November 2019 Climate Summary for Eastern Utah and Western Colorado

*Please note that all data mentioned is collected from our automated observing stations from 10 different airports across eastern Utah and western Colorado. Some of our cooperative observers in more remote areas may have measured warmer or colder temperatures, or more or less precipitation than what was mentioned in this summary.*

It was a cold start to November with another round of record low temperatures set across portions of eastern Utah and western Colorado. High pressure kept conditions dry with a slow warming trend the first couple weeks of the month. The west coast ridge finally broke down by mid November as the first in a series of Pacific storms moved into the Great Basin and brought widespread precipitation and cooler temperatures to the area. The first arrived November 19th and continued to impact the region until the 22nd. This system produced an average of 8 to 16 inches of snow for the mountains with locally higher amounts exceeding 20 inches. Yet another storm moved through November 25-26 and brought an average of 6 to 12 inches of snow to the mountains with some of the lower valleys in east-central Utah and southwest Colorado receiving 4 to 6 inches with locally higher amounts up to 9 inches. A final storm moved through leading up to, during, and after Thanksgiving Day. This storm stalled out on the west coast which allowed warm air to move into the Four Corners, allowing precipitation to fall as rain rather than snow in the valleys. Still, the southern mountains saw over 30 inches of snow with the Abajos in southeast Utah picking up an average of 40 to 60 inches.

Given the dry start to the month, November ended up being drier than normal for much of the region based on the 10 automated stations found at airports across eastern Utah and western Colorado, with 7 of the 10 ending November with below normal precipitation. The most precipitation fell at the Cortez Municipal Airport where 1.41 inches fell...0.10 inches above normal for November. The Rifle Garfield County Airport saw the least amount of precipitation with only 0.13 inches...0.97 inches below normal. November was warmer than normal for most of the region with mean temperatures ranging anywhere from 0 to 3 degrees above normal. The warmest November temperature of 66 degrees occurred at the Montrose Regional Airport on the 19th. The coldest temperature of -7 degrees F occurred at the Craig-Moffat Airport on November 27th.

Grand Junction had an average monthly temperature of 40.4 degrees which was 1.4 degrees above normal. The highest temperature was 64 degrees on November 7th and 9th and the lowest was 11 degrees on the 1st. 0.87 inches of precipitation fell throughout the month which was 0.14 inches above normal. 2.8 inches of snow fell which was 0.7 inches above normal.

Taking a quick look ahead to December, the official forecast from the Climate Prediction Center (https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/lead14/) shows odds of warmer than normal temperatures across eastern Utah and western Colorado. Odds are currently favoring above normal precipitation, particularly across eastern Utah.

For more climate information from other sites, please visit our climate page on our website at http://w2.weather.gov/climate/index.php?wfo=gjt (select the NOWDATA tab for even more sites). You can also follow us on Facebook (@NWSGrandJunction) or Twitter (@NWSGJT).