Frost/Freeze in Animas River Basin, Colorado

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 duration of 4.3 hours. The average duration of temperatures at or below 28F was only 1.7 hours, marking this as not being a hard freeze event. No reports of crop losses or damages were received.

Another low pressure system with an associated cold front moved through the region in the days prior to this freeze event. The night of the event, clouds cleared and clear skies prevailed, along with generally light winds. Both of these promoted good radiational cooling, which combined with some modest cold air advection to drop temperatures below freezing in areas where vegetation was sensitive.