Back-to-back powerful Pacific storm systems to impact the Pacific Northwest and northern California through the end of this week with heavy rain, flooding, strong winds, and higher elevation mountain snow. A strong, long-duration atmospheric river will accompany the Pacific storms, bringing excessive rainfall and flash flooding to southwest Oregon and northwest California through the week. Read More >
September 2019 Climate Summary for Eastern Utah and Western Colorado
Hot and dry conditions kicked off September 2019 as a strong ridge of high pressure remained overhead. Several record high temperatures were set across the area during the first few days of the month. The second week of the month saw a fast moving storm system progress across eastern Utah and western Colorado which produced widespread showers and thunderstorms. Ample moisture led to localized heavy rain and some storms became severe with wind gusts exceeding 58 MPH as well as one report of 1 inch hail. A few days later a strong cold front moved across the north which allowed the northern and central Colorado mountains to see their first snow of the season with a few inches falling over Vail Pass. The rest of the month remained relatively dry and quiet with critical fire weather conditions returning to the region as a strong Pacific system approached from the west during the last few days of September.
While we saw some heavy rain producers in September, overall the month ended up being drier than normal based on the 10 automated stations found at airports across eastern Utah and western Colorado, with all 10 of those stations ending September with below normal precipitation. The most precipitation fell at the Durango-La Plata County Airport where 1.46 inches fell...0.45 inches below normal for September. The Canyonlands Field Airport in Moab, Utah saw the least amount of precipitation with only 0.07 inches...0.89 inches below normal. September was warmer than normal for most of the region with mean temperatures ranging anywhere from 3 to 6 degrees above normal. The warmest September temperature of 101 degrees occurred at the Canyonlands Field Airport in Moab, Utah on the 1st and 2nd. The coldest temperature of 25 degrees F occurred at the Craig-Moffat Airport on September 22nd.
Grand Junction had an average monthly temperature of 69.2 degrees which was 3.1 degrees above normal. The highest temperature was 100 degrees on September 1st and the lowest was 39 degrees on the 22nd. 0.26 inches of precipitation fell throughout the month which was 1.19 inches below normal. 0.0 inches of snow fell which was normal.
Taking a quick look ahead to October, 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 southwest Colorado with no real guidance favoring either above or below normal precipitation across the entirety of eastern Utah and western Colorado.
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).
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