The adage, “If you don’t like the weather, go inside and wait five minutes” was exacerbated this summer in the midst of violent storms, record heat and the effects of coastal weather patterns.
The city of Cortez received 1.8 inches of precipitation in June, 486% of the monthly average. That figure stands in sharp contrast to the 0.04 inch of rain that Cortez saw in May.
Hailstorms, pushed north by tropical storm Alberto, caused damage across the region in mid-June.
To top it off, a new high temperature record was set for June 8, when thermometers climbed all the way to 96 degrees.
“This adds up to a really manic summer weather pattern so far,” said Jim Andrus, a local weather watcher for the National Weather Service.
There is not much data available for July, but as of July 11, the area had only received 0.02 inches of precipitation out of the monthly average of 1.25 inches.
At the end of June, forecasters predicted that the temperature was 70% to 80% likely to be above normal in the area both for the month of July and the season.
Much of the Four Corners area remains in a drought state, but none of Montezuma County is currently considered to be in a drought by the U.S. Drought Monitor.
While the forecast for July precipitation is about normal, the seasonal total for July, August and September is expected to be below average.
“Summer has been consistently hot and dry as a strong high-pressure ridge to our west continues to shove the summer monsoon flow too far east of Cortez and over New Mexico instead,” said Andrus. “So our precipitation forecast remains an iffy preposition at best.”
