*Average year round temp should be 42.9 degrees
Above normal Below normal
Temperatures recorded in degrees Fahrenheit. Wind Speed recorded in MPH. Precipitation recorded in inches. Heating/Cooling degree base: 65.0°.

Crestone Weather Notes For 2019

This past January was the seventh coldest January (or 7th coldest month period), ever in the Crestone Baca.

Most of the foothills around the greater Crestone/Baca area saw record snowfall on February 19. At the weather station, a new record for the date was broken when 6.0 inches of snow fell, breaking the old mark of 5.0 inches, set back in 1991.

The first trace of rain in 2019 is seen early this year, just before 6pm on March 2, then it changed quickly to snow pellets minutes later. March 2 was also the first day of 2019 where the temperature stayed above freezing for the entire 24 hour period and the first day since October 24, 2018 that we didn't see freezing temperatures occur.

The first measurable rain of 2019 also comes early this year, as this occurs on March 11, be it only .01 of an inch.

Both record precipitation and snowfall fell on March 13. The 0.21" of precip that fell broke the old record for the date of .06" set in 2008. This was the second day in a row breaking the daily precip record, as the 1.32" that fell on March 12 shattered the old record for that date which was .18", set in 1999. Although the area didn't see a lot of snow fall, the 2.7" that did accumulate on March 13 was also a new record for the date, breaking the old mark of 0.4", also set in '08.

The Crestone/Baca saw a record high temperature on March 27, when the high for the day reached 67 degrees, tying the record for the day, which was first reached  in 2012. Then a record low high temperature was set for March 31, when the high only reached 29 degrees. The old record was 35 degrees, set in 2000.

Nothing exciting happened in April. We did see our first day of the year with the humidity value below 10%, and the average temp was a mere .02 degrees above average.

The Crestone/Baca saw weather records broken on 2 days in a row, on May 8 and 9th. For the 8th, both rain and snow fell with record amounts of precip recorded, breaking the old record for the date of 0.31 of an inch, set in 2013, when 0.41 of an inch fell. Then for the next day, the old record low high for May 9, which was 44 degrees, set in 2013 was shattered, when the high was only 35 degrees.

Two more weather records were broken on May 22 at the Weather Station. First, a record low temperature was set when the thermometer fell to 26 degrees, breaking the old record for the date of 27 degrees, set in 2001. Then the 1.5 inches of snow that fell was also a record amount of snow for May 21, breaking the old record of 0.2 of an inch, set in 2015.

A hail storm hit on May 29 with moderate to heavy hail falling nonstop for around 15 minutes, with 0.23" of the 0.24" of precip that fell for the day, falling as hail in this 15 minute period.

As of May 30, Colorado became 100% drought-free for the first time since the National Drought Monitor was developed 19 years ago. There were no areas in the state categorized as "Abnormally Dry" - sometimes referred to as D0 drought. Up until this new report was issued, Colorado was the only state out of the 50, that was unable to ever make this claim.

On June 23, the Baca/Crestone Weather Station saw 2 records broken. First one was a record low temperature reached when the thermometer dropped down to 32 degrees, breaking the old record low of 35 degrees, set back in 2004. Then a record low high was also broken when the afternoon high was only 62 degrees, breaking the old record low high of 69 degrees, set in 1989. On the next day a another new record low of 35 degrees was set, with the old record being 39 degrees, set in 1986.

The high temp on June 26 was 81 degrees at the Baca/Crestone Weather Station, and that marked the first day of 2019 that the 80 degree day marker was seen.  This turned out to be the latest day ever in the year for the Crestone area to reach the 80 degree mark. The old record for the latest first 80 degree day was set all the way back on June 22, 1982, which was the first year that weather records were kept in the Crestone Baca.

On July 6, a record low high of 72 degrees was set. The old record for the date was 75 degrees in 2015.

While August saw above average precipitation of 2.29 inches, all of that precip fell before August 13, with only a trace seen after that date in the month.

Temperatures were very much above normal for September, with some of the hottest recorded temperature ever seen in September. The thermometer reach 90 degrees on September 2, breaking the old record for the month of 88 degrees – set only the day before. The old warmest reading in September before this year had been 86 degrees, reached in 2016. Before this first week in September was over, the first 5 days saw record high temperatures reached each day of either 87 or 88 degrees.

On October 18, a hail storm that hit in the afternoon dropped the temp from 51 to 34 degrees in 15 minutes, and left half an inch of hail on the ground.

The coldest temperature ever seen in October occurred this year on the 31st, when the thermometer fell to 0.4 degrees, breaking the old record for the coldest October day, which was 2 degree, set on October 30, 1993. A total of 3 record low temps were set in the month this year.

The average temperature in October was 40.7 degrees, and that broke the record for being the lowest average temp ever seen in October. The old record was 41 degrees, set in 2009. October was also very dry, with 7 days seeing the humidity values below 10%, including the lowest reading of the year of just 3% on the 12th.

The Crestone Weather Station saw 3 record lows set on December 30 and 31. First, on December 30, 2 record low readings on the thermometer were tied for the date when the high for the day only reached 14 degrees, and the low for the day was -10 degrees below zero, with both records first reached in 2010. Then a record low temperature was set the next day when the thermometer dropped to -11 degrees below zero, breaking the old record low of -9 degrees, reached in 2010.