YOUR AD HERE »

Weather Watch: Dryness expected for Craig through July

Greater moisture in store starting in August

Craig Daily Press Staff Report

The expression “out of the frying pan, into the fire” isn’t quite applicable when describing Northwest Colorado’s weather this month, but plenty of heat and the potential for blazes are there.

According to the National Weather Service, Craig’s week looks to be more of the hot and dry conditions that have perpetuated throughout the summer. Some weekend activity looks to be all but gone by Monday morning, as the readings stay in the high 80s and low 90s through Tuesday, complete with high pressure.

Matthew Aleksa, a meteorologist with NWS in Grand Junction, said Wednesday and possibly Thursday might bring a change of pace with some minor moisture brought in from the southwest.



“That will lead to some increased coverage of showers and storms,” he said. “It looks like it’s going to be pretty scattered over the mountains and isolated in the valleys near Craig.”

Craig is less likely to see precipitation compared to surrounding areas, but the developing convection will still have an effect. As storms fade away by Friday, heavy cloud coverage will bring down the temperature a bit going into the weekend.



“It’s a slight cool down but nothing too drastic,” Aleksa said.

The region remains under NWS red flag conditions to keep the populace aware that the chance of wildfires is still present. The lack of significant moisture combined with lightning and powerful gusts of wind mean fire season still is in full swing, Aleksa said, adding that the monsoon-like traits that can occur in late June and early July have not been present in the area, or at least not enough to make an impact.

However, a three-month outlook from NWS shows that beginning in August, greater moisture will be hitting Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, a trend that is expected to run through the fall.

“Hopefully, that will give us some above-average precipitation, but for the next couple weeks, it’s below normal,” Aleksa said.


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Craig and Moffat County make the Craig Press’ work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.