{"id":39835,"date":"2022-06-24T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-24T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/june-rains-top-monthly-normals-in-southwest-colorado\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:52:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:52:18","slug":"june-rains-top-monthly-normals-in-southwest-colorado","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/june-rains-top-monthly-normals-in-southwest-colorado\/","title":{"rendered":"June rains top monthly normals in Southwest Colorado"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"A
A rain poncho keeps a man mostly dry Thursday as rain showers move through the Durango area. Much of Southwest Colorado has exceeded precipitation normals for June, the driest month of the year. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

June rains have showered Southwest Colorado in the last week, surpassing monthly precipitation normals and improving fire and rafting conditions.<\/p>\n

Forecasts predict the moisture will continue, signaling the potential for an early start to the monsoon and bringing more relief after a dry May. Yet, fire and weather officials and scientists warn that a strong start to the summer will not end long-term drought or eliminate fire danger.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that this very monsoon-like weather pattern has already started and it\u2019s still June, I do think that\u2019s a really good sign of at least not making the drought worse and mitigating the impact(s) of the drought,\u201d said Jonathan Harvey, a professor and chairman of the Geosciences Department at Fort Lewis College.<\/p>\n

June is Southwest Colorado\u2019s driest month, but rain over the weekend and into the week has been above normal for much of the Four Corners.<\/p>\n

\"A
A family takes shelter under a tree Thursday in Durango as a thunderstorm delivers heavy rain. The National Weather Service says the rains may be an early start to the monsoon. With the recent rain, parts of La Plata and Archuleta counties and all of San Juan County have seen their drought severities downgraded this week. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Over the weekend, 1.2 inches of rain fell in Pagosa Springs, surpassing the roughly 0.75 inches of precipitation the area normally receives in June, according to climate normals from the National Centers for Environmental Information.<\/p>\n

In Durango, 1.16 inches of rain saturated the ground as of Monday, more than doubling the city\u2019s usual June precipitation.<\/p>\n

Silverton, too, saw 1.67 inches of rain over the weekend, exceeding its monthly normals by about 0.75 inches.<\/p>\n

Cortez is nearing its 0.37-inch average with 0.31 inches of precipitation so far in June, according to the Centers for Environmental Information and National Weather Service data.<\/p>\n

The benefits have been immediate.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was enough to impact the short-term hydrologic cycles in terms of shutting down the fire hazards considerably and helping with soil moisture,\u201d Harvey said. \u201cThere were heavy enough rains that they actually did sink into the soil, especially in the places that were under the bigger cells.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Rain
Rain showers move through the Durango area on Thursday. Weather and fire officials and scientists hope June rains mark an early start to the monsoon in Southwest Colorado. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

For half of La Plata and Archuleta counties and all of San Juan County, the U.S. Drought Monitor downgraded drought from extreme to severe on Thursday.<\/p>\n

The Animas, San Juan and Dolores rivers rebounded over the weekend, with the Animas River swelling from a low of about 600 cubic feet per second to a peak of 1,470 cfs on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe river was just at a really fun level from the rains and remains at a really fun level,\u201d said Alex Mickel, co-owner and president of Mild to Wild Rafting and Jeep Tours. \u201cWe\u2019re getting more into the summer tourism season so business is picking up, so we\u2019re happy to have improved water conditions for folks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Rain
Rain water cascades off a building Thursday in Durango. With all of the rain over the last week, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, San Juan National Forest and La Plata County have announced transitions from Stage 2 to Stage 1 fire restrictions. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

On Wednesday, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe rescinded Stage 2 fire restrictions and transitioned back to Stage 1 precautions.<\/p>\n

San Juan National Forest and La Plata County announced Thursday that they will be moving back to Stage 1 fire restrictions Friday.<\/p>\n

The rain has moderated fire danger, said Lorena Williams, spokeswoman for San Juan National Forest.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis early onset monsoon was terrific and made June a much more favorable outlook as far as fire is concerned,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

After heightened fire danger in Southwest Colorado in June, the National Interagency Fire Center projects normal fire potential through the summer.<\/p>\n

