We had a great visit with the San Juan National Forest Pagosa District, Fire Management leadership here in Pagosa Springs. (select title of post to see picture)
Saturday – 3 May 2025 – 9:00am
Included in this newsletter: Big Thank You Waves to Individual Donors & Our Sponsors; Community Outreach News; Calendar of events, and Contest Updates…
Personal Donations
Huge waves of thanks to folks who made donations in April! Special waves of thanks to: Linda Espinosa & James Laffey, Albert Hagopian, Margaret Wempe, Sandra & Darin Dillon, and Jake Cummins.
What your generous donation goes towards…
Your donations help us take care of our website manager, Fluid Elements, the Pagosa Weather website, commercial weather subscriptions, and other business expenses. Most importantly your donations ensure that we will be able to provide this FREE service for everyone for years to come!
To make a donation, click on this link: How to Donate. You can donate by PayPal, Visa or MasterCard through Square, or send a Check to: Pagosa Weather, 135-F Country Center Dr. #142, Pagosa Springs CO 81147. Thank you so much for your generosity!
Shawn and I have been truly touched by the support our followers have shown for us! THANK YOU!!!
Sponsors
We LOVE our Sponsors! They just amaze us with their support!
This Month’s featured sponsor: Pagosa Mountain Sports!!! They are celebrating their 10 year anniversary Tuesday, May 13th starting at 6 PM. They are kicking off their 10 year anniversary party with the DUST2 Tuesday Night Ride followed by a BBQ at the shop. Riff Raff Brewery helped them create a special brew just for this event, “Flowin’ thru Spruce!”
They also have brought back Women’s Wednesdays! And look for new Wrench Sessions with Alex soon.
Remember the Bike Service Shop is behind their Downtown Store at 162 Pagosa St. There is parking in the alley. Pagosa Mountain Sports
Shawn with some of the Pagosa Mountain Sports Team in the bike shop: Bike Mechanic Wayne, Owner Janine, Owner Jake.
2025 Sponsors! (Click on the sponsor’s name to follow link to their website.)
Blizzard Level Sponsor: Ski & Bow Rack
Snowman Level Sponsors
Terry’s Colorado Home Supply & Ace Hardware
Snowball Level Sponsors
Peggy Andrews, Independent Real Estate Broker
Dr. Leo Milner, D.C., Chiropractic Services
Pagosa Wilderness + Pagosa Rafting Outfitters + A1Taxi
Storm Sponsor: The Springs Resort
Community Outreach! April was yet another busy month! It was so good to see and meet so many of you out in the community!
Monsoon ’25 Outlook
Our Monsoon ’25 Outlook in the Southern San Juans presentation will be Wednesday, May 21st, from 1:00pm – 2:00pm, at the Ruby Sisson Library as part of the the Lifelong Learning program. It is Open and Free to the public. Included in the brief will be how the North American monsoon forms and how it impacts the Southern San Juan Mountains. And of course, I will present my monsoon forecast for this summer.
Pagosa Springs Elementary Kindergarten
Shawn and I spoke with about 70 Pagosa Springs Elementary kindergarten students about the weather over two days. We made clouds in bottles, learned how balloons are similar to lightning, and went outside to look at the clouds through cloud frames! We also learned about pressure in a bottle. And of course the most popular lesson with these little scientists is to learn about wind by blowing bubbles! It was a good fun few days with these little scientists!
Both groups of little scientists consisted of 3 kindergarten classes with about 12 students in each class.
Emergency Preparedness Class
The CSU Extension office with Archuleta County Public Health Department offered an emergency preparedness class on April 26th. The class included Emergency Safety, Health of our Land, Financial Resources, How to prepare for evacuation including a Go Bag, Paperwork, Animals, Supplies, emergency supplies, medical devices, and recovery.
Pagosa Weather was invited to brief Weather and Climate overview for 2025-2026. Unfortunately, Shawn and I were not available, so County Extension Agent Cindi Galabota and Archuleta County Lacy Capre briefed a few slides I prepared for them.
San Juan National Forest, Pagosa District Fire Management leadership
Shawn and I visited the San Juan USFS Pagosa District for part of their 2025 Pagosa District Training Week! We reviewed and introduced a number of concepts that are important to fire-crews in understanding the local climate, topography, and how weather such as the monsoon impacts their fire season. We briefed the tools that forecasters use for monitoring conditions such as radar and satellite. We explained the formulas for figuring the Hot, Dry Windy Index and Vapor Pressure Deficit to determine the fire potential. Finally, we reviewed the Red Flag program.
