National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Heat Continues for the East and South-Central U.S.; Strong to Severe Storms Across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast

The extremely dangerous heat wave continues across the East Coast and much of the South-Central U.S. today. Record high temperatures are expected for some areas especially across the Mid-Atlantic where extreme heat risk conditions reside. There is a Slight Risk (level 2 of 5) of severe thunderstorms today for the northern Mid-Atlantic into portions of southern New England. Read More >

January started out cold and snowy across south central and southeast Colorado, as a passing storm system brought the first snow of the year across portions of south central and southeast Colorado on New Years Day. Upper level ridging building in behind the New Years storm system brought warmer and drier conditions for the next few days of January. An up and down weather pattern was then experienced across the region, as several weather systems moved across the state through the rest of January.  February again started out cold and snowy across south central and southeast Colorado, as an unseasonal cold weather system ushered in some of the coldest air of the winter season. Temperatures and precipitation across the region ebbed and flowed as several more weather systems moved across the Rockies through the middle of February, bringing bouts of snowy and cold weather to much of south central and southeast Colorado, before upper level ridging brought in much warmer and drier weather to the state for the last few days of the month. 

March started out and ended warm and dry, with periods of cold and wet weather the rule through out the rest of March, as several weather systems brought cool and unsettled weather to south central and southeast Colorado. Occasional breezy to windy conditions also brought periods of critical fire weather conditions to portions of south central and southeast Colorado through out the month of March.  April was a warm, windy and dry month across south central and especially southeast Colorado, as weather systems moved mainly north of area, bringing very windy and mainly dry weather to southern Colorado.  This dry and very windy pattern brought critical and extreme fire weather conditions to much of south central and southeast Colorado through out the month, with several wildfires and dust storms recorded across the region in April.  May was a bi-polar month, especially across southeast Colorado, where very warm and windy weather through the 1st half of the month brought very critical fire weather conditions across the region, along with several new wildfires. Warm and windy conditions prevailed across southeast Colorado through May 20th, when an unseasonably strong weather system brought 10 to 30 inches of late season snowfall to Pikes Peak region and areas along and west of the I-25 Corridor.

June saw a rollercoaster of temperatures and precipitation across south central and southeast Colorado, as several passing weather systems brought bouts of cold and stormy conditions, along with bouts of warm and dry conditions. The later half of June also saw an early start to the monsoon season, especially across southwestern and into south central Colorado, where above normal precipitation was experienced for the month as a whole. July was a warm and relatively wet month across south central and southeast Colorado, as the southwest summer monsoon brought in periods of abundant moisture and bouts of heavy rainfall across the region.  The southwest monsoon remained active through out the month of August, especially for areas over and near the higher terrain, with periods of abundant moisture and bouts of heavy rainfall across the region. 

September saw predominate west to southwest flow aloft across the region through the month. This kept generally warm temperatures in place across south central and southeast Colorado, with a few  passing systems bringing a few days of cooler temperatures, especially across the eastern plains, with upslope flow behind passing fronts. The southwesterly flow aloft also brought in some monsoonal moisture, especially in the September 20th through September 22nd timeframe, when ample subtropical moisture brought locally heavy rainfall to areas along and west of the Continental Divide. A mainly west to northwest flow pattern through the first half of October brought a few bouts of precipitation, especially across the northern and central mountains, as well as brief bouts of cooler temperatures to the region, as a few passing weather systems moved mainly north of the region.  A pattern shift occurred through the last half of October, where as a few weather systems moved just south of the area, owning to better precipitation across the southern mountains and bouts of breezy to windy conditions across the southeast plains. An up and down weather pattern was experienced across the region through the first half of November, as a few passing weather systems brought periods of of cool and unsettled weather along with periods of warm and dry conditions. A pattern shift developed through the second half of the month, where as, a broad upper trough carved out across the central CONUS, bringing surges of Arctic air into the Rockies. The first half of December was relatively warm and dry across south central and southeast Colorado. The second half of the month saw occasional disturbances bringing surges of cold and unsettled weather to the area, especially eastern Colorado, which saw a true "Arctic Intrusion" leading up to the Christmas Holiday Weekend. 

The 2022 average temperature in Alamosa was 43.0 degrees. This is 0.7 degrees above normal and makes 2022 tied with 1958, 2006, and 2016 as the 16th warmest year on record in Alamosa.  Alamosa recorded 9.97 inches of precipitation through 2022. This is 2.58 inches above normal and makes 2022 the 9th wettest year on record in Alamosa. Alamosa tallied 23.3 inches of snow in 2022.  A more detailed 2022 climate summary for Alamosa follows:


THE ALAMOSA CO CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE YEAR OF 2022

CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1991 TO 2020
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1932 TO 2023

WEATHER         OBSERVED          NORMAL  DEPART
                VALUE   DATE(S)   VALUE   FROM
                                          NORMAL
................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
 HIGH             96   07/05/1989
 LOW             -50   01/28/1948

HIGHEST           92   06/11
LOWEST           -27   02/04

AVG. MAXIMUM    61.9               60.3     1.6
AVG. MINIMUM    24.0               24.3    -0.3
MEAN            43.0               42.3     0.7

DAYS MAX >= 90     9
DAYS MAX <= 32    19
DAYS MIN <= 32   217
DAYS MIN <= 0     52

PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
 MAXIMUM       11.55   1969
 MINIMUM        3.40   1956

TOTALS          9.97               7.39    2.58

DAILY AVG.      0.03               0.02    0.01
DAYS >= .01       62
DAYS >= .10       26
DAYS >= .50        3
DAYS >= 1.00       1

GREATEST
 24 HR. TOTAL   1.60   08/22 TO 08/22

SNOWFALL (INCHES)
RECORDS
 MAXIMUM        97.5   1973
 MINIMUM         6.4   1934

TOTALS          23.6                 MM      MM
SINCE 7/1        4.9                 MM      MM

SNOWDEPTH AVG.     T
DAYS >= TRACE     33                 MM      MM
DAYS >= 1.0        8                 MM      MM

GREATEST
 SNOW DEPTH        4   02/02
                       02/03
                       02/04
 24 HR TOTAL     3.7   02/02 TO 02/02

DEGREE DAYS
HEATING TOTAL   8033               8321    -288
 SINCE 7/1      3283               3533    -250

COOLING TOTAL    134                 71      63
 SINCE 1/1       134                 71      63

FREEZE DATES
RECORD
 EARLIEST     08/09/2009
 LATEST       07/02/1997

EARLIEST                        10/01
LATEST                          06/15
................................................

WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED              7.5
RESULTANT WIND SPEED/DIRECTION   3/210
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION    49/210    DATE  04/22
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION    80/190    DATE  04/22

SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT)   MM
AVERAGE SKY COVER           0.19
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR          289
NUMBER OF DAYS PC             59
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY         17

AVERAGE RH (PERCENT)     54

WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM             42     MIXED PRECIP               1
HEAVY RAIN               17     RAIN                      29
LIGHT RAIN               74     FREEZING RAIN              0
LT FREEZING RAIN          0     HAIL                       0
HEAVY SNOW                3     SNOW                      14
LIGHT SNOW               33     SLEET                      0
FOG                      76     FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE     24
HAZE                     27

-  INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R  INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T  INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.