A high-pressure system in the Southern Plains of Texas and Oklahoma has been causing the rain. The system has been funneling moisture from the tropics into the Four Corners, said Brianna Bealo, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Junction.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s too early to say if the moisture is a start to Southwest Colorado\u2019s monsoon, which typically begins around the second week of July, Bealo said there is some evidence to suggest that June\u2019s rains signal their arrival.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do have some local research here at the Grand Junction office that indicates that toward the end of a La Ni\u00f1a cycle, which is where we\u2019re at right now, we do tend to see an earlier onset of the monsoon,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

National Weather Service forecasts project more rain this weekend and throughout next week.<\/p>\n

\"Umbrellas,
Umbrellas, awnings and bump-outs offered cover from the rain Thursday in Durango. The regularity of the rains over the last week has been particularly beneficial, said Jonathan Harvey, a professor and chairman of the Geosciences Department at Fort Lewis College. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cYou\u2019re going to see chances of showers and thunderstorms pretty much every afternoon going forward at least through the next several days,\u201d Bealo said. \u201cWith this consistent moisture overhead (from the high-pressure system), I would suspect you\u2019d see something closer to smaller amounts of precipitation more consistently just because there\u2019s a more consistent moisture source to work with.\u201d<\/p>\n

More so than volume, the regularity of the rains over the last week has perhaps had the greatest benefit.<\/p>\n

In Southwest Colorado, heavy rains followed by periods of heat and dryness do little to mitigate drought, boost streamflows or reduce fire danger. Dry weather intensifies evapotranspiration, which can deplete recent rains and parch the land.<\/p>\n

\"Earl
Earl Tsosie, left, and Apache Joe take shelter from the rain on Thursday in front of Toh-Atin Gallery in Durango. While June rains have been a boon for Southwest Colorado, they do not mean an end to fire danger or drought. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Prolonged precipitation seeps further into the soil, which then acts like a reservoir supporting rivers and extending water resources later in the year. Cloud cover from storms also reduces the sun\u2019s energy that reaches the ground and drives evapotranspiration.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can really sustain (rain) for many days or many weeks like some epic monsoon years in the past, you are more able to saturate deeper into the soil and into the subsoil (and) deeper groundwater systems that are very hard to recharge otherwise,\u201d Harvey said.<\/p>\n

But while June rains have been a boon for Southwest Colorado, Harvey and the others urged caution.<\/p>\n

Even with the moisture, Montezuma and Dolores counties remain in extreme drought, and the rain does little to ameliorate the long-term drought that\u2019s been gripping the Four Corners.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a lot easier to take the water out of the ground than it is to get it back in there,\u201d Harvey said. \u201cIt does take multiple seasons where you have that sustained daily rainfall to really get it deeper into the groundwater.\u201d<\/p>\n

Snowpack has more of an effect on drought than rain, Bealo said.<\/p>\n

\"Umbrellas
Umbrellas came out on Thursday in Durango in what the National Weather Service is saying could be an early start of the monsoon in Southwest Colorado. A high-pressure system over the Southern Plains is funneling moisture from the tropics to the Four Corners. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Just as the rains have appeared in a week, they could quickly disappear. The high-pressure system in the Southern Plains that is keeping moisture in Southwest Colorado could move and take the rain with it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf anything about that overall pattern shifts, then that can cut off or shunt the moisture away from us,\u201d Bealo said. \u201cIt\u2019s one of those things where we have to take it day by day, week by week.\u201d<\/p>\n

With many fuels already dry from an arid spring, the heightened fire danger of late May and early June could easily return without more rain.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll it takes is a long drying period and we could be right back to where we started,\u201d Williams said. \u201cWhat we need to see is monsoons continuing.\u201d<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s too early to forecast, June\u2019s rains have spurred hope for a summer of thunderstorms.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very optimistic about what all the signs are pointing to for the next few weeks, and it really does feel like an early start to what will hopefully be a robust monsoon season taking us into August,\u201d Harvey said.<\/p>\n

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

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