{"id":128797,"date":"2026-05-12T20:59:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T02:59:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/april-rain-lifts-cortez-precipitation-totals-but-relief-is-minor\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T20:59:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T02:59:29","slug":"april-rain-lifts-cortez-precipitation-totals-but-relief-is-minor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/april-rain-lifts-cortez-precipitation-totals-but-relief-is-minor\/","title":{"rendered":"April rain lifts Cortez precipitation totals, but relief is minor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Warm
Warm spring weather settles in at a Cortez park following an April that saw fluctuating temperatures and a brief period of rain. (Anna Watson\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Despite a small reprieve from early April storms delivering 179% of the month\u2019s average precipitation, the local desert climate remains in the throws of the drought.<\/p>\n

A bout of hail and thunderstorms brought 1.29 inches of rain to Cortez. It was a flash of relief followed by 10 consecutive dry days then smaller amounts of rain last month.<\/p>\n

According to Jim Andrus, longtime local weather spotter for National Weather Service, the unpredictable spring so far is characterized by a heatwave in March, where temperatures climbed to 86 degrees, mid-April freezes and a remarkably dry beginning to May.<\/p>\n

However, some weather reports and forecasters are closely watching and discussing strong El Ni\u00f1o patterns, which may mean a promising rainfall later this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a drought change. It was just a momentary relief of the drought,\u201d Andrus said.<\/p>\n

Montezuma County\u2019s drought rating improved slightly from extreme to severe, following a winter of record warmth for the state. Cortez began implementing voluntary water usage restrictions last month. The city\u2019s mandatory restrictions are set to begin Friday through Sept. 15, prohibiting yard watering from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.<\/p>\n

Mancos is instilling similar rules June 1. Outdoor watering for residents is not allowed between 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Even-numbered addresses can water only on even-numbered days, and likewise, odd-numbered properties can water only on odd-numbered days.<\/p>\n

While the precipitation numbers improved, snowpack, which trends at a little over 2 inches for April, was next to nothing. Andrus tallies seasonal snowfall came to about 15 inches since April, which is 45% of the winter seasonal average around 33 inches.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lack of snow has reduced the Dolores Basin SNOTEL rating to only 13% of normal.\u00a0Our low reservoir levels reflect this situation all too well,\u201d Andrus said.<\/p>\n

\"SNOTEL
SNOTEL measures the water content of snowpack, analyzed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in this graph to estimate how much water would remain if the snow melted. (Graphic\/U.S. Department of Agriculture)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Temperatures for the month were closer to April averages, hovering around the 60s and 70s. The warmest day hit 79 degrees on April 21 and 22, while the lowest nightly temperature was a chilly 19 degrees on April 18. A few freeze watches were in effect last month.<\/p>\n

\"Little
Little leaves barely emerge from an elm tree amid spring weather in Cortez. (Courtesy of Jim Andrus)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Andrus explained that the fluctuating temperatures, including the freezes, are classically in tune with desert climate patterns.<\/p>\n

He described springtime as a running battle between retreating winter and advancing summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommonly, we have up to 30- to 40-degree differences between day and night,\u201d Andrus said. \u201cThat is very common.\u201d<\/p>\n

awatson@the-journal.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Snowpack in Dolores Basin remains low as water restrictions set to begin across the region<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":128798,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[402,28,29,6419,414],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-128797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-drought","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter","tag-tj-trueanthem","tag-weather"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128797"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=128797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}