|
Crestone
Weather Center MONTHLY CLIMATOLOGICAL SUMMARY FOR CRESTONE, CO (For Daily Climatological Stats, go here) 2009
(1) Also 90.0° on 7/25. Crestone Weather Notes For 2009: On January 24, rain mixed with snow fell for about 4 minutes during a late afternoon sun shower. This was the first time in 27 years of record keeping that it has officially rained in January, and none of Crestone's old-times could recall ever seeing rain fall in January before, going back to the early 1920s. Crestone still hasn't seen any measurable rain in the months of January and February - yet, but as of Jan 24, all months of the year have now seen at least a trace of rain. This year we experienced the sixth driest January ever. At 2 PM on February 8, it snowed for 5 minutes with the temp at 46ºF. Then two hours later, a severe thunderstorm hit with heavy hail and some snow (but no rain, see hail report page); then it turned to all snow after 20 minutes. Precip wise, we saw the fifth driest February on record and the 2.2" of snow that fell was the fourth lowest ever seen in February, too. Record high temperature tied on March 1 at 59ºF, first set in 1986. March 22 was the first day this year where the temperature did not fall below freezing. Record low temp tied on March 27 at 7ºF, first reached in 1996. Record low temp reached on April 2 at 8ºF, old mark of 9ºF was set in 1984. First measurable rain of the year - be it only 0.02", falls mixed with snow on April 11. This was the first measurable rain since October 20, 2008. Major snowstorm hits on Easter Sunday, April 12. 26.8" of snow breaks the April record for most snow in a 24 hour period and 1.33" of liquid precip breaks the record for the day and is the second highest 24 hour amount to fall in the month. Snow fell for most of the day and night, but only accumulated for a 12 hour period (1:15 AM to 1:15 PM) averaging close to 2" per hour, with 3.7" falling in the hour between 9:15 and 10:15am. There was almost no wind associated with the storm. The second major snowstorm to hit Crestone in just five days, on April 17, leaves close to 19" on the ground by the time it winds down the next day. At the peak of the storm, 3.7" of snow fell between 9:15 am till 10:15 am. 1.32" of liquid precip was produced with this storm. Snow reports per hour sent in by several locals for this storm, and also for the storm that hit on Easter Sunday (when both storms were at their peaks), can be viewed here. April turned out to the be the second wettest on record, with 3.03" of liquid precipitation; it also was the snowiest April - and month, ever, with 47.3" of snowfall. The snowiest April before was 27.0" in 2007, and the snowiest month used to be 40.4" in March, 1983. Most of May was bone dry and warm, but then the rains came in the last eleven days of the month, with record daily amounts set for both May 21 (.57") and 24 (.40"), with the month ending up being the third wettest May ever on record. Early June saw cool temps and lots of rain (and some hail), with a record low high set on the 10th, with a reading of 57ºF. On the same day, heavy rain and hail in the early afternoon resulted in .25" of precip falling in just 15 minutes. On June 20, another record low high for the day was recorded with a reading of only 59ºF. Two June days with record setting daily rainfall totals, thanks to 2 strong thunderstorms hitting. First on June 25, when .75" fell, and then the next day, when another .55" came down, including .42" of both rain and hail falling in less than 20 minutes (see photos). The 2.46" of precip that fell in June this year made for the second wettest June ever. Also, the highest temperature reached in the month, 84ºF (reached on the 24th), was the lowest high ever for June, too. Humidity reading of 7% in the late afternoon on July 16 is the lowest reading of the year so far. Temperature hits 90.4ºF on July 24, marking the first time in 2 years it reaches 90ºF in the month of July. This reading ended up also being the highest temperature recorded for the year. With a total of just .70" of precip in July, this was the second driest July ever on record (record is .57", set in 1993). On August 9, a record low reading for the day was reached when the temp dropped to 36.2º, breaking the old mark of 39º, set in 2006. Frost and below freezing temps was also reported in the Grants and other valley locations that morning. Then on August 17, a record low temp was tied at 37º, first set in 2005. A total of only .60" of precip this August makes for the second driest August ever on record (record is .45", set in 2002). On September 22, a record low temperature was set at 22.2º, breaking the old record of 25º, set in 2004. Also for September 21 through the 24th, record low highs were set for each day with readings of: 56º, 51º, 50º and 53º. Only .66" of precip was recorded in September, making it the fifth driest September ever on record. A record low temp was reached on October 2, when the thermometer dipped to 19.6º, breaking the old record of 26º, set in 1985. First measurable snow of the season occurs (barely) on October 8 when 0.1" falls as snow pellets, and melts about 2 minutes later. First official snowfall of the season (must have one inch or more) occurs on October 21 when 1.7" fall. A major snowstorm hits most of Colorado on October 28 and 29, but the heaviest snows stay just north of here and miss Crestone. Still, 10.3" falls in the two day period. With that snow, a record low high temp is recorded on October 29 when the high temperature reaches only 28º for the day. This November was the fourth driest November on record (0.09"), with only one day of measurable precip in the entire month. Record low temperature tied on December 4 at -6º, first reached in 2000. This reading also was the coldest temp of the year. Crestone Climatological Summary Home Page Crestone Current Conditions | Crestone Weather Records | Snowfall Data Logs Home Page Copyright © 2009 by Keno Internet Services, except where otherwise noted. All rights reserved |