August was another record-breaking month

My last weather report ended with the cheery note that the awful heat of July was moderating – Wrong! August 2026 had the second highest average temperature in history and although there were “only” two 90-degree days at the official GCEA weather station, there were four 90-degree days at the West Ruby weather station here in town, which is expectable due to the heat island effect.

The data

The average high temperature (TMax) was 84.7 degrees, compared to the long-term average of 78.5 degrees. The record Tmax is 85.7 degrees set in 1931. The average low temperature (TMin) was 45.1 degrees as opposed to the long-term average of 41.2 degrees. The record TMin was 47.2 degrees, set in 2022, so we set another record! The average temperature was 64.9 degrees compared to the long-term average of 60.5 degrees. Unfortunately, the monsoons failed to appear in earnest, and our rainfall was only 0.54 inches compared to the long-term average of 1.44 inches. The record low rainfall is 0.14 inches set in 1985 and the record high rainfall is 3.61 inches set in 1971.

Although one report shows Ouray got 3.81 inches of rain in August this year, Lake City, Durango, Montrose, Mancos and even Crested Butte all show less than an inch for the month of August, like Gunnison. Here’s an explanation from a real meteorologist, who is a former student of mine, and to partially quote: The big storms come from the south and southwest and develop in the San Juan mountains, which acts like a wall, so the moisture laden clouds rise and cool. In a strong monsoon season the moisture is deep and organized, and anchor over the San Juan mountains. Think of the San Juans as the engine where storms develop. Once formed, storms tend to propagate with upper-level winds and move north-northeast. Storms generate cool outflow winds that surge outward like mini-cold fronts that can trigger new storms out in front.  Durango, being at the foot of the San Juans, will get solid rain in a good year, almost double the annual precipitation that we get.

“However, in a weak monsoon season, like this, the moisture is shallow and inconsistent, and storms don’t fully build over the San Juans. The storms are spotty, and Durango can, and did this year, get skipped over. Thus, the monsoon moisture never fully arrived. Conclusion: The storms that partially formed over/near the San Juans did not organize or propagate well to the northeast, but there was enough lift and moisture to build small local storms, but not strong enough to build a full storm complex.”