This Rainstorm “should be considered among the most extreme storms in state history.” Russ Schumacher (State Climatologist). Photo Credit: Brock Cordova, October 23, 2026 (Select title of post to see picture)
Saturday – 7 November 2026 – 3:10pm
Included in this newsletter: Big Thank You Waves to Individual Donors & Our Sponsors; Community Outreach News; Calendar of events, CoCoRaHS and Contest Updates…
Winter Weather Wonder is November 13th! See all the details below!
Personal Donations
Huge waves of thanks to: Craig Taylor, Frederick Hawkins, Carolyn Blechschmidt, Donna Mosher, Matthew Janney, and Andrew Lyon! Thank you!!!
What your generous donation goes towards…
Your donations help us pay for our website manager, Do Engelhardt at Fluid Elements Web, 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, Square with Visa or MasterCard, or DAF Direct.
Pagosa Weather will be part of the Color Gives Campaign this year!
Checks can be made out and mailed to: Pagosa Weather, 56 Talisman Dr Unit 3, PMB 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: Ski & Bow Rack, our Blizzard level sponsor going on 6 years! Huge thanks to Brittany, Robert and the entire Ski & Bow Rack team for their support!
The Ski and Bow Rack offers ski, snowboard, snowshoe, cross country ski, sled, and tube rentals. Plus, they offer custom boot fitting and guided ice fishing trips. You can also buy quality winter gear, apparel, helmets, goggles, and ice fishing equipment there on the east side of Pagosa Street.
Now, is the time to go in and get all your equipment tuned up before the highway is open again and Wolf Creek has their second opening!
2026 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!
October 2026 Floods
One of the main hats that Shawn and I wear at Pagosa Weather is the role of the National Weather Service (NWS) Archuleta County Weather Ready Nation (WRN) Ambassadors. That was especially true the last few weeks as Archuleta County and the surrounding area were impacted by historic floods. Unfortunately, I was out of town, but Shawn rose to the task and did a masterful job!
Shawn started briefing the Archuleta county sheriff’s emergency response team before the first flood about the potential flood situation.
He has been doing up to four in person weather briefs a day with Colorado Incident Management Team, the Sheriff, local law enforcement, and Colorado National Guard. He also apprised and updated the town council and county commissioners leading up to the floods and shortly thereafter. This also included aviation weather forecasts for the Colorado National Guard teams conducting rescues and extractions.
Throughout this, he continued to update the community on the severe weather, evacuations, and road closures through our website and Facebook.
Pagosa Weather continues to provide two weather forecasts a day and one in person brief. I returned a few days ago via the long detour into New Mexico.
In the last month we had three significant rain events resulting in the San Juan River reaching major flood stage twice. The first major flood stage crest was on October 22nd peaking at 5:30am on the 23rd at 15.02′. The second major flood stage crest was November 1st peaking at 8:00pm at 16.81 feet.
Shortly after that the sensor stopped reporting. An upriver sensor had a higher crest. Did the San Juan River crest higher than 16.81′ and eclipse the the 1911 record of 17.8′? There has been a lot of discussion about that and we are waiting official assessment from USGS hydrologists. According to Grand Junction National Weather Service, “various agencies are working on this issue given its importance.”
Shawn will talk more in depth about the these floods compared to last year at the Winter Weather Wonder on November 13th. See those details below.
Conditions were far worse with the second flood than the first. The pictures and videos accurately captured much of the damage. Areas of paved roads were undercut by rivers, streams, and ephemeral creeks that normally only exist in spring runoffs. The one in our area was the highest and flowing the hardest we have ever seen by far. Shawn was able to kayak it!
In addition, there were areas of standing water everywhere. A lot of that water was in neighborhoods far from rivers and creeks. Homes were standing essentially in lakes. We have heard lots of reports of failed sump pumps and flooded basements.
The county worked very hard on a few of our major dirt road arteries after the first storm. All that was undone by the second flood. Most roads have deep potholes and are very rutted along the edges that flowed with water, mud and debris. Many roads are still impassible.
Archuleta County has a single primary fiber cable that provides most of our communication capability. That connection was severed during the second storm and much of the community had severely degraded cell and internet service for three days. This even impacted our local hospital.
