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August 2, 2001 By Janelle Holden Welcome rain washed the streets of Cortez on Monday evening, beginning a series of scattered thunderstorms and showers predicted to last until the end of the week. "The axis of moisture is lying right across the Four Corners region almost from southwest to northeast," explained meteorologist Chris Jones Wednesday by phone from the National Weather Service’s Grand Junction office. "With that still in place instead of the usual afternoon moisture activity it can almost pop at any time, it just needs any kind of surface heating or some kind of disturbance to ripple through there and suddenly you’ll get showers and thunderstorms." The southwest monsoon, a shift of wind flow to the north and south that begins in July, brings more moisture to the area from the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of California. Monsoon rains can last into October but normally end by September. Cortez’s July precipitation was down to 37 percent of the 30-year moisture average. Just over 1.2 inches of rain normally falls in July, but less than half an inch fell this year. In total, moisture for the year to date is only 60 percent of average in Cortez. The dry landscape sucked up the remnants of Monday’s storm, which dumped rain in some areas and left others completely dry. Just a trace of rain was recorded at the Cortez municipal airport, but other observers recorded a little over two-tenths of an inch. Mancos was the big winner in the county, recording 0.64 inches, which fell in just 1.5 hours. As of Wednesday morning, the storms had dropped 0.32 inches of rain on Cortez, but left other areas high and dry. "The beans need some help here," said Dan Fernandez, Dolores County extension agent. "We are bone-dry," Fernandez said. Monday’s storm only left "incredible hail" in isolated areas in Dolores County. The Yellow Jacket Colorado State University research station recorded four-tenths of an inch of moisture as of Wednesday morning. Mark Stack, manager of the research station, said that some of the dryland beans are faring well in the area. "They just need to get some good moisture while they are flowering," he said. For the month of July, Yellow Jacket recorded 0.87 inches of moisture, Dove Creek 0.47 inches, and Towaoc a little over one-tenth of an inch. The wind slowed on Wednesday to speeds of 5 to 10 mph, while on Tuesday it was blowing at a rate of 20 to 30 mph. The National Weather Service said the forecast calls for temperatures in the mid 80s to a low in the 50s over the next few days, and Cortez could see some heavy showers. "With any showers that do occur in the Cortez area, locally heavy rain is going to be a distinct possibility," Jones predicted. |
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