Issued by NWS Pueblo, CO
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000 AXUS75 KPUB 101348 DGTPUB COC003-009-011-015-021-023-025-027-041-043-055-061-065-071- 079-089-099-101-105-109-119-092300- DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO 748 AM MDT WED SEP 10 2008 ...AUGUST RAINS BRING SOME RELIEF TO PORTIONS OF DROUGHT STRICKEN SOUTHEAST COLORADO... SYNOPSIS... MONSOONAL MOISTURE...COMBINED WITH AN UNSEASONABLY STRONG UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM MOVING ACROSS COLORADO THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF AUGUST...BROUGHT ABUNDANT AND MUCH NEEDED PRECIPITATION TO MUCH OF SOUTHEAST COLORADO IN AUGUST. THE LATEST US DROUGHT MONITOR INDICATES SEVERE DROUGHT CONDITIONS OVER MOST OF BACA AND PROWERS COUNTIES...WHERE EXTREME TO EXCEPTIONAL DROUGHT HAD BEEN DEPICTED FOR THE PAST FEW MONTHS. MODERATE DROUGHT CONDITIONS ARE INDICATED ACROSS EXTREME PORTIONS NORTHWESTERN BACA AND PROWERS COUNTIES ALONG WITH ALL OF OTERO...BENT AND KIOWA COUNTIES. MODERATE DROUGHT CONDITIONS ARE ALSO INDICATED ACROSS EASTERN PORTIONS OF LAS ANIMAS AND CROWLEY COUNTIES AND NORTHERN PORTIONS OF TELLER COUNTY. ABNORMALLY DRY CONDITIONS ARE REFLECTED ACROSS EASTERN MOUNTAINS AND EASTERN PORTIONS OF THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS...ALONG WITH THE ADJACENT PLAINS INCLUDING THE SAN LUIS VALLEY AND INTERSTATE 25 CORRIDOR. SUMMARY OF IMPACTS... FIRE DANGER IMPACTS. THE UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE WILDLAND FIRE AND ASSESSMENT SYSTEM INDICATES MAINLY MODERATE TO LOW FIRE DANGER ACROSS MUCH OF SOUTHEAST COLORADO. FEDERAL LAND MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL ACROSS SOUTHEAST COLORADO ARE ALSO INDICATING FUEL CHARACTERISTICS WHICH ARE NOT FAVORABLE TO SUPPORT LARGE FIRE GROWTH AT THIS TIME...WITH FIRE BANS LIFTED BY THE END OF AUGUST ACROSS SEVERAL COUNTIES INCLUDING BACA...FREMONT...OTERO AND PUEBLO. AGRICULTURAL IMPACTS. NON IRRIGATED CROPS AND RANGELAND HAVE SEEN SOME IMPROVEMENT WITH THE RECENT RAINS...WITH PASTURE AND RANGE CONDITIONS BEING REPORTED BY THE USDA AS MOSTLY FAIR TO POOR ACROSS COLORADO. CLIMATE SUMMARY... AFTER A VERY WARM START TO AUGUST...WITH TEMPERATURES IN THE 90S TO MID 100S ACROSS MUCH OF SOUTHEAST COLORADO...MONSOONAL RAINS ALONG WITH AN UNSEASONABLY STRONG UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM MOVING ACROSS THE STATE SHATTERING SEVERAL RECORDS FOR THE LOWEST HIGH TEMPERATURE RECORDED FOR AUGUST 15TH AND 16TH...HAD BROUGHT TEMPERATURES BACK TO AROUND AVERAGE LEVELS. THE PRIMARY SITES AT COLORADO SPRINGS AND ALAMOSA WERE 0.9 AND 1.4 DEGREES ABOVE AVERAGE IN AUGUST. THE PRIMARY SITE AT PUEBLO WAS 0.7 DEGREES BELOW AVERAGE IN AUGUST. PRECIPITATION WAS GENERALLY ABOVE AVERAGE IN AUGUST WITH THE PRIMARY SITE AT COLORADO SPRINGS RECEIVING 4.31 INCHES...WHICH IS 0.83 INCHES ABOVE AVERAGE. THE 4.31 INCHES IS WELL BELOW THE 7.04 INCHES RECORDED IN AUGUST OF 1999...MAKING IT ONLY THE 14TH WETTEST AUGUST ON RECORD AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER...THE 4.31 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION RECORDED IN THE THE MONTH OF AUGUST WAS OVER AN INCH MORE THAN HAD BEEN REPORTED THROUGH THE FIRST SEVEN MONTHS OF 2008. THE OTHER PRIMARY SITES AT ALAMOSA AND PUEBLO REPORTED 1.23 AND 2.76 INCHES IN AUGUST...WHICH IS 0.04 AND 0.7 INCHES ABOVE AVERAGE RESPECTFULLY. OTHER OBSERVATION SITES ACROSS SOUTHEAST COLORADO ALSO INDICATED ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPIATION IN AUGUST...WITH 7S CAMPO 1.96...EADS 0.52...JOHN MARTIN DAM 0.33...LAS ANIMAS 3.03...20S LA JUNTA 0.59...LAMAR 1.99...TRINIDAD 1.18 AND 1W WALSH 4.47 INCHES ABOVE AVERAGE RESPECTIVELY. HERE ARE A FEW PRECIPITATION STATISTICS FOR SELECT LOCATIONS FOR THE FIRST EIGHT MONTHS OF 2008: ...............OBSERVED...........NORMAL.......PERCENT OF NORMAL.. ALS AIRPORT......3.34...INCHES.....4.88...INCHES..........68 COS AIRPORT......7.46.............14.37...................52 PUB AIRPORT......8.17..............9.73...................84 CAMPO 7S.........7.13.............13.67...................53 EADS.............7.46.............12.50...................59 JOHN MARTIN DAM..6.87.............10.79...................64 LAS ANIMAS.......9.30.............10.33...................90 LA JUNTA 20S.....8.77.............11.75...................74 LAMAR............9.38.............12.61...................74 TRINIDAD.........9.68.............12.34...................78 WALSH 1W........11.54.............14.24...................81 PRECIPITATION/TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK... THE OUTLOOK ACROSS SOUTHEAST COLORADO FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS INCLUDES NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES...WITH GENERALLY BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION. THE OUTLOOK FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLIMATE PREDICATION CENTER FOR REST OF SEPTEMBER...OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER INDICATES THAT TEMPERATURES WILL MOST LIKELY BE NEAR OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL...WITH EQUAL CHANCES OF ABOVE...BELOW OR NORMAL PRECIPITATION THROUGH THE PERIOD. HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK... STREAMFLOW IN AUGUST WAS GENERALLY NEAR OR ABOVE AVERAGE. SOIL MOISTURE WAS GENERALLY NEAR AVERAGE IN AUGUST...WITH POCKETS OF BELOW AVERAGE MOISTURE OVER THE WESTERN MOUNTAINS AND POCKETS OF ABOVE AVERAGE MOISTURE OVER THE EASTERN PLAINS. NEXT ISSUANCE DATE... THIS PRODUCT WILL BE UPDATED ON THURSDAY OCTOBER 9TH OR SOONER IF NECESSARY IN RESPONSE TO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN CONDITIONS. && RELATED WEB SITES... ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON CURRENT DROUGHT CONDITIONS MAY BE FOUND AT THE FOLLOWING WEB ADDRESSES /USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/: U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR...HTTP://DROUGHT.UNL.EDU/DM/MONITOR.HTML SOUTHEAST AND SOUTH CENTRAL COLORADO PRECIPITATION AND DROUGHT MONITOR...HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/PUB/?N=NEW_LOCAL_DROUGHT_PAGE.PHP ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS... THE DROUGHT MONITOR IS A MULTI-AGENCY EFFORT INVOLVING NOAA/S NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND NATIONAL CLIMATIC DATA CENTER...THE USDA...STATE AND REGIONAL CENTER CLIMATOLOGISTS AND THE NATIONAL DROUGHT MITIGATION CENTER. INFORMATION FOR THIS STATEMENT HAS BEEN GATHERED FROM NWS AND FAA OBSERVATION SITES...STATE COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICES...THE USDA...USACE AND USGS. QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS... IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ABOUT THIS DROUGHT INFORMATION STATEMENT...PLEASE CONTACT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE 3 EATON WAY PUEBLO CO 81007 PHONE: 719-948-9429 W-PUB.WEBMASTER@NOAA.GOV $$ MW
