Pagosa Springs and Archuleta County are in South Central Colorado far removed from robust weather coverage. We are here and focus on our area.
1. The National Weather Service (NWS) Office that is responsible for Pagosa Springs is Grand Junction which is 150 crow miles away. Two other NWS offices are an equal distance away: Pueblo at 147 miles and Albuquerque at 151 miles. Grand Junction’s area of responsibility is huge and includes western Colorado, Eastern Utah, and the I-70 corridor. When major storm systems move through, their focus is on higher population center areas.
2. Local television coverage is from Denver. Pagosa is seldom mentioned in their weather reports.
3. There are numerous weather sources available. However, many of these products are automated and there often isn’t a Forecaster in the Loop (FITL – pronounced fiddle). The Pagosa Weather Team is the FITL.
4. Pagosa Weather strives to be a one stop shop for current and forecast weather for Archuleta County and the nearby mountains. We provide both short and long range forecasts with graphics, and an explanation of what’s happening. We also look at drought conditions, snowpack, El Nino/La Nina, and other weather-related things that may impact Archuleta County.
5. The Pagosa Weather Team can provide in-person weather presentations for local groups, agencies, schools, and businesses. We can discuss topics like area climatology, seasonal expectations, forecast process, measuring precip, general weather science, aviation weather, etc. Shawn and Arleen have done this throughout their military careers and have always enjoyed it.
6. The Pagosa Weather Team does this as a community service and because we enjoy it!