over 40mph. Some of the storms may produce small hail along with some high wind gusts. We could see another 0.20-0.60 of precipitation with the storms. They will be very scattered so there will be rain lottery winners and losers!

Tonight through Sunday: A cold front moves through tonight and temps will lower to the upper 20’s to lower 30’s so I would recommend bringing in those annual plants at least through Tuesday morning. There could be some accumulating snow tonight at Wolf Creek Pass, but I don’t see more than a couple of inches. Sunday should be mostly sunny with winds gusting to 30mph. High temps rebound to the 70’s by Tuesday.

-Mark Langford

Now that I have Starlink, I’m broadcasting my Pagosa Peak Cam (myearthcam.com) during the day. It’s pretty fun to view when storms are in our area.

Pagosa Springs historical data