Now we are proving that we are Pagosa Strong! We shared a post the other day with information on where to get help if you need it and where to volunteer and help your neighbors. Follow this link…
Colorado State Climatologist Russ Schumacher
CoCoRaHS HQ is part of the State Climate Office for Colorado and Russ Schumacher (State Climatologist) wrote up a piece last week where he highlighted how incredible this event has been – and that was before the second wave: https://climate.colostate.edu/blog/index.php/2026/10/30/one-of-the-most-extreme-rainstorms-in-state-records/
“In terms of the total rainfall accumulation, the highest amounts were observed around the San Juan Mountains in Colorado and New Mexico, and the Abajo Mountains in southeastern Utah. Up to 8 inches of rain fell in four days at high elevations, with widespread observations of 4-6″ at lower elevations.”
Then Russ called us out… “I want to take a moment to give a word of huge appreciation to the CoCoRaHS volunteer observers throughout the region, and to particularly point out the observers around Pagosa Springs. That community has now seen two major floods in two years, and the incredible volunteer network, many of them recruited by the Pagosa Weather team, has collected a remarkable dataset documenting the details of both of those storms.”
I, too, am very appreciative of our network of CoCoRaHS observers, who despite personal damage to property and other difficulties still reported their CoCoRaHS rainfall reports each morning. THANK YOU!
See map below in CoCoRaHS section…
Scientific America Article by Stephanie Pappas
The day after the second flood we were contacted by Stephanie Pappas of Scientific America with some questions about the flood and our damage. Follow the link below to read the article about flooding here and in Florida.
The Super El Niño is already soaking the U.S. Expect more flooding to come.
Pagosa Weather “Winter Weather Wonder”!
Friday, November 13th, 5:30pm to 8:30pm.
Pagosa Lakes Clubhouse 230 Port Avenue.
Pagosa Weather is the Archuleta County Weather Ready Nation Ambassador. As such, we partner with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to inspire folks to be “better informed and prepared, thus helping to minimize, mitigate, or avoid the impacts of natural disasters”.
What’s in store for us this winter? After two abysmal winters, this snow season has got to be better. There’s a lot of talk about the Super El Niño this year, but will its influence give us more snow in
southwest Colorado?
And there are a lot of questions about our recent floods.
To prepare for winter and to answer those flood questions, Pagosa Weather is hosting a Winter Weather Wonder! It will be on November 13th from 5:30 to 8:30pm. This is a free event and open to the public.
Food Drive: We will be collecting nonperishable food items at the door for our local food pantry.
Event Schedule
5:30pm – Appetizers catered by Farrago Events
6:00pm – Flood Discussion with Shawn and Winter Outlook with Arleen of Pagosa Weather
6:45pm – Snow-themed Cookies by Tracey for dessert
7:00pm – “Handling Winter Emergencies & Survival” by Jessie Krebs of Upper San Juan Search &
Rescue
Cash bar provided by The Rotary Club of Pagosa Springs.
Guest Speaker
Jessie Krebs, our guest speaker, will discuss “Handling winter emergencies and survival”. Jessie is the Owner and Head Instructor for TrainWithJessie & O.W.L.S. Skills: Outdoorsy Women Learning Survival Skills.
She has appeared on Alone Season 9, MasterClass, and National Geographic’s “Mygrations“.
Get there early!!!
The first 50 people get Free Pagosa Weather windshield wiper brushes!
Participating Sponsors
– Peggy Andrews, Independent Real Estate Broker. Peggy will share information on her Realtor nonprofit that supports community member’s emergencies.
– The Springs Resort Connect, explore and restore with the nature of wellness. Jesse and Mary will answer any questions about resort status and things we are working on.
Winter Season Organizations
– Upper San Juan Search and Rescue: A non-profit, volunteer organization that trains and organizes volunteers in search, rescue, and other emergency services.
– CSU County Extension Agency. Cindi Galabota, County Extension Agent, will have a table with winter seasonal information.
– CAIC provides avalanche information, education and research for the protection of life, property and the enhancement of the state’s economy.
– Pagosa Springs Fire Department: Protects life, property, and the environment through professional response, prevention, and education.
