By Clayton Chaney
Staff Writer
It was warmer last week in Pagosa Country than any other time on record, as the area saw five consecutive days of record high temperatures set from March 18-22.
According to forecasts posted by Shawn Prochazka with Pagosa Weather, a new record high for the month of March was set on Wednesday, March 18, at 74 degrees and again on Thursday, March 19, at 76 degrees. The previous record high for the month of March was set in 1907 and 1940 at 73 degrees.
Record highs for the month continued on Friday, March 20, with temperatures reaching 79 degrees. The previous record for that date was 68 degrees, set in 1997.
Prochazka also notes that record high temperatures were set on Saturday, March 21, at 77 degrees, and on Sunday, March 22, at 74 degrees.
Forecast
Warm, sunny and dry weather is expected to continue into this weekend, with chances of precipitation starting Sunday evening and continuing into early next week.
According to the National Weather Service (NWS), the high for today, Thursday, March 26, in Pagosa Springs is forecast to be 77 degrees with sunny skies. The low is forecast to be 35 degrees with mostly clear skies in the evening.
Similar weather is expected for tomorrow, Friday, March 27, with the high forecast to be 76 degrees and sunny skies. The low is forecast to be 32 degrees and partly cloudy skies in the evening.
For Saturday, March 28, the high is forecast to be 72 degrees with mostly sunny skies, and the low is forecast to be 35 degrees with partly cloudy skies in the evening.
There is a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms forecast for Sunday, March 29, mainly after noon. The high is forecast to be 73 degrees with a low around 36 degrees expected in the evening.
Long-range forecasts also indicate a chance of showers on Monday and Tuesday, March 30 and 31.
With rain expected at lower elevations, the NWS is forecasting chances of rain and snow over the weekend in the area of Wolf Creek Pass area starting on Friday.
For today, Thursday, March 26, the high along Wolf Creek Pass is forecast to be 54 degrees with sunny skies. The low is forecast to be 35 degrees with mostly clear skies.
For Friday, March 27, the high is forecast to be 52 degrees with a chance of rain and snow showers between noon and 3 p.m. The chance of precipitation is listed at 30 percent, with new precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. The low is forecast to be 32 degrees with partly cloudy skies in the evening.
A slight chance of rain and snow showers is forecasted for the afternoon of Saturday, March 28, with high near 50 degrees. The low is forecast to be 35 degrees with mostly cloudy skies.
Similar weather is expected on Sunday, March 29, with the high forecast to be 51 degrees and a chance of rain and snow showers after noon. The low is forecast to be 34 degrees with a 40 percent chance of precipitation in the evening.
Snowpack
According to data from the Natural Resource Conservation Services (NRCS), as of 11 a.m. on Wednesday, March 25, Wolf Creek Pass at 10,930 feet had a snow water equivalent of 12 inches, compared to that date’s median of 27.3 inches. That amount is 44 percent of that date’s median snow water equivalent.
Snowpack levels are monitored by measuring snow water equivalents, which gauge how much water is held within a snowfield, and are significant predictors of springtime runoff.
The San Miguel, Dolores, Animas and San Juan river basins as a whole are listed at 21 percent of its 30-year median snowpack.
The Wolf Creek summit had the second highest current snow water equivalent in the San Miguel, Dolores, Animas and San Juan river basins, and the Upper Rio Grande basin, behind the Black Mesa site with 12.2 inches of snow water equivalent as of press time Wednesday.
Drought
According to the most recent map released by the U.S. Drought Monitor on Thursday, March 19, 100 percent of Archuleta County remains in moderate drought stage, with 22.04 percent of the county being in a severe drought stage. Areas that are in a severe drought stage lie along the eastern border of the county with Conejos County.
Meanwhile, 12.88 percent of the state is in an extreme drought stage, and less than 1 percent of the state is in an exceptional drought stage. That includes portions of Pitkin, Eagle, Summit, Lake and Park counties.
River flows
According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), as of 11 a.m. on Wednesday, March 25, the San Juan River in downtown Pagosa Springs had a flow rate of 595 cubic feet per second (cfs). The record high flow for that date was recorded in 2004 at 860 cfs, while the record low was recorded in 1964 at 42 cfs. The median flow for that date is 165 cfs, and the mean flow is 239 cfs.
The Piedra River near Arboles was flowing at a rate of 434 cfs as of 11 a.m Wednesday, March 24, according to the USGS. The median flow for that date is 339 cfs, and the mean flow is 457 cfs. The record high flow for that date was recorded in 1993 at 1,400 cfs, while the record low was recorded in 1964 at 45 cfs.
>