June 19, 2022 La Plata and Archuleta County, CO Storm

by John Farley

The Southwest Monsoon arrived early in 2022, beginning in earnest over northern New Mexico and southern Colorado in mid-June. On June 19, as drier air to the west began to impinge on the western edge of the season's first big monsoon plume, a dryline/pacific cold front set up over western Colorado and northwestern New Mexico, adding additional forcing to the abundant moisture just ahead of it. This led to multiple SVR-warned storms over northwest NM, southeast UT, and southwest CO. The storm pictured below was severe-warned for about an hour, and produced reports of golfball-sized hail near Ignacio and Bayfield, CO. I caught up with it near Yellowjacket Pass along U.S. 160, just to the northeast of these areas. By then it was beginning to weaken, but it still offered up some nice storm structure. Here are a few pictures:

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