– San Juan Headwaters Forest Health Partnership: Improving the Health of Forests, Watersheds, & Communities in the Headwaters of the San Juan River. They’ll have information on the Snowtology testing they have been doing in the Jackson Mountain area.
If you are a winter seasonal non-profit/agency and would like to have an information table, contact Arleen at pagosaweather@gmail.com.
We look forward to an evening talking about everything winter and SNOW!
Five Rivers Trout Unlimited Cleanup
Our sister nonprofit, 5RTU had a cleanup of the East Fork. Pagosa Weather Board member Jane, friend Bryan, and I turned out to help them with several other conservation minded folks.
PJ’s Web cam
Pagosa Weather has collaborated with PJ’s Fine Bamboo Rods. You can now find their live cam on our list of web cams on our website.
That camera was critical during the recent floods to monitoring the downtown area. Thank you Pj and Rosanna!
When you are taking a look at their web cam, also visit their online store to support their flood impacted small business and what is now an essential view!
PJ’s Fine Bamboo Rods. Go to Live Cam tab across the top.
Pagosa Weather Calendar News
- Friday, November 13th! Pagosa Weather Winter Weather Wonder. 5:30-8:30
- Saturday, Dec 5th, County Be Prepared for an Emergency class. 10am – 12:30pm, CSU Extension exhibit hall. Pagosa Weather will have an info table and will discuss winter forecast.
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”.
We had about 12 observers come out for CoCoRaHS Appreciation dinner! Reflecting now on the reports they contributed over the last couple weeks, they deserved extra dessert!
Russ Schumacher (Colorado State Climatologist) “I want to take a moment to give a word of huge appreciation to the CoCoRaHS volunteer observers throughout the region, and to particularly point out the observers around Pagosa Springs. That community has now seen two major floods in two years, and the incredible volunteer network, many of them recruited by the Pagosa Weather team, has collected a remarkable dataset documenting the details of both of those storms.”
Mark in the Reserve had the most, closely followed by Dan near Klutter mountain. A number of them have had struggles, including Brooks in western Archuleta and Mike on Trujillo Road. Mike’s reports are not complete yet, but he will when he can return home. Our thoughts are with him.
HELP! Do you or do you have a friend that lives in one of the four areas highlighted below?
Archuleta County is well represented but we still have BIG data gaps. We really need a volunteer in southern Hinsdale County, 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.
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)
Pagosa Weather October SUMMARY & November Outlook News
Shawn’s October summary and my November outlook:
Contest Updates
Special Thanks to our sponsor businesses that have stepped forward to sponsor our weather contests. They are a lot of fun!
The Wolf Creek total Snow contest will be out this month.
Active Contest – First Inch of Snow Weather Contest!
Forecast the date and time of the first inch of snow that falls and sticks to the ground. The Pagosa Weather Team will determine and verify the 1st inch of snow. The verification snowboard is seven miles northwest of Pagosa. A winner will be declared when this snowboard has an inch of snow. Note: This contest is closed to new guesses.
The person with the closest guess wins a $50 gift certificate from Terry’s Ace Hardware!
Terry’s Ace is one of our Snowman Sponsors. It is a modern-day general store and a member of the largest retailer-owned hardware cooperative in the industry. When Ace talks about the “Most Helpful Hardware” store, Terry’s is a shining example.
We are so thankful to Grace and her entire team at Terry’s Ace Hardware for their support of Pagosa Weather!
Good luck to all!
