Until recently, Pagosa Springs has been unable to obtain accurate weather data for impending weather conditions. Given the town’s distance from any National Weather Service offices and its tricky mountainous location and microclimates, tracking weather has been a frustrating matter for residents, businesses, and visitors. However, thanks to a dynamic collaboration between The Springs Resort and Pagosa Weather, this is no longer the case.

“Weather is uniting in this town,” says Jess Hensle, The Springs Resort Marketing Director. It is true. There is something unique about how people come together while chatting about our 300-plus days of sunshine and the four breathtaking seasons in Pagosa Springs. The winter snow accumulation, the spring melt-off, the warm summer day, or the cooler fall temps. Pagosa Weather’s presence adds significant value to our mountain town. Whether you are heading out the door for your daily commute, planning your weekend fun, or preparing the perfect hot spring getaway to stay and soak at The Springs Resort.

When Pagosa Weather, a local non-profit organization that provides weather forecasting in Archuleta County and the nearby mountains, expressed the need to upgrade its equipment, it made sense for The Springs Resort to partner with the organization. Especially when the nearest National Weather Service office is in Grand Junctions, 150 miles away, and the two other closest are in Pueblo and Albuquerque, each over 200 miles away. Those offices mainly focus on higher population areas, often offering minimal weather information for the Pagosa Springs area.

The Pagosa Weather team is made up of three Pagosa residents passionate about weather forecasting and providing a real-time, reliable, and engaging online reporting platform for residents and visitors of beautiful Pagosa Springs. The organization attracts new followers on its Facebook page daily and receives up to 1,500 hits per day on its website.

Understanding the need for more accurate, real-time weather forecasting in the immediate area, The Springs Resort was all ears when the team at Pagosa Weather explained that they were seeking financial aid to improve their local, real-time data collection. The goal was to add new weather sensors in a few key spots, including downtown Pagosa Springs and two nearby communities. The sensors would serve to track current conditions and allow the team to review historical records that are very useful in preparing community presentations.

In their goal to best serve the town of Pagosa, they wanted to add new weather sensors to collect more real-time data in a few key spots. Those areas were downtown Pagosa Springs, Arboles, CO, and Chama, NM.

According to an announcement made by Pagosa Weather’s Shawn Prochazka on their website, he said, “Well, finding a location for one of our new sensors in downtown Pagosa was easy – The Springs Resort! We walked the property with The Springs Resort team, discussed a few sites’ pros and cons, and settled on a good spot.” He explained some other key partnerships, “Next, I reached out to a couple of our faithful followers in Arboles about 30 miles away and Chama about 50 miles away, just over the border in New Mexico. Martha and John Ball from Arboles enthusiastically said yes, and so did Bill Wylie from Chama!” Both parties were excited to pick up their Springs Resort donated weather sensors. They were pleasantly surprised with an additional bonus of complimentary soaking passes as a thank you for their efforts to make this initiative possible.

With the additions of the sensors, the new data is now available to everyone on Weather Underground, a commercial service providing real-time weather service over the internet. To express their appreciation, Shawn states, “We are so humbled and honored to get such generous support and contributions,” continued Prochazka “Not only did The Springs lead the way in funding much-needed new data collecting equipment, but the resort threw in soaking passes for everyone involved in the project. Turns out they’re not just concerned about the work we do but that we feel good and healthy doing it!”