August 2021: The monsoon was mostly a no-show as we ended the month with less than an inch of precipitation, 1.4 inches below normal. To top it off we had one of the warmest Augusts on record with 17 days in the 80s. Many days the skies were filled with smoke irritating eyes and lungs….not a postcard month for sure. On the upside we were mostly fire free in the Peak-to-Peak region.

Temperature: Average high was 80F, with an average low of 52F. These averaged out to give us a month 4 degrees above normal. Highest high was 88F on the 17th; lowest high was 63F on the 20th (a rare rainy day). Coldest day was 40F on the 20th.

Precipitation: Total rain at my weather station was 0.70 inches, 1.42 inches below normal. We had enough rain in July to keep things green but vegetation was drying out by the end of the month. We had two episodes of rain in week one and also in week three. Rainiest day was the 19th with a paltry 0.20 inches, although we did get some small hail (about the most exciting thing all month).

Winds: August, not known to be windy, did manage a 40mph gust on the 20th from a thunderstorm.

Other Features: We continue to count our blessings with fires raging all over the west and hurricanes in the east. The moisture from Hurricane Nora moved into the state on the 31st bringing some rain to the west slope but not much in our area.

Outlook for September: After some scattered afternoon showers in the first week we’ll return to hot dry weather until about the 10-11th when we will see probably our last shot of monsoon moisture. Mid month we will see a big transition as some strong upper level troughs will bring in some much cooler air with some snow down to 9000 ft or so. After that it will feel more fall like with aspens in full color, more frequent rain, and winds. In a typical September we see average high/low combos of 66F/36F with 1.74 inches of liquid and 4 inches of snow….so here it comes.