Happy pup in the snow yesterday – pic taken 12/27/2024
Saturday – 28 Dec 2024 – 2:50pm
The past…
There has been no data from Stevens Field since 11:19am on 9 December.
Highs yesterday were mostly in the low to mid-30s and lows this morning were mostly in the high teens to mid-20s.
| Average High | Record High / Year | Average Low | Record Low / Year |
| 36 | 54 / 1989 | 1 | -25 / 1988 |
Precipitation summary… Light snow fell off and on in the Pagosa area most of yesterday. Wolf Creek ended up with 3” of snow.
Forecast discussion…
Forecast highlights…
*** Lots of sun and dry for a while. ***
Rest of Saturday through Monday… Moisture will continue to stream into the area from the northwest. We’ll see variable skies and stay dry.
The central and northern mountains will get waves of snow while our mountains might get a snowflake our two.
Winds… Saturday and Sunday afternoon peaks will 10-15mph. Monday afternoon gusts will be 15-20mph.
Temps… Saturday highs will be near 40 to the high 40s and lows will be in the low teens to low 20s. Sunday highs will be in the mid-40s to low 50s and lows will be in the low teens to low 20s. Monday highs will be near 40 to the high 40s and lows will be in the mid-single digits to mid-teens.
Tuesday… A weak, fast-moving trough will move through the region from the northwest. We’ll see a few more clouds and a few spotty snowflakes over our mountains. Lucky spots in our mountains could get an inch of new snow.
Winds… Afternoon gusts will be around 15mph.
Temps… Highs will be in the mid-30s to low 40s and lows will be in the low single digits to low teens.
Powder chasers need to head north!
Wednesday through Friday… A ridge will build over the region and bring us dry flow out of the northwest.
Winds… Afternoon peaks will be around 10mph.
Temps… Wednesday highs will be in the mid-30s to low 40s and lows will be in the high single digits to mid-teens. Thursday highs will be near 40 to the high 40s and lows will be in the low teens to low 20s. Friday highs will be in the mid-40s to low 50s and lows will be in the low teens to low 20s.
The 8-15 day period… A ridge will build along the west coast while a trough keeps things active over the eastern US. Unless something changes, I see very little precip for the next 15 days – boooo hissss.
In the upper left the Euro ensemble shows 0.15”.
In the upper right the Euro AI shows 0.20”.
In the bottom left the GFS ensemble shows 0.17”.
In the bottom right the Canadian ensemble shows 0.17”.
Notes: The models agree that upper-level flow will be mostly out the west and northwest. This does not favor us. The models are also surprisingly consistent with precip amounts. Sadly those amounts are considerably below average for this time of year.
My next post will be on Monday.
– Shawn
