Animas River Basin storm history

Three backcountry skiers triggered and were buried or partially buried by a large avalanche in the Maroon Bowl outside of Aspen Highlands Ski Area on a steep northwest-facing slope. The avalanche occurred at an elevation of 11500 feet and ran for 2000 vertical feet. Two skiers we…

Localized dense fog developed within the Animas River Basin on the morning of December 26. The KDRO ASOS at the Durango-La Plata County Airport reported multiple prolonged periods of reduced visibility throughout the night due to mist and fog, though dense fog with visibility of …

Areas of dense fog developed within the Animas River Basin overnight on December 4-5. The KDRO ASOS at the Durango La-Plata County Airport reported over two hours of 1/4-mile visibility due to freezing fog. No reports of injuries, damages, or fatalities were received.

Widespread dense fog developed within the Animas River Basin near and just after sunrise on November 24. The KDRO ASOS at the Durango-La Plata County Airport reported multiple hours of 1/4-mile visibility due to freezing fog, and multiple periods up to 30 minutes long of visibili…

Widespread dense fog developed within the Animas River Basin after midnight on November 22. The KDRO ASOS at the Durango-La Plata County Airport reported multiple hours of 1/4-mile visibility throughout the early morning due to freezing fog. No reports of injuries, damages, or fa…

The US Drought Monitor removed the last area of Extreme (D3) Drought from Colorado Zone 022 - Animas River Basin on October 14th, 2025. Extreme (D3) Drought did not reoccur for a month. Therefore this will be the last entry for this zone until such time as Extreme (D3) Drought re…

Sixteen of the eighteen reporting stations available for verification recording temperatures at or below 32F for at least 3 hours, and thirteen of those eighteen recorded temperatures at or below 28F for at least three hours. This means that at least 50% of the zone experienced a…

With twelve of the eighteen reporting stations available for verification recording temperatures at or below 32F for at least 3 hours, at least 50% of the zone experienced a freeze. Only four of the eighteen stations recorded temperatures at or below 28F for at least 3 hours, so …

With eleven of the eighteen reporting stations available for verification recording temperatures at or below 32F for at least 3 hours, at least 50% of the zone experienced a freeze. Only two of the eighteen stations recorded temperatures at or below 28F for at least 3 hours, so t…

With sixteen of the eighteen reporting stations available for verification recording temperatures at or below 32F for at least 3 hours, at least 50% of the zone experienced a freeze. Only four of the eighteen stations recorded temperatures at or below 28F for at least 3 hours, so…

At the beginning of the month of October, the US Drought Monitor analyzed an area of Extreme (D3) Drought as covering roughly 75% of Colorado Zone 022 - Animas River Basin, with the remaining 25% under Severe (D2) Drought conditions. With the 10/14 Drought Monitor update, signifi…

At the beginning of the month of September, the US Drought Monitor analyzed an area of Extreme (D3) Drought conditions as covering roughly 80% of Colorado Zone 022 - Animas River Basin, with the remainder of the zone under Severe (D2) Drought conditions. With the 9/17 Drought Mon…

With August 20th update of the US Drought Monitor, about 3/4 of Colorado Zone 022 - Animas River Basin had seen drought conditions worsen to Extreme (D3) Drought. The extent of this drought remained largely unchanged through the end of the month.

The Rim Road Fire started in late July 8 miles southwest of Ignacio, Colorado. The cause is still under investigation. The fire grew to 97 acres before it was contained in mid August. No homes were lost but one outbuilding was destroyed in the fire. Some oil and gas operations we…

The Rim Road Fire started in late July 8 miles southwest of Ignacio, Colorado. The cause is still under investigation. The fire grew to 97 acres before it was contained in mid August. No homes were lost but one outbuilding was destroyed in the fire. Some oil and gas operations we…

The Ute 63 Fire started in mid July due to a lightning strike 7 miles southwest of Red Mesa, Colorado. The fire grew to 534 acres before it was contained in late July. The estimated cost to date was $5,700,000.

The coldest temperature recorded at the KDRO ASOS at the Durango-La Plata County Airport was 23F, while the coldest temperature recorded at any site was 22F. Thirteen of the seventeen available sensors recorded at least one hour with temperatures at or below 32F, with an average …

The coldest temperature recorded at the KDRO ASOS in Durango, CO was 28F, while the coldest temperature recorded at any recording site in the region was 24F. Temperatures were at or below 32F for an average of 3.6 hours, with 11 of the 16 available recording sites seeing temperat…

According to the KDRO ASOS in Durango, dense fog developed at the airport around 1:15 AM local time, with visibility rapidly dropping to 1/4 mile or less. The KDRO ASOS continued to report this very low visibility through approximately 7:30 AM local time, at which point visibilit…

The KDRO ASOS at the Durango-La Plata County Airport was 28F, while the minimum recorded at any of the available 17 sensors was 15F. A total of 15 out of the available 17 sensors recorded temperatures at or below 32F for at least 3 hours, with an average duration of 5 hours. The …

The minimum temperature recorded at the KDRO ASOS at Durango-La Plata County Airport was 27F, while the minimum temperature recorded at any of the 17 available sensors was 23F. All 17 available sensors recorded at least 3 hours of temperatures at or below 32F, with an average dur…

The minimum temperature recorded at the KDRO ASOS at the Durango-La Plata County Airport was 30F, while the minimum recorded at any of the available 17 sensors was 28F. A total of 10 out of the available 17 sensors recorded at least 3 hours of temperatures at or below 32F, making…

The KDRO ASOS in Durango reported an approximately 2.5 hour period where visibility at the airport was less than a mile, dropping as low as 0.25 mile for a period. This dense fog was confined to the airport, as noted by satellite imagery. Therefore this was an extremely isolated …

Generally 8 to 12 inches of snow fell across the area with locally higher amounts up to 14.8 inches of snow reported at Durango 0.8 SSW. Wind gusts were in the 25 to 35 mph range with a peak wind gust of 36 mph at the Durango-La Plata County Airport.

