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Next Storm/