Insufficient April showers brought just 0.48 inches of precipitation to Cortez.
That’s 67% of the typical 0.72 inches the city normally gets in April, and brings year-to-date total precipitation to 2.23 inches, which represents 62% of the 3.6 inches we should have by now.
Put simply, “The Big Dry continues,” said Jim Andrus, a weather watcher in Cortez for the National Weather Service.
“Although we got two April snowstorms at the beginning and the middle of the month, they were weak and offered little relief from our worsening drought rating,” said Andrus.
The storm on May 4 offered little relief too – he measured just 0.18 inch of rain that day.
“We sure need a lot more than that,” he said. “It’s wet, but not wet enough: A Small Damp inside the Big Dry.”
Rain is expected on May 5 to 7 as well, until the low-pressure system drifts east and causes temperatures to rise once more, he said.
“I’ll be hoping and counting raindrops,” said Andrus of the early May storms.
As of May 1, the Dolores Basin snowpack water equivalence is at 26% of normal.
“Western Colorado and New Mexico to the south are slipping into deeper drought. … Water supply for irrigation may be measured carefully as a result,” said Andrus.
Temperature-wise, two daily highs were set last month:
- On April 11, 79 degrees broke the 2023 record of 76 degrees
- On April 12, 82 degrees broke the 2023 record of 80 degrees
The highest temperature in April was that 82 degrees on April 12, and the coldest was 17 degrees on April 2.
Looking ahead, the 30- and 90-day forecasts “offer a little hope, forecasting equal chances of normal precipitation,” said Andrus.
“But that doesn't say much with the driest month of June approaching,” he said. “Water your lawns and gardens carefully.”
