Smoke aloft was noticeable over our mountains this morning. Pic taken 6/9/2021 at 6:45am
Wednesday – 9 Jun 2021 – 12:50pm
Overall situation…
At Stevens Field the high yesterday was 80 and the low this morning was 39. Yesterday’s peak wind was 23mph. The cold spots were in the upper 20s this morning…brrrr! Our peak wind yesterday was 31mph just north of Turkey Springs.
Smoke isn’t as bad today, but unfortunately it will be in and out of our area for a while. The primary cause of our smoke are the Telegraph and Mescal fires east of Phoenix. Combined, these active fires have burned 150,888 acres and are less than 25% contained.
The Slate Fire, 23 miles northwest of Flagstaff, was first reported just two days ago. It has blown up quickly to 2,000 acres and will also send smoke our way.
*** There is a Red Flag Warning valid THURSDAY from 9am to midnight. A combination of strong winds, low relative humidity, and warm temperatures can contribute to extreme fire behavior. ***
I expect similar conditions all week. Even if a Red Flag Warning is not issued, consider the fire danger extremely high.
My forecast…
Rest of today through Monday… We’ll continue to see patches of high cirrus, little cumulus clouds, and periods of smoke.
Today winds will peak in the 20-25mph range. Tomorrow they’ll peak in the 30-35mph range, and then the rest of the week they’ll be back in the 20-25mph range.
High temps will be in the upper 70s to mid-80s through Friday. This weekend will be warmer with highs in the lower to upper 80s. Lows will be in the mid-30s to mid-40s. With this really dry air, the cold spots will continue to see lows around 30.
Pagosa Springs historical data
| Average High | Record High / Year | Average Low | Record Low / Year |
| 76 | 90 / 1985 | 34 | 17 / 1950 |
My next update will be on Friday unless something pops up.
– Shawn
