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Four Corners Welcomes Winter Weather (And a New Radar)

Daniel Rayzel
Overlook of Montezuma Valley and Ute Mountain in early January.

Winter precipitation has been favorable to the Four Corners this season. Cortez received more snow in December than it did during the entirety of last year’s winter — 207 percent of the monthly average, to be precise. 

Jim Andrus, a cooperative weather observer and meteorologist, said it’s too early to tell if January will match December’s numbers, but the 90-day forecast brings hope to the drought-stricken region.

 

“The area of exceptional drought out of the Four Corners has been gradually shrinking,” Andrus said. “It still has a way to go before we’re out of that weather pattern.”

 

In addition to a stronger winter, the Four Corners has another bit of good news to look forward to: a weather radar is coming to southwest Colorado.

 

Currently, the nearest radars are located in Grand Junction, Albuquerque and Flagstaff. Changes in elevation leave the Four Corners in a blind spot, but introducing a nearby radar would change that. Among its benefits is increased preparedness for flood warnings coming from wildfire burn scars.

Andrus joined KSJD’s Daniel Rayzel to break down the latest weather data and to explain the value of a radar coming to the Four Corners.