Shawn and I really appreciate the important, difficult work the fire crews perform. We hope the crews found the information helpful in their mission. Training the fire crews is a priority for the Pagosa Weather Team. Huge thanks to Tracy Milakovic, the Pagosa District Fire Management Officer for the invitation to be part of the training week.
We’ll return at the end of the month to do field training for the USFS Fire crews. We’ll cover the concept of single station forecasting that they will find useful when they are in the field fighting fires.
Earth Day ’25 – April 19th
The first date for Earth Day was actually postponed a week due to WEATHER. Unfortunately, neither Shawn nor I were able to be there the morning of the 26th. From what we understand it went well. At least it was a beautiful weather day!
Air Quality Study
Josh Kurz has asked us to help spread the word about an air quality study. It is an opportunity for community members to participate in citizen science.
“A research team from the University of Colorado Boulder and Colorado School of Public Health is conducting air quality monitoring, health measurements, and experience/opinion surveys with residents living near prescribed burning sites in Colorado in order to gather more robust data that equips decision-makers, planners, and prescribed burn implementers/fire professionals to continue the effective use of this wildfire management practice and take into account resident experiences and perspectives. Since the USFS in the San Juans is planning for continued prescribed burning in the Pagosa Ranger District later this season, we are seeking residents in the area to participate in the household study. We are asking people who would be willing to participate to fill out an enrollment interest form, linked on the attached flyer with a QR code and also linked here: https://forms.gle/FZJ2DrpH2AvraWXX8. If enrolled, participating households will be compensated $75, with an additional $25 for each additional household member who completes the surveys and health measurements (for example, a two adult household would receive $100 total).
You can learn more about the overall goals of the study and the research team at our website https://www.rxburn-risktradeoffs.com and/or by viewing this brief 9News feature on our study: https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/wildfire/colorado-study-health-impacts-prescribed-burns/73-6dada1ac-c5f3-4ecb-9676-8f7d5f2f69f0.”
Pagosa Weather Calendar
- May 2nd, Chimney Rock Orientation Safety brief
- May 9th-11th, Friday-Sunday, The Springs 10th Annual Pints, Pools, and Paddles Craft Brew Festival
- May 13th, Tuesday, Pagosa Mountain Sports 10 year anniversary
- May 21st, Wednesday, 1:00pm – 2:00pm: Monsoon ’24 Outlook, Ruby Sisson Library – Open/Free to public
- May 27th, Tuesday San Juan USFS, Pagosa District Field Fire Weather Training
- July 8th, Tuesday: Chimney Rock Youth Workshop
- October ???: Snow measurement training for CoCoRaHS Observers
- October or November: Winter Outlook event
If any teachers or organizations would like a Pagosa Weather class or presentation, send an email to Arleen at pagosaweather@gmail.com.
CoCoRaHS Newsletter Updates
Pagosa Weather is the Archuleta County “CoCoRaHS Coordinator” and “Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador”.
HELP! Do you or do you have a friend that lives in one of the six areas highlighted below?
Archuleta County is well represented but we still have BIG data gaps. We really need a volunteer in southern Hinsdale County, west Highway 160, Arboles, Pagosa Junction, Dulce, and Upper Blanco. Sign up by filling out this web page: https://www.cocorahs.org/application.aspx. Or send us a note and we can send you more detailed information.
Perhaps, our June Newsletter will show fewer red circles!
Weather Data Lovers, CoCoRaHS has released CoCoRaHS Data Explorer, or “DEx” for short. This tool provides countless new ways to visualize and analyze data. Note: it is highly recommended to use larger screens when viewing the DEx.
Click here to go to the DEx Station Search page for data access to any station in the database. (open to the public)
The red circles are areas we could use a CoCoRaHS observer. Let us know if you can give us 5 to 10 minutes every morning to measure precip and snow. CoCoRaHS provides all the training you need.
Note: We have a part time observer in the Upper Blanco. We’re looking forward to Ricky returning for the summer & monsoon season! However, we really need a full time CoCoRaHS observer up that way.
Pagosa Weather April SUMMARY & May Outlook
Shawn’s April Summary with my May Outlook
Contest Updates
Special Thanks to our sponsor businesses that have stepped forward to sponsor our weather contests. They are a lot of fun!
