Lower Yampa River Basin storm history

At the beginning of the month of December, the US Drought Monitor analyzed an area of Extreme (D3) Drought conditions in Colorado Zone 001 - Lower Yampa River Basin. This area comprised around 3% of the zone, with 27% of the zone under Severe (D2) Drought conditions, and the rema…

At the beginning of the month of November, the US Drought Monitor analyzed an area of Extreme (D3) Drought as covering roughly 5% of Colorado Zone 001 - Lower Yampa River Basin. The remainder of the zone saw 35% coverage of Severe (D2) Drought, and 60% coverage of Moderate (D1) D…

At the beginning of the month of October, the US Drought Monitor analyzed an area of Extreme (D3) Drought that covered roughly 30% of Colorado Zone 001 - Lower Yampa River Basin, with the remainder of the zone under Severe (D2) conditions. With the 10/14 Drought Monitor update, s…

At the beginning of the month of September, the US Drought Monitor analyzed an around 10% area of Exceptional (D4) Drought in Colorado Zone 001 - Lower Yampa River Basin, with the remainder of the zone under Extreme (D3) Drought conditions. With the 9/3 Drought Monitor update, th…

The Jack Springs Fire started in early August due to a lightning strike 7 miles east of Dinosaur, Colorado. The fire grew to 105 acres before it was contained two days later in early August.

At the beginning of the month of August, the US Drought Monitor analysis indicated that Extreme (D3) Drought covered the entirety of Colorado Zone 001 - Lower Yampa River Basin. With the 8/13/25 Drought Monitor update, a small sliver (less than 10% of the zone) of Exceptional (D4…

The Drought Monitor analysis at the end of July included a patch of Extreme (D3) Drought conditions in Colorado Zone 001, Lower Yampa River Basin. This was in northwest Colorado, near the areas of northeast Utah where Extreme (D3) Drought had also developed by the time of this up…

The Spencer Fire started in late June due to a human caused incident in which a vehicle fire quickly spread about 2 miles west-southwest of Blue Mountain, Colorado. The fire grew to 237 acres before it was contained 6 hours later on the same day.

The Horse Draw Fire started in late June due to a lightning strike 24 miles east of Dinosaur, Colorado. The fire grew to 748 acres before it was contained three days later in late June. The estimated cost to date was $216,022.

Generally 3 to 6 inches of snow fell across the area with 5.9 inches of snow reported at Rangely 1 E. Wind gusts generally stayed below 25 mph with brief gusts to 25 mph at the onset or just before snow started.

The K4V0 AWOS in Rangely, CO recorded an 11 hour period where wind chills were significantly cold. Ambient air temperatures were well below the 25F threshold, with the coldest temperature recorded being -8F and temperatures during this period ranging from -8F to 0F. Winds failed …

The K4V0 AWOS in Rangely, CO recorded a 17 hour period where temperatures were at or below 25F and winds were 10 mph or greater, producing wind chill values of 15F or colder. There were also some periods where winds did not meet the 10 mph criteria, but wind chill values produced…

The K4V0 AWOS in Rangely, CO recorded a nearly 24 hour period where temperatures were at or below 25F and winds were 10 mph or higher, producing wind chills of 15F or colder. The coldest ambient temperature recorded was 10F, with a range of 10F -25F. The strongest wind gust recor…

Around 6AM local time, the K4V0 AWOS at Rangely Airport in Rangely, CO began reporting visibilities of 1/4 mile or less. Satellite imagery also provided a gauge of the extent of the dense fog across the Lower Yampa River Valley. As the sun came up, airfield cameras provided by th…

Around 3AM local time, visibility at the K4V0 AWOS at the Rangely Airport, in Rangely, CO, dropped below 1/4 mile. Satellite imagery indicated that this dense fog was more than localized. As the sun rose, airfield cameras provided by the Federal Aviation Administration, and road …

The K4V0 AWOS in Rangely, CO reported visibilities of less than 1/2 mile beginning around 6 AM local time. In addition, satellite imagery indicated widespread areas of dense fog similar to that around Rangely throughout the Lower Yampa River Basin. As the sun began to rise, a cam…

As four of the nine reporting stations available for verification recorded temperatures at or below 32F for at least 3 hours, at least 50% of the zone experienced a freeze. Only two of the nine stations recorded temperatures at or below 28F for at least 3 hours, so this was not a…

Winds across the region ranged from 45 mph to 60 mph during over the course of the multiday wind event, with the peak gust of 60 mph occurring on the afternoon of the 5th. This gust was recorded at the Dragon Road RAWS site.

