Frost/Freeze — Animas River Basin, Colorado

2025-05-14 to 2025-05-15 · Animas River Basin, Colorado

Event narrative

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 temperatures at or below 32F for any length of time. The average time of temperatures at or below 28F was only 1.2 hours, meaning this was not a hard freeze event. No reports of crop losses or damages were received.

Wider weather episode

Clear skies and light winds in the wake of a low pressure system allowed temperatures to drop below freezing for many of the lower elevation valleys of southwestern Colorado. The growing season had been ongoing for around a month, with few freeze events prior to this. Some locations saw temperatures at or below 28F for at least 3 hours, marking this as a hard freeze event.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1265823. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.