A bird’s eye view of standing lenticular clouds. Pagosa Peak is center left. Pic taken 10/22/2021
Saturday – 23 Oct 2021 – 9:50am
The past…
At Stevens Field the high yesterday was 64 and the low this morning was 29. The cold spots have dipped into the lower to mid-20s the last two mornings. The peak wind was 17mph.
There was no precip in the last 24 hours.
Forecast discussion…
A series of storms and an “atmospheric river” event is going to hit the West Coast but the storms will weaken as they move through Colorado. Our first bit of scraps will be tonight with a few snowshowers possible in the mountains. The second bit of scraps will be a little stronger, but I still don’t expect much when it moves through Monday night and Tuesday.
Unfortunately I don’t see any decent storms for us the rest of the month. Let’s hope something pops up!
My forecast…
Today through Monday afternoon… Mid and high level clouds will increase this afternoon leading to spotty showers over the mountains tonight. Snow accumulations will be under an inch in the mountains. We’ll continue to see periods with mid and upper level clouds the rest of this period.
** Make sure to check out the CDOT Wolf Creek Pass cams tomorrow morning if you plan to drive over the pass. **
Highs will be mid-50s to mid-60s and lows will be low 20s to the mid-30s.
Winds will peak in the 20-25mph range each afternoon.
Monday evening and Tuesday… We’ll see more clouds and spotty showers. The best chance for precip is Monday at midnight to Tuesday at noon. Initially the snow level will be around 11,000ft and then drop to 8,000 by Tuesday afternoon. An isolated thunderstorm is also possible.
Highs Tuesday will be in the lower 40s to around 50 and lows Tuesday night will be in the upper teens to upper 20s. Winds will peak in the 25-30mph range.
Snow totals…
Below 8,000ft: mostly rain with a few “rainflakes” and no accumulation
Above 8,000ft in the valley: up to an inch, but it will be spotty
Above 10,000ft: 2-4”
Pagosa Springs historical data
| Average High | Record High / Year | Average Low | Record Low / Year |
| 60 | 76 / 1946 | 23 | -2 / 1908 |
Unless something interesting pops up, my next post will be on Monday.
– Shawn
4 Responses
Uh oh. That 8.2 inches of precipitation in California looks to be exactly where the big wildfires were this year. Might cause some bad mudslides.
Great picture! Where were you to get this “bird’s eye view”?
Ed, that was taken from Graham Peak. It’s one of our favorite hikes.
I’ve been looking at that hike for a while but haven’t done it yet. What is the best route? Do you come from the south and take the Pine-Piedra Trail (#524) from 631? Is there a marked trail to the summit? It looks like another possibility is to take the Sand Creek trail from 631 and intersect Pine-Piedra and approach the peak from the north.