Fire Weather Watch…

A fire weather watch has been issued for our area due to the possibility of dry thunderstorms today.

6-17-21: 9am update…Hot weather and fire danger continues

Another day of record heat yesterday for us as Stevens Airfield hit 92 degrees, breaking the old record of 88 degrees set back in 1985. Look for yet another record to be set today as temps should rise to the low 90’s again.

Smoke will continue to obscure our mountain views and impact our air quality for the near future as fires continue to burn all around us.

From the La Plata County Facebook Page: “The Vosburg Pike Fire is now approximately 70 acres and 75% contained due to hard work by many agencies including Upper Pine Fire Protection District, Durango Fire Protection District, United States Forest Service, and the Bureau of Land Management.” This fire ignited yesterday east of Durango.

Speaking of fires, we are currently in a Fire Weather Watch today. Here is the forecast from our NWS:

Fire Weather Watch issued June 17 at 3:42AM MDT until June 18 at 9:00PM MDT by NWS Grand Junction CO The National Weather Service in Grand Junction has issued a Fire Weather Watch for scattered dry thunderstorms, which is in effect from Friday afternoon through Friday evening. * AFFECTED AREA…In Colorado, Fire Weather Zone 291 Northern San Juan Forecast Area, Fire Weather Zone 293 Gunnison Basin Forecast Area and Fire Weather Zone 295 Southwest Colorado Upper East Forecast Area. * IMPACTS…Conditions may be favorable for easy ignition and rapid spread of fires due to lightning from dry thunderstorms. * THUNDERSTORMS…Widely scattered to scattered thunderstorms are expected to develop Friday afternoon and evening with lightning and gusty outflow winds the primary concerns. * OUTFLOW WINDS…Gusty and erratic winds are possible near any showers or thunderstorms.

Moisture in the lower atmosphere will ramp up a bit on Friday and Saturday, giving us our best odds of getting some rain instead of just lightning! Unfortunately, this is not a monsoon event and rainfall totals will be tiny.

My forecast…

The rest of the day…Partly cloudy and smoky with scattered storms building up mainly over the mountains but we could see some rain in town. Wind gusts to around 20mph except higher in and around the storms. Highs will peak in the lower 90s, then drop back to upper 40’s and low 50’s overnight. There is a good chance that another record high will be established for our airport today since the record for this date is 87 and we will most likely hit at least 90.

Friday through Saturday: Look for our highs to continue to run above average and pm poppers but I’m hoping we fall out of the 90’s by Friday as there will be more cloud cover and the best odds for storms on Friday and Saturday. Lows will continue to range from the upper 40’s to 50’s. I think precipitation totals through Saturday afternoon will be 0.05-0.20 for our area and about double that for the mountains. Since these will be wildly scattered storms there will be rain lottery winners and losers as usual.

For those of you who have enjoyed some of the images that I have posted on this site, I am now offering private photo tutoring in 3 hour sessions in Pagosa Springs, CO. I have over 30 years of professional experience and can teach you about a wide range of photo subjects; including composition, lighting, basic camera knowledge, landscapes, storms, wildlife, architecture, food and environmental portraiture. Reply on this page with your contact info if you want more information!

Mark Langford Art (fineartamerica.com)

https://marklangfordphotography.com/

-Mark Langford

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Pagosa Springs historical data