A band of moisture moved into western Colorado on Tuesday, with the southern end of the storm grazing the San Juan Mountains, perhaps leaving up to 6 inches of snow in the higher elevations and only traces of rain in Cortez, Durango and Pagosa Springs.
The storm originated over the Pacific Ocean and passed over central and northern California on Monday. Mountain ranges in California were expected to wring out most of the moisture, but remnants passed over Utah on Tuesday and arrived Tuesday afternoon in Colorado.
The storm was expected to leave 3 to 6 inches in the northern San Juan Mountains and 2 to 4 inches in the southern San Juan Mountains above 8,000 feet in elevation, said Dennis Phillips, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Junction.
The lower elevations, including Cortez, Durango and Pagosa Springs will see a tenth of an inch of moisture or less, he said. Temperatures will be fairly seasonable, with highs in the mid-50s to low 60s.
“I don’t see much falling down there,” Phillips said.
He called the weather disturbance a “ripple” in an otherwise dry weather pattern – not atypical for this time of year, especially during a La Niña year, which typically sends moisture farther north into the Northern Rockies.
“We are in that La Niña weather pattern where the storm track really likes the Northern Rockies and the northern part of the state better than the southern part,” Phillips said. “Hopefully not a trend through the whole winter, but we are going to be in a La Niña for this winter.”
The long-term forecast shows a more significant storm moving in mid- to late next week, perhaps Nov. 18-19. Phillips cautioned it is a long-term forecast, so it is subject to change.
“The good news with that is if it’s showing it that far out … that’s easily a good sign,” he said.
shane@durangoherald.com
