{"id":39584,"date":"2022-07-08T02:06:16","date_gmt":"2022-07-08T08:06:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/heat-dome-set-to-scorch-southwest-colorado\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:50:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:50:40","slug":"heat-dome-set-to-scorch-southwest-colorado","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/heat-dome-set-to-scorch-southwest-colorado\/","title":{"rendered":"Heat dome set to scorch Southwest Colorado"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"A
A heat dome will bring temperatures in the 90s to Cortez and Durango through the weekend and into next week. (Durango Herald file)<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Southwest Colorado has enjoyed cool weather accompanied by rains in recent weeks, but that trend will end this weekend.<\/p>\n

A heat dome will park over Southwest Colorado beginning Friday with temperatures forecast in the 90s and even pushing into triple digits in some slightly more distant regions.<\/p>\n

\u201cClimatologically we\u2019re under the monsoon and things tend to keep us a little bit cooler because of those showers, but as soon as we lose that shower activity, it gets hot quick,\u201d said Lucas Boyer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.<\/p>\n

National Weather Service forecasts call for low 90s in Durango and mid-90s in Cortez throughout the weekend and into next week, with temperatures in the high 80s in Pagosa Springs and mid-70s in Silverton.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking probably triple digits across the lower-elevation valleys in western Colorado and eastern Utah,\u201d Boyer said.<\/p>\n

In Durango and Cortez, temperatures are forecast to be 5 to 10 degrees above normal.<\/p>\n

A high-pressure system in the Southern Plains funneled moisture from the tropics into the Four Corners for weeks, but that phenomenon will give way to a heat dome moving in from the central U.S. that left millions of people under heat advisories and warnings earlier this week.<\/p>\n

A heat dome occurs when a large column of warm air gets trapped under a high-pressure system. As the high pressure forces the air toward the ground, it compresses, heating the air further. Warmer temperatures dry out the ground further exacerbating the heat.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith a substantial high (pressure system) building into the region, we kind of turn that moisture spigot off and then we start drying out,\u201d Boyer said.<\/p>\n

Parts of Southwest Colorado could see chances of showers and thunderstorms, according to National Weather Service forecasts, but it will be a marked shift from the above-normal rains of the last few weeks.<\/p>\n

Once that moisture is gone, it will take consistent rain to replace, Boyer said.<\/p>\n

Forecasts show the heat will be consistent through the weekend and into early next week with a break midweek. After that, the models are inconclusive, Boyer said.<\/p>\n

However, the heat dome could remain in the area until mid to late July, according to The Washington Post<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Heat domes with scorching temperatures are not unusual even during Southwest Colorado\u2019s monsoon, which typically starts around mid-July.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese types of things are consistent with the monsoonal pattern. It comes and goes through the season,\u201d Boyer said.<\/p>\n

But, while not uncommon, they still prompt warnings from weather officials.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always caution folks to make sure to prepare for the weather conditions, but under extreme heat, water and proper sun protection is very important,\u201d Boyer said.<\/p>\n

ahannon@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

dry weather will replace rains this weekend<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39585,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[493,120,21,950,28,475,60,976,310,1562,327,810,414,88],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-39584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-archuleta-county","tag-colorado","tag-cortez","tag-durango","tag-headlines","tag-la-plata-county-colorado","tag-montezuma-county","tag-outdoor-recreation","tag-pagosa-springs","tag-san-juan-county-colorado","tag-silverton","tag-tourism-recreation","tag-weather","tag-weather-news"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39584","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=39584"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39584\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84376,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39584\/revisions\/84376"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39584"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=39584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}