Funnel clouds formed across Southwest Colorado last weekend as monsoon season was in full swing, but the spinning clouds didn’t appear to touch down to form tornadoes.
Two pictures of funnel clouds taken on Saturday were sent to The Durango Herald: one by Brad Weinmeister, southwest of Bayfield at about 7:10 p.m., and another by David Torres. A third photo was submitted by a reader who spotted a funnel cloud near Walmart in Durango. That photo was undated.
Matthew Aleksa, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Junction, said there were no reports of funnel clouds touching down over the weekend.
A funnel cloud is formed usually amid a thunderstorm as air spins in the atmosphere, creating a rotating column. The formation looks like the top of a tornado, the difference being tornadoes touch ground.
Megan Stackhouse, also a meteorologist with the NWS in Grand Junction, said funnel clouds are not uncommon in Southwest Colorado.
“A lot of times we do get impressive rotations, higher up in the storm,” she said.
The National Weather Service expects rain and thunderstorms to linger over the San Juan Mountains throughout the week. Those storms may travel into the lower valleys in the late afternoon/early evening.
“Overall, we’ll be drying out through the week, with locally heavy rain in some areas,” Aleksa said.
Aleksa said the next significant storm system expected to hit Southwest Colorado will arrive Sunday or early next week.
jromeo@durangoherald.com