Log In


Reset Password
News Education Local News Nation & World New Mexico

Sporadic snow in Durango may extend through Wednesday night

New Year’s Eve temperatures to dip to zero degrees

Light snow started falling Tuesday afternoon across Southwest Colorado, with the National Weather Service calling for less than an inch of accumulation before even colder temperatures move in.

“It’s kind of like our atmosphere is primed, and if any little disturbance moves over, it can create snow crystals that fall down into that ideal temperature range at mountaintop that can produce real big, fat dendrites,” said Joe Ramey, a forecaster for the National Weather Service in Grand Junction.

The sporadic storms may continue through Wednesday night, although there is only a 20 percent chance of snow Wednesday, the weather service said.

The system will then move north of the San Juan Mountains, where more accumulation is expected.

The weather service is predicting the low Wednesday to drop to minus 1.

And while folks may be dressed in their most elegant attire for their New Year’s Eve festivities, Thursday is going to be bitterly cold as well, with an expected high of 25 degrees and low of zero. It will be a good idea to bundle up before going out to party.

The coldest temperatures for the region generally occur the first or second week of January, about three weeks after the shortest day of the year, Ramey said.

The historical average temperature for New Year’s Eve is a low of 10 degrees and a high of 37 degrees, as recorded at the Durango-La Plata County Airport. The historical low was minus 14, recorded in 2010 at the airport, and minus 16, recorded in 1931 in Durango before the official weather-tracking station was moved to the airport.

shane@durangoherald.com



Reader Comments