Frosty has two and a half inches of new snow on his nose and hat!… Pic taken 1/26/2022
Wednesday – 26 Jan 2022 – 11:00am
The past…
At Stevens Field the high temp in the last 24 hours was 40 and the low this morning was 21. The peak wind at the airfield was 20mph around 10pm last night.
Precip in the last 24 hours… It’s nice to get some snow! Reports vary from 1.5” in Log Park off Fawn Gulch (thanks Marlys!) to 4” off 84 in Ponderosa Pines (thanks Krissy!). Most reports were in the 2-3” range. Wolf Creek reported 3” – an “equal opportunity storm”.
Thanks a bunch for the snow reports and pictures!
Forecast discussion…
I forecasted up to a half inch of snow – what happened? The system tracked a little closer and slower than I expected. Plus temps from the surface up to the lower parts of the clouds were cold (Wolf Creek summit temps ranged from 5 to 10 overnight). This is ideal for light, fluffy snow that accumulates easily – snow ratios ranged from 15/1 to 25/1 in the valley and it’s near 30/1 up at Wolf Creek.
A similar system will move through tomorrow afternoon, but it will have less moisture.
Ridging over much of the western US will keep us dry through Monday.
The next system will move through Tuesday or Wednesday. It looks decent, but the details are still unclear.
My forecast…
Wednesday… Clouds will gradually break up but won’t completely clear out. Highs will be in the lower to upper 30s and lows will be 5 to 20.
Thursday… Clouds will increase with scattered snowshowers in the afternoon and evening. Then clouds will clear overnight, temps will drop, and patchy fog will develop in low-lying areas. Highs will be in the mid-30s to lower 40s and lows will be -5 to 15.
Snowfall amounts…
– Valley: zero to a half inch
– Mountains: 1-3”
Friday through Monday… Expect lots of blue sky with occasional patches of mid and high level clouds. Highs will be lower to mid-40s and lows will be 5 to 20.
Tuesday and Wednesday… I expect snow, but don’t trust the details (amounts and timing). I’ll nail down the details in my next post.
Pagosa Springs historical data
| Average High | Record High / Year | Average Low | Record Low / Year |
| 39 | 52 / 1970 | 4 | -25 / 1917 |
Call 877-841-0247 for our “dial up and text” forecast.
Unless something pops up or changes, my next post will be on Friday.
– Shawn