Winds began to increase across Colorado Zone 001 late in the afternoon on March 1st and peaked on the afternoon of the 2nd. The peak gust was 59 mph, recorded at the Dragon Road site between 1500 and 1600 on the 2nd. Gusts at other sites throughout the zone ranged from 45 mph up …

Generally 4 to 6 inches of snow fell across the area with up to 6 inches at the Rangely COOP site. Winds peaked at 29 mph but stayed below 30 mph.

Generally 4 to 6 inches of snow fell across the area. Winds were generally below 25 mph on average with a peak gust of 34 mph at Lodore.

Overnight lows ranged from 29 to 31 degrees, including a low of 29 degrees at Rangely airport.

A peak wind gust of 68 MPH was measured by an automated weather station located 13 miles south-southwest of Rangely.

The Deserado Fire started in mid August from a lightning strike 8 miles east of Rangely, and grew to 1131 acres before it was contained the next week.

Generally 5 to 7 inches of snow fell across the higher elevations across the Northwest Colorado Plateau. Winds gusted up to 45 mph at times.

A snow squall impacted the Rangely area, reducing visibilities to less than one quarter of a mile for around 20 minutes as it moved through. The Rangely Airport reported wind gusts up to 38 mph with the squall.

Generally 2 to 4 inches of snow fell across the zone. Winds gusted in excess of 50 mph at times, which resulted in visibility of less than 1/4 mile at times.

Winds were sustained at 40 mph for an hour at the Rangely Airport. Additionally, Colorado Highway 40 was closed for several hours due to impacts from blowing snow.

Generally 2 to 4 inches of snow fell across the area.

Dense fog was observed across the Lower Yampa River Basin including at the Rangely Airport as visibility was reduced to less than one quarter of a mile for a couple of hours.

Dense fog was observed across the Lower Yampa River Basin including at the Rangely Airport as visibility was reduced to less than one quarter of a mile.

An estimated 4 to 7 inches of snow fell across the area.

Generally 3 to 5 inches of snow fell across the area. Winds gusted up to 35 mph at times.

Winds gusted to over 45 mph at times which resulted in significantly reduced visibility in blowing snow and hazardous travel. The cold front brought wind chills down to -37 degrees F near Elk Springs.

A peak wind gust of 60 MPH was measured by the automated weather station at the Dragon Road RAWS.

Overnight lows ranged from 22 to 32 degrees across the area. This was a season-ending freeze for the Lower Yampa River Basin.

A peak wind gust of 58 MPH was measured by the automated weather station at Dragon Road.

Overnight lows ranged from 23 to 30 degrees across the area.

Overnight lows ranged from the low to mid 20s across the area.

A peak wind gust of 59 MPH was measured by an automated weather station.

A peak wind gust of 63 MPH was measured by the automated weather station at Dragon Road.

A peak wind gust of 62 MPH was measured by the automated weather station at the Rangely Airport.

A peak wind gust of 62 MPH was measured by the automated weather station at Calico.

A peak wind gust of 62 MPH was measured by the automated weather station at the Rangely Airport.

The status of the drought improved over some of the zone through the month of March. The extreme (D3) drought over the northern portion of the zone improved to the severe (D2) category. Severe conditions continued elsewhere except for the far southeast corner where the moderate (…

An average of 4 inches of snow fell across the area. Winds gusted from 35 to 40 mph.

An average of 6 inches of snow fell across the area. Winds gusted from 35 to 45 mph.

The status of the drought remained unchanged through the month of February. The extreme (D3) drought continued over the northern portion of the zone with severe (D2) conditions elsewhere except for the far southeast corner where the moderate (D1) drought continued through the end…

The status of the drought remained unchanged through the month of January. The extreme (D3) drought continued over the northern portion of the zone with severe (D2) conditions elsewhere except for the far southeast corner where the moderate (D1) drought continued through the end …

Generally 3 to 6 inches of snow fell across the area with up to 8 inches reported in Rangely.