| Date | Time | Name – First Name | Name – Last Name |
| 11/9/2026 | 11pm | Julie | Pederson |
| 11/10/2026 | 8am | Kate | Treweeke |
| 11/10/2026 | 6am | nancy | green |
| 11/10/2026 | 10am | Gail | Young |
| 11/10/2026 | 4pm | Mike | Buckingham |
| 11/11/2026 | 11am | Mirick | Cox |
| 11/11/2026 | 11am | Ed | H |
| 11/12/2026 | 4am | ROBERT | BENCY |
| 11/12/2026 | 7am | Mark | Langford |
| 11/12/2026 | 6am | Nicole | Dye |
| 11/12/2026 | 11pm | Sherry | Kirkland |
| 11/13/2026 | 4::39 pm | Katherine | Yoklavich |
| 11/13/2026 | 10pm | Nikki | Helmberger |
| 11/15/2026 | 6am | Charles | Beach |
| 11/15/2026 | 3am | Darrell | Smith |
| 11/15/2026 | 3am | Nelson | Mills |
| 11/16/2026 | 3am | Carolyn | Wilson |
| 11/17/2026 | 2am | Patrick | Cleveland |
| 11/17/2026 | 9pm | Megan | Anacker |
| 11/18/2026 | 8am | Al | Hagopian |
| 11/19/2026 | 11am | Sandra | Dillon |
| 11/22/2026 | 7am | SherI | Gibbs |
| 11/22/2026 | 5pm | Susan | Zoerb |
| 11/23/2026 | 10pm | Matt | Anacker |
| 11/23/2026 | 3am | Kevin | O’Brien |
| 11/23/2026 | 9pm | Denise | Fisk |
| 11/24/2026 | 6am | Terri | Daugherty |
| 11/27/2026 | 4am | Lauri | Stumph |
| 11/29/2026 | 1am | Edie | Brogan |
| 11/30/2026 | Midnight | Bonnie | Schilf |
| 11/30/2026 | Noon | Victoria | Coleman |
| 12/3/2026 | 5pm | Kimberly | White |
| 12/3/2026 | 3pm | Cynthia | Jackson |
| 12/8/2026 | 3am | Charles | Randour |
| 12/10/2026 | 5am | Carolyn | Estes |
| 12/12/2026 | 6am | Eric | Kuhn |
| 12/12/2026 | 6am | Kenny | Rogers |
| 12/13/2026 | 5am | Joan | Scott |
| 12/19/2026 | 10pm | Abey | Nelson |
Active Contest! TWO FEET of SNOW Contest.
We have not had two feet at the Representative Observation spot in two years. Will this be the year?
Win a $100 gift certificate to Alley House Grill! (Note this contest is closed to new guesses)
We’ve all been dreaming of snow given the super El Nino on the horizon…so let’s dream BIG! Pagosa Weather is launching a TWO feet of SNOW weather contest. The verification spot is located 7 miles north of Pagosa in O’Neal Park.
11/10/2026 8:00 Ashlee Cole
11/10/2026 16:00 Mike Buckingham
11/10/2026 15:00 Steve Blechschmidt
11/12/2026 3:00 Jim Quigley
11/12/2026 13:30 Diane Horton
11/15/2026 Barb Remien
11/18/2026 19:00 Michael Brecher
11/18/2026 3:00 John Thigpen
11/20/2026 20:30 Karen Faber
11/21/2026 22:00 Lori Wihlborg Miller
11/21/2026 14:00 Corey Miller
11/22/2026 7:30 Jennifer Christianson
11/23/2026 9:00 Phil Slusher
11/23/2026 20:00 Diane Horton
11/24/2026 5:00 Stephen Link
11/24/2026 8:00 Emily Deitz
11/24/2026 12:00 Janet Pentis
11/26/2026 7:00 Michael Cianciolo
11/27/2026 14:30 Brandon Beagle
11/28/2026 4:30 Diane Maun
11/28/2026 19:30 Douglas Tillotson
11/29/2026 9:00 Carol Blair
11/29/2026 8:30 Nicole Dye
11/29/2026 5:30 Tim Crawford
11/29/2026 9:00 Denise Fisk
11/30/2026 22:30 Peggy Andrews
12/1/2026 2:30 Katherine Bors
12/3/2026 7:30 Gail Young
