Temperatures recorded in degrees Fahrenheit. Wind Speed recorded in MPH. Precipitation recorded in inches. Heating/Cooling degree base: 65.0°

Crestone Weather Notes For 2012
(Updated on Dec 21)
 

January turned out to be the fourth driest January ever recorded in Crestone since recording keeping was first started in 1982, with the 2.2" of snow recorded also being the fourth least amount of snow to ever fall in the month. By the end of the month downtown Crestone lost it's snowpack for the second January in a row and for only for the third time in the month overall, although the snowpack at our weather station held on - barely.

A record low temperature was tied on Feb 24 at 1ºF. The record was first set in 1996 and also tied in 2010.

A mini duststorm hit for about 10 minutes on Feb 28 with snow on the ground, thanks to the bare, snowless ground out in the valley, where the dust came from. Visibility was down to almost zero during this short event.

On March 7, weather highlights went up for a winter storm watch, then a winter storm warning for the following 24 hours, and then for the third time in a row this winter after a winter highlight was issued, barely a flake of snow ended up falling, as the storm headed down into southern New Mexico. But 3 days later - the very same storm retrograded and headed northwest back into northern New Mexico towards Colorado, and on March 10 we saw snow pellets fall in the afternoon from the very same storm, the snow pellets started off with the temperature at 50ºF. More snow from the storm then fell in the morning hours of March 11.

Whereas the first two months of the year weren't too exciting weather wise, that could not be said for March. Temperature wise, this was the warmest March ever on record, with 6 record highs set on the following days: March 16 - Record high of 66ºF; March 23 - Record high of 68ºF; March 24 - Record high of 69ºF; March 25 - Record high tied at 69 degrees; March 27 - Record high of 67ºF; and on March 31 the high temperature reached 71ºF, not only a record for the date, but this reading becomes the warmest temperature ever recorded in the month of March for Crestone.

March also turned out to be the second driest March on record, and the sixth driest month ever, with only .03 inches of precipitation recorded. The old record for March stands at .02 inches. This March also saw only 0.5 inches of snow fall, the second least amount of snow ever recorded in the month.

Crestone also saw 10 days with humidities below 10% in March including: 7% on March 23, 24, 27, 28, and 29 and 8% readings on March 25 and 26, 30 & 31.

The second dust storm of the year took place on March 18, lasting the entire afternoon, visibility during the storm's peak was down to a few hundred feet. Top wind gust during this storm was 46 MPH, but 4 miles west of the weather station, at the Crestone Charter School's station, the top wind gust was 52 MPH. Then on March 26, another dusty afternoon, with blowing dust bringing the visibility down to one mile at times.

On March 26 the low temperature was 37ºF, a record high low. This was also the first 24 hour period with temperatures above freezing this year and also since October 16, 2011.

April 2 was a very windy day, with a top wind gust of 50 MPH recorded. A wind gust of 62 MPH was reported at the Crestone Charter School's weather station, located 4 miles west of the Crestone station.

The third dust storm of 2012 hits on April 6, with visibility down to less than a quarter mile, and top wind gusts at 45mph, with higher gusts out in the Grants.

Record high temperature set on April 10 at 72ºF, old record was 70ºF.

April 11 was a day for a few "firsts", including the first rainfall of the year, along with the first two  thunderstorms of 2012, one hit in the afternoon with little rain, and the other contained the first hail of '12, along with numerous lighting hits around town. This was also the first time in 4 years that Crestone saw two separate thunderstorms in one day.

Thunder-snowstorm on April 14, then the next day on April 15, a snowfall of 1.3" was a record amount for that date. April 15 had been one of only two April days were no measurable snowfall ever occurred in the month of April. April 27 becomes the lone day now of no measurable snowfall for any April date.

Records are not kept for the warmest temperature at which snow has ever fallen, but if such records were kept, Crestone might had broken that record on April 20. Snow pellets fell that afternoon at 3:40 PM for less than 3 minutes with the temperature at 57ºF. Crestone has seen snow fall several times with the temp around 50ºF, but never with a reading higher than 52ºF. This event is for sure the warmest temperature I personally have ever seen snow fall - anywhere.

After seeing moderate rain and some hail fall on Thursday, April 26, at 11:30PM MST** Thursday the rain changed to heavy snow. Half an inch of snow fell up to midnight, then from 12:01 AM till around 3:00 AM (MST**), another 2.6 inches of snow fell, breaking the record for snowfall on April 27, which had been a trace. April 27 had been the only day in the month of April where no measurable snow had fallen on. The latest date for no measurable snowfall in Crestone for any one day from the start of the year is now. May 7...... **Weather records are kept by Standard Time only, not Daylight Saving Time, therefore, although all of the snow, calendar wise, fell on April 27 starting at 12:30 AM MDT (totaling 3.1 inches), record wise the snow officially started on April 26 at 11:30 MST.

