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Sunday was a wild-weather day

Where else can you experience sun, snow, wind, rain, thunder and lightning at once?

Depending on where you were in Southwest Colorado on Sunday, you could have been standing in the warmth of the sun, under a good rain or in a snowstorm.

But that’s just the way it goes in springtime around here. Sun, snow, wind, rain, thunder and lightning – it all happened Sunday.

Steady rains fell east of Durango in the Pagosa Springs vicinity, while in Mancos in the early afternoon, there were reports of snow. Folks may have noticed a fresh dusting on the La Platas as well.

Some snowflakes did fly above Durango, but they never accumulated. Briggen Wrinkle, a Durango-based weather observer for the National Weather Service in Grand Junction, said precipitation measured in at 0.01 inches as of 8 a.m. Sunday morning, but after some temperamental weather events, it rose to 0.04 in the afternoon.

And the temperatures were all over the place. At 2 p.m., it was 47 degrees in Durango. By 3 it was 36. Gusts of wind at Durango-La Plata County Airport were clocked at 52 mph at 2:39, according to meteorologist Norv Larson with the National Weather Service.

“You’ve got your hand in both environments,” he said. “It’s winter to the north, and to the south, there are warmer temperatures. When those clash, it gets pretty interesting.”

Several lightning strikes were reported south of the airport, and lightning was believed to be the cause of a two-hour power outage for about 40 La Plata Electric Association customers Sunday.

Two large “booms” were heard around 2:30 p.m., and the radio towers on Smelter Mountain over Durango were knocked out, according to a news release from LPEA. Crews examined the system, repaired the lines and power was restored around 4:37 p.m.

The weather service is predicting a return of sunshine this week and temperatures climbing in to the 60s.

bmathis@durangoherald.com



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