12/3/2026 10:00 Mark Langford
12/4/2026 9:30 Kim Offerman
12/6/2026 16:30 Michael Offerman
12/8/2026 0:00 Christine Brody
12/11/2026 2:30 Ed H
12/12/2026 12:00 Jenny Yurechko
12/12/2026 8:00 William Bingman
12/13/2026 12:00 Mary Katherine Birch
12/13/2026 11:30 David Vedera
12/13/2026 7:00 Ashley Slagle
12/14/2026 5:30 Judd Campbell
12/15/2026 3:00 Kevin McHorse
12/15/2026 5:00 Pat Murphy
12/16/2026 8:30 Josh Paesano
12/17/2026 17:00 Franklin Snyder
12/17/2026 6:30 Katherine Yoklavich
12/17/2026 11:30 Dawn Spencer
12/18/2026 10:00 Jordan Almquist
12/18/2026 1:00 Gretchen Rettig
12/19/2026 17:00 Nathanael Ward
12/19/2026 3:30 Troy Rettig
12/19/2026 13:00 Tiffany Candelaria
12/20/2026 14:30 Janette Wennerlund
12/20/2026 7:00 Robert Bency
12/20/2026 8:00 Cheri Newton
12/20/2026 8:00 robert bency
12/21/2026 7:30 Mitchell Volmerding
12/21/2026 22:30 Rebecca Nelson
12/21/2026 10:30 Charles Beach
12/22/2026 4:30 Susan Zoerb
12/22/2026 16:00 Jeff Witten
12/22/2026 14:30 Charles Randour
12/23/2026 7:00 Brady Turner
12/24/2026 23:30 Sandra Billings
12/24/2026 8:00 David Stimpson
12/25/2026 8:00 Kate Treweeke
12/26/2026 8:00 Stephen Melendy
12/26/2026 8:30 Aimee Melendy
12/30/2026 5:30 Becky Crowe
12/30/2026 14:00 Rebekah Clark
12/30/2026 5:30 Chris Snead
12/31/2026 8:30 Brad Hall
12/31/2026 11:00 Joan Scott
12/31/2026 11:00 Mark Blakemore
12/31/2026 21:00 Mirick Cox
1/1/2027 8:00 Elijah Hamm
1/1/2027 0:00 Doug Ouren
1/2/2027 1:30 Candace Door
1/3/2027 5:30 Cheryl Bowdridge
1/3/2027 23:30 Robert Melton
1/3/2027 5:00 Kristy Archuleta
1/4/2027 Theresa Trujillo
1/5/2027 7:30 Carole Poulter
1/7/2027 15:30 Rumarvin Torres
1/7/2027 11:00 Juanita Gallegos
1/8/2027 17:30 Brooke Spears
1/8/2027 9:00 Ron Cole
1/10/2027 5:00 Katelyn Duffy
1/11/2027 6:30 Tami Mendonca
1/12/2027 5:00 Lisa Gamber
1/12/2027 6:00 Kristie Bixler
1/13/2027 0:30 Joseph Yoklavich
1/13/2027 3:30 Joni Bussoli
1/13/2027 9:30 Robert Stuart
1/13/2027 9:00 Judi Estes
1/13/2027 10:00 Dave Robb
1/13/2027 9:00 Abby Ouren
1/13/2027 19:00 Fletcher Ouren
1/14/2027 4:00 Karla Robinson
1/14/2027 0:00 Stella Mcfatridge
1/15/2027 14:30 Harvey Mcfatridge
1/16/2027 20:30 Chellie Panzera
1/16/2027 6:30 Christine Kaufman
1/17/2027 4:00 Bryan Weitzel
1/17/2027 12:00 Rick Moore
1/22/2027 16:30 Mellisa Slaybaugh
1/22/2027 16:00 Cheryl Lopez
1/23/2027 9:30 Peggy Knudson
1/24/2027 22:00 Erica Hagopian
1/27/2027 9:30 Rosemary Souza
1/27/2027 17:00 Angelina Garcia
1/27/2027 9:00 Kevin Anderson
1/28/2027 12:00 Kevin Daugherty
1/28/2027 4:00 Terri Daugherty
1/29/2027 15:30 Micayla Porter
1/30/2027 11:30 Kenny Rogers
2/2/2027 14:00 Eric Fisk
2/4/2027 7:30 Martha Ball
2/12/2027 12:30 Ava Hiller
2/12/2027 17:30 Laura Hamilton
2/14/2027 6:00 Wayne Hooper
2/15/2027 16:30 Stephanie Ouren
2/17/2027 23:00 Paige Blake
2/20/2027 8:00 Chellie Voss
2/23/2027 19:00 Jenifer Heiser
3/13/2027 17:00 Maggie Saunders
