6,500 Daily Weather Records Broken During Colorado's 2018 Water Year
By Chris Spears
DENVER (CBS4) - Have you ever heard of the water year? It runs from October 1 through September 30 of the following year.
It's a way to track water on an annual basis that accounts for things like soil moisture recharge, maximum runoff and evaporation.
The Colorado Climate Center in Fort Collins recently released a list of notable weather events that took place during the 2018 Water Year in Colorado.
It was the warmest water year on record and the second driest out of 124 years of data.
WEATHER RECORDS BROKEN
NUMBER OF 90°F DAYS
RANDOM FACTS
- 16 long-term weather stations that track snow in the mountains reported a record low peak snowpack
- Gateway (Mesa County) went 46 days in a row without rain or snow (Oct. 3, 2017 through Nov. 17, 2017)
- Blue Mesa Reservoir (Gunnison County) lost almost half of its maximum capacity (450,000 acre feet)
- La Junta (Otero County) had a wind gust of 77.1 mph on Apr. 17, 2018 (highest gust in 30 years)
- 3 wildfires cracked the top 10 list for largest wildfires on record (Spring Creek Fire, 416 Fire and MM 117 Fire)
- severe drought increased by 64% over the course of the water year
- Trinidad (Las Animas County) recorded a low of 74°F on June 28, 2108 (all-time warmest on record)
- there were 67 reports of hail 2" or larger, which is more than double the average of 26 reports
- two tornadoes reported in Park County, bumping the total number ever observed in that county to 7
- severe hailstorm hit Colorado Springs on Aug. 6, 2018, with hail up to the size of baseballs, killing 5 animals at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
- a massive windstorm hit eastern Colorado on Apr. 17, 2018, causing extensive damage, shutting down air traffic at DIA and starting the Badger Hole Fire in Baca County which burned more than 30,000 acres
- overnight low of -29°F at Taylor Park Reservoir on Jan. 27, 2018
- 19" of snow fell in Coal Creek Canyon on May 3, 2018
- daily high of only 4°F at a weather station 7 miles ENE of Virginia Dale on Feb. 20, 2018
- 4.84" of rain fell in 0.4 miles ENE of Keenesburg on Jun. 19, 2018
- Afternoon high of 110°F in Las Animas (Bent County) on Jun. 28, 2018
Meteorologist Chris Spears travels weekly in the CBS4 Mobile Weather Lab reporting about Colorado's weather and climate. Check out his bio, connect with him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter @ChrisCBS4.