July 2013 has a good start on Precipitation across Wyoming

After a very dry June, July is showing encouraging signs for the Cowboy state.  There were several days when much of the state, including Star Valley received beneficial showers. While drier air has returned, this should only be temporary as a new surge of Monsoon moisture is now moving northward into the Southwestern Deserts.

The following 500 mb charts, mid day on tuesday and then again on friday, show the increasing southwesterly flow which will transport moisture back into Wyoming later this week.

500 mb analysis Tuesday July 9, 2013

500 mb forecast Friday July12, 2013

The following two charts depict the precipitable water in the atmosphere both for Tuesday and the forecast for Friday,

Precipitable water in inches Tuesday July 9 2013

Precipitable water forecast in inches for Friday July 12 2013

Thus after a couple warm and dry days, moisture and the increase in thunderstorms should certainly be back into Wyoming by Friday, and possibly later Thursday.

The following was a summary of the first round of Monsoon rains across the Cowboy state issued by the Riverton WFO.

UPDATED (7/9): Early start to Monsoon brings welcome rain back to Cowboy State

The monsoon season got off to an early start this year, as abundant moisture and instability were in place across Wyoming this week. This provided the needed ingredients, as weak shortwaves rotated around a high pressure center located near the Four Corners, for much needed thunderstorms to form across the area. Some of the thunderstorm activity was widespread across the forecast area for western & central Wyoming, with some storms becoming severe. These storms produced severe hail and in some cases brief heavy rain.  This event is much needed, as noted in the recent climate summary. Many locations have received much below normal precipitation since June 1 and this event will help against these deficits.  So far, only Casper has risen above normal for the year (as well as through June 1). All other locations are well below normal for the year (Lander is near normal for the year, but well below normal since June 1). Below are rainfall totals from Wednesday through Monday.

Click on image to enlarge

Rainfall Totals thru 7/8

County	Station Name	Rainfall
Big Horn	2 SSW Lovell	1.78
Big Horn	Greybull ASOS	0.25
Big Horn	Greybull	0.09
Big Horn	Shell	0.09
Fremont	10 WNW Dubois	1.15
Fremont	4 ENE South Pass City	0.50
Fremont	Dubois	0.44
Fremont	Burris	0.30
Fremont	Riverton ASOS	0.27
Fremont	Riverton	0.25
Fremont	6 SW Lander	0.21
Fremont	16 WNW Kinnear	0.20
Fremont	Boysen Dam	0.18
Fremont	Lander ASOS	0.18
Fremont	Jeffrey City	0.14
Fremont	6 SE Lander	0.08
Fremont	1 SW Lander	0.07
Fremont	2 SSW Arapahoe	0.06
Fremont	Lander	0.04
Fremont	1 WSW Lander	0.02
Fremont	2 NNE Lander	0.02
Fremont	34 SE Lander	0.02
Fremont	9 SSE Lander	0.02
Hot Springs	11 N Thermopolis	1.00
Hot Springs	9 NE Thermopolis	0.33
Hot Springs	1 SW Thermopolis	0.22
Hot Springs	Thermopolis	0.13
Johnson	17 NNW Kaycee	0.87
Johnson	Buffalo	0.68
Johnson	17 E Kaycee	0.61
Johnson	20 S Buffalo	0.39
Johnson	Buffalo	0.38
Johnson	7 NE Buffalo	0.02
Lincoln	5 NNE Thayne	0.76
Lincoln	Star Valley Ranch	0.73
Lincoln	Afton	0.71
Lincoln	3 SE Bedford	0.69
Lincoln	2 SE Thayne	0.68
Lincoln	5 SSE Smoot	0.54
Lincoln	21 NNW Kemmerer	0.34
Lincoln	Fossil Butte	0.15
Natrona	Casper ASOS	1.26
Natrona	Midwest	0.73
Natrona	4 SW Casper	0.66
Natrona	Casper	0.65
Natrona	11 WSW Casper	0.52
Natrona	11 ESE Casper	0.50
Natrona	10 WSW Casper	0.44
Natrona	4 WSW Casper	0.39
Natrona	Casper	0.37
Natrona	1 WSW Casper	0.36
Natrona	6 S Casper	0.35
Natrona	1 SW Casper	0.32
Natrona	9 E Casper	0.31
Natrona	Casper	0.28
Natrona	2 S Casper	0.22
Natrona	4 WSW Casper	0.13
Natrona	Powder River School	0.04
Park	3 NE Clark	1.21
Park	Crandall Creek	1.14
Park	Meeteetse	1.09
Park	4 ENE Powell	1.09
Park	4 SW Powell	1.06
Park	3 NE Sunshine	0.99
Park	Pahaska	0.89
Park	3 N Powell	0.69
Park	1 W Powell	0.66
Park	4 SE Cody	0.33
Park	2 WSW Cody	0.33
Park	5 ESE Cody	0.28
Park	7 SW Cody	0.25
Park	1 ESE Cody	0.20
Park	1 E Cody	0.16
Sublette	13 SE Pinedale	1.32
Sublette	Pinedale	0.90
Sublette	Bondurant	0.83
Sublette	14 NW Pinedale	0.61
Sublette	Daniel Fish Hatchery	0.36
Sublette	Big Piney ASOS	0.36
Sublette	Boulder Rearing Station	0.21
Sweetwater	7 SE Rock Springs	0.43
Sweetwater	1 NW Granger	0.32
Sweetwater	1 W Rock Springs	0.17
Sweetwater	38 NW Superior	0.16
Sweetwater	5 N Farson	0.11
Sweetwater	1 S Rock Springs	0.11
Sweetwater	1 E Rock Springs	0.09
Sweetwater	Wamsutter	0.08
Sweetwater	8 NNW Rock Springs	0.02
Sweetwater	Green River	0.02
Teton	Darwin Ranch	1.16
Teton	Hoback Junction	0.90
Teton	2 NE Teton Village	0.79
Teton	Moose	0.64
Teton	Moose	0.60
Teton	4 SSW Jackson	0.55
Teton	5 NW Jackson	0.45
Teton	3 SSW Wilson	0.42
Teton	Jackson	0.38
Teton	12 NE Jackson	0.32
Teton	5 WNW Moran	0.14
Teton	1 NNW Alta	0.11
Washakie	4 NE Ten Sleep	0.23
Washakie	27 S Ten Sleep	0.20
Washakie	5 NNW Ten Sleep	0.15
Washakie	Worland ASOS	0.12
Washakie	Ten Sleep	0.11
Washakie	Worland	0.07
Washakie	16 SSE Ten Sleep	0.06
Washakie	1 W Worland	0.05
Washakie	8 SW Worland	0.04
Yellowstone	Lamar Ranger Station	0.96
Yellowstone	Tower Falls Ranger Station	0.93
Yellowstone	Lake Yellowstone ASOS	0.83
Yellowstone	Snake River Ranger Station	0.77
Yellowstone	Yellowstone Mammoth	0.76
Yellowstone	Yellowstone East Entrance	0.56
Yellowstone	Old Faithful Ranger Station	0.35