There were 7 days with the humidity below 10% in April, with 7% the lowest reading, taking place on 3 separate days.

A 4% humidity reading recorded in the afternoon of May 5.

The 0.56" of precipation that fell on May 7, is a record amount for the date, old record was .08", set in 1993. Also, a record snowfall for the same day, with 0.6", old record was a trace. May 7, as noted above, had been the latest date on record for no measurable snowfall in Crestone for any one day from the start of the year. The new date is now May 9.

0.42" of precipation fell on Friday, May 11, setting a new record amount for the date. The old record was .03", set in 2011 and also set in previous years.

High winds for most of the day on Saturday, May 26, with a top wind gust recorded at 51 MPH in the afternoon. Top wind gust of 59 MPH reported south in Alamosa. Blowing dust and some smoke from New Mexico wildfires bring down the visibility to less than a mile in the early morning and again in the late afternoon and early evening.

May saw 15 days with the humidity values below 10%. Lowest reading was on May 5, at 4%. 

June 2012 turned out to be the warmest June ever recorded, with six record high temperatures set on the following days: On June 22, a reading of 90ºF, old mark was 87ºF, set in 2000, plus on the same day a record high low of 56ºF, old reading was 51ºF.....Record high temp tied of 91ºF on June 23, first set in 1990, with also a record high low temperature of 55ºF, the old record was 53ºF.... Record high temp of 94ºF on June 24. This breaks the previous record of 93ºF set in 1990, and is the second warmest temperature ever recorded in the month of June in Crestone. This 94º reading was also the warmest temperature recorded in Crestone in the last 7 years... Crestone set one more new record high low on June 25 at 55ºF, the old record was 54ºF.  In all, a total of 7 June days saw temperatures in the 90s, and this was the first time in 6 years that temperatures in the 90s were reached in June.

June was also very dry, being the seventh driest June on record precip wise, along with a total of 24 days with humidity readings below 10%, including 4 days with afternoon readings of only 4%. Also, haze on many days, along with smoke on the June 15 and 18 from the Little Sand Creek wildfire burning west of here in the San Juan Mountains.

Just two temperature records were set in July. On the first, a record high low was set at 56ºF (old record was 53ºF), then on July 7, a record low high of 70.5ºF (old record was 77ºF).

A heavy hail storm that hit on July 17th, which lasted close to 20 minutes, saw the sun shine durring the entire storm, and also saw the temperature drop 27 degrees in 20 minutes, from 82ºF to 55ºF.

A steady, light rain started to fall around 5 PM on July 22 with the humidity value reading at only 12%.

A record high temperature was tied in Crestone on August 29 at 88ºF. This record was first set back
in 1990.

Crestone saw .93" of precipitation fall on September 12, but was it a record? Well, that total becomes the fourth largest precip total in a 24 hour period for any day in September - however - it wasn't a record for the date, since back in 1982 on September 12, 1.04" of rain was recorded, with that being the third most precipitation to fall in one day for the month. The record 24 hour total for September, and the second highest 24 hour total ever for Crestone, is 1.96", set on September 21, 1997, with the second highest total for the month being 1.12", set on September 28, 1990.

Crestone saw 7 days with the humidity values below 10% in September.

0.52" of rain fell on October 12, which was a new record for the date. Unfortunately, only another 0.07" would fall in the other 30 days of the month.

October saw 4 days with the humidity values below 10%.

A record high low temperature was set on November 9 at 35ºF. The old record was 34ºF.

A record low temperature was set on November 12 at 3ºF, occurring at 657am. The old record was 7ºF, set in 2000.

Rain mixed with snow fell on December 6, marking only the fourth time it has rained in the month of December, with all four times occurring in the last 10 years.

The snowfall on December 14 broke two records for the date. First, the .35" of precipitation recorded was the most ever, the old record was .27", set in 1987. Then the snow accumulation was 4.4", breaking the old mark of 4.0", also set in 1987

The low temp on December 20 dropped to -11.5ºF, breaking the record low for the date which was -5.8º and set in 1992... Plus for the date a record low high temperature was also set at 16.1ºF. This breaks the record for the lowest high temp for the date, which was 20ºF.

For the second day in a row, Crestone set a new record low for the date with a reading of -8ºF. The previous record for December 21 was -2ºF, and that was the warmest record low temperature on record for the month of December. -5ºF now holds that title.

A record snowfall of 4.6" was set on December 31. This breaks the old record of 3.8", set in 1991. A
record for the most precipitation for the day was also set, with .22" recorded. The old record was .19", also sent in 1991.

The total snow accumulation of 19.7" in December was the third most ever recorded in December.

The total precipitation for 2012 was 13.10 inches. This marks the fifth year in a row with below average precipitation for Crestone, and drops the annual precipitation average down to 13.10 inches. Since the year 2000, Crestone has only seen 3 years with above average precipitation.

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