The remnants of Tropical Storm Illeana dropped snow on some Colorado peaks.
“Remnants from Tropical Storm Illeana brought rainfall and snow to the higher elevations of the San Juan Mountains early this week in Southwest Colorado, reported the Durango Herald on September 17.
The National Weather Service (NWS) said an inch or more of rain fell across a wide swath of the state, taking the region out of drought conditions for the first time since July.
“‘We’ve also got a pretty strong cold front approaching the area from the west, and we’ve got some very strong southwesterly winds,’ … [NWS] meteorologist Brianna Bealo,” told the Durango Herald. “‘This pre-winter precipitation that we’ve had, it’s going to be helpful because it means that less of the moisture from the snowpack is going to go toward recharging the ground,’ Bealo said.”
Concerning snowfall, the NWS reported that approximately 1 inch of snow fell in West Needle Mountain range and other areas in the San Juan Mountains also reported early for the season snowfall. Snow doesn’t normally begin falling in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains until mid-October.