Upcoming Contests
| Contest | Issue Date | Sponsor |
| Monsoon | May 15th | The Springs Resort |
| 1st Inch of Snow | July 15th | Terry’s Ace |
| Two Feet Snow | Sep15th | Alley House |
| Wolf Creek Snow | Nov 15th | Ski &Bow Rack |
| 75 Degree | March 15th | Pagosa Mountain Sport |
Closed Contest – Forecast the Total Seasonal Snowfall for Wolf Creek Ski Area on their final day of operation.
Mike Buckingham was the winner of the $50 gift certificate for SKI & BOW RACK with a guess of 240″. And winners of SKI & BOW RACK hats are Abey Nelson, Carol Holleran, John Farley, and Greg Williams! Congratulations to all of you!
Huge thanks to Brittany & Robert and the rest of the team at Ski & Bow Rack for the support of our weather contests and for being our Blizzard level sponsor! Remember, Ski & Bow Rack is back to the summer hours, open Monday through Saturday from 8am to 5pm, and closed on Sunday.
Wolf Creek Ski Resort ended up with 228″ of snow for the season. 228″ of snow was the fifth lowest snowfall at Wolf Creek Ski Resort since 1976. The only good news is that since 1976, they have never had one abysmal (<300″) season followed by another abysmal season.
Active Contest – First 24″ of Snow Winter 2023/2024
Forecast the date and time we measure 24” of snow depth on the ground. The person with the closest guess will get a $100 gift certificate to Alley House! Note: This contest is closed to any new guesses.
Huge “Thanks” to Joni, Martin, Corey, Dana, Jim, and the entire team at Alley House for their support and sponsoring this contest! Let’s have fun and support our local businesses!
Sadly, this is not going to happen this year. The greatest amount of snow depth we measured this year was 12″. The Pagosa Weather board is deciding on a winner.
2/7/2025 6:00 Richard Hash
2/14/2025 10:00 Kayla Cornish
2/25/2025 16:00 Debra Wallen
3/10/2025 8:00 Christian Cornish
6/16/2025 6:30 Michael Bobbitt
Active Contest – When will we Hit 80 degrees
Note: This contest is closed to any new guesses.
The person with the closest guess will win a $25 gift certificate from Pagosa Mountain Sports.
The Pagosa Weather Team will monitor the weather sensor at the Pagosa Springs Stevens Airfield for when it reaches 80F.
Huge thanks to Amanda, Coquette, Janine, Jake and the rest of the team at Pagosa Mountain Sports for sponsoring this Contest and their support of Pagosa Weather.
| Troy | Rettig | 5/3/2025 | 2:00 PM |
| Rob | Barlo | 5/5/2025 | 5:00 PM |
| Mark | Langford | 5/6/2025 | 2:00 PM |
| Greg | Williams | 5/7/2025 | 2:00 PM |
| Joan | Scott | 5/7/2025 | 2:00 PM |
| Debbie | Moore | 5/9/2025 | 2:00 PM |
| Ethan | Proud | 5/12/2025 | 2:00 PM |
| Kristie | Bixler | 5/15/2025 | 2:00 PM |
| Clark | Ilsley | 5/16/2025 | 2:00 PM |
| Sue | Fischer | 5/19/2025 | 2:00 PM |
| Lisa | Baker | 5/20/2025 | 5:00 PM |
| Victoria | Coleman | 5/22/2025 | 5:00 PM |
| Coquette | Collins | 5/22/2025 | 2:00 PM |
| Barbara | Pugh | 5/23/2025 | 5:00 PM |
| Ed | H | 5/23/2025 | 2:00 PM |
| Debbie | FULTZ | 5/25/2025 | 2:00 PM |
| Kenny | Rogers | 5/28/2025 | 2:00 PM |
| Bryan | Weitzel | 5/28/2025 | 2:00 PM |
| Abey | Nelson | 5/29/2025 | 2:00 PM |
| Jenny | Yurechko | 6/1/2025 | 5:00 PM |
| Jacqueline | Milner | 6/1/2025 | 2:00 PM |
| Joanne | Shelton | 6/2/2025 | 2:00 PM |
| John | Huft | 6/7/2025 | 2:00 PM |
| Austin | Marchand | 6/10/2025 | 2:00 PM |
| Patti | Spindler | 6/14/2025 | 2:00 PM |
| Melinda | Barlow | 6/21/2025 | 2:00 PM |
| Lisa | Troy | 6/27/2025 | 2:00 PM |
| Mike | Buckingham | 7/2/2025 | 2:00 PM |
– Arleen
