DURANGO, Colo. (AP) – Southwestern Colorado is missing out so far on a typical monsoon season.
The Durango Herald reports that while Arizona and New Mexico have received above average rainfall this summer, a high pressure system is keeping the stream of moisture from hitting southwestern Colorado.
Matthew Rosencrans, a meteorologist for the Climate Prediction Center, says high pressure is extending from the northwestern United States down through the Great Basin to southwestern Colorado, rather than receding to the Northwest as it typically does in summer.
The region has gotten some modest rainfall in the past few weeks but San Juan National Forest fire management officer Richard Bustamante says firefighters have responded to nearly 60 new fires in two weeks.
The center is predicting moisture for southwestern Colorado over the next few months.
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