The KDRO ASOS in Durango recorded an approximately 1 hour period where temperatures were below 25F and wind chill values were below 15F. Winds were below 10 mph, but still produced sufficiently cold wind chill values. Temperatures ranged from 0F to 2F and winds ranged from 6 mph …

The KDRO ASOS in Durango recorded an approximately 5 hour period where temperatures were below 25F and wind chill values were below 15F. Winds during this period were generally below 10 mph, but still produced sufficiently cold wind chill values. Temperatures ranged from 5F to 19…

The KDRO ASOS in Durango recorded an approximately 1.5 hour period where temperatures were below 25F and wind chill values were below 15F. Winds were weaker than 10 mph for the majority of the period, but still produced sufficiently cold wind chill values. Temperatures ranged fro…

The KDRO ASOS in Durango recorded an approximately 2 hour period where temperatures were below 25F and wind chill values were below 15F. About 1 hour saw winds at or above 10 mph, gusting or sustained. The remainder of the period saw weaker winds that still produced sufficiently …

The KDRO ASOS in Durango recorded an approximately 1.5 hour period where temperatures were below 25F and wind chill values were below 15. Winds were below 10 mph during this period, but still produced sufficiently cold wind chill values. Temperatures ranged from 17F to 21F and wi…

The KDRO ASOS in Durango recorded an approximately 6 hour period where temperatures were below 25F and wind chill values were below 15F. About 3 hours saw winds at or above 10 mph, gusting or sustained. The remainder saw weaker winds that still produced sufficiently cold wind chi…

The KDRO ASOS in Durango recorded an approximately 4.5 hour period where temperatures were below 25F and wind chill values below 15F. About 1 hour saw winds at or above 10 mph, gusting or sustained, while the remainder saw weaker winds that still produced sufficiently cold wind c…

The KDRO ASOS in Durango recorded an approximately 2 hour period where temperatures were below 25F and wind chill values were below 15F. Winds were at or above 10 mph, gusting or sustained, for the majority of the period. That said, even the weaker winds produced sufficiently col…

The KDRO ASOS in Durango recorded an approximately 4 hour period of temperatures below 25F and wind chill values below 15F. Winds were at or above 10 mph, gusting or sustained, for the majority of the period. That said, even when winds were below 10 mph they produced sufficiently…

The KDRO ASOS in Durango recorded an approximately 1 hour period of temperatures below 25F and wind chill values below 15F. Winds were generally weaker than 10 mph, but they still produced sufficiently cold wind chill values. Temperatures ranged from 9F to 12F and winds ranged fr…

Around 3AM, the KDRO ASOS at Durang-La Plata County Airport began reporting visibilities less than 1/4 mile. Satellite imagery also provided an indication of the extent of the fog. As the sun rose, airfield cameras provided by the Federal Aviation Administration and road cameras …

Shortly before 3AM local time, the KDRO ASOS at Durango-La Plata County Airport began reporting visibilities less than 1/4 mile. In addition, satellite imagery indicated a widespread area of dense fog throughout the Animas River Basin. As the sun began to rise, airfield cameras p…

Winds across the zone ranged from 45 mph to near 65 mph. The peak recorded gust of 66 mph was recorded at KDRO ASOS at the Durango-La Plata County Airport on the evening of the 20th.

Wind gusts across the zone ranged from 45 mph to near 60 mph during this event. The peak recorded gust of 58 mph occurred during the early morning hours of the 6th at KDRO ASOS at the Durango-La Plata County Airport. Peak gusts occurred during the late night hours of the 5th into…

Generally a trace to 1.4 inches of snow fell across the area. Winds gusted 30 to 45 mph on average with a peak gust of 55 mph at the Durango-La Plata County Airport on February 27. The snow squall band moved through in the early afternoon on February 27 with Hesperus indicating t…

Generally 5 to 12 inches of snow fell across the area with locally higher amount of 15 inches at Durango 0.8 SSW.

Generally 3 to 5 inches of snow fell across the area.

Dense fog was observed across the Animas River Basin, including at the Durango - La Plata County Airport where visibility was reduced to less than one quarter of a mile for several hours. In addition, several Colorado Department of Transportation road cameras were used to determi…

Dense fog was observed throughout the Animas River Basin, including at the Durango - La Plata County Airport where visibility was reduced to less than one quarter of a mile for several hours. Various Colorado Department of Transportation Webcams along the US Highway 160 corridor …

Generally 2 to 7 inches of snow fell across the area with 5 to 7 inches of snow at elevations above 7000 feet MSL. 7.1 inches of snow was reported at Hesperus 4.9ESE.

Generally 5 to 10 inches of snow fell across the area with up to a foot at Hesperus 4.9 SE. Winds less than 30 mph.

Overnight lows ranged from 23 to 28 degrees across the area, including a low of 23 degrees at Durango - La Plata County Airport.

The Arkansas Loop Fire began in late June from unknown causes, 21 miles south of Durango, near Bondad. The fire grew to 127 acres before it was contained in mid July.

The Arkansas Loop Fire began in late June from unknown causes, 21 miles south of Durango, near Bondad. The fire grew to 127 acres before it was contained in mid July.

A peak wind gust of 60 MPH was measured by the automated weather station at the Durango-La Plata County Airport.

A peak wind gust of 57 MPH was measured by the automated weather station at the Durango-La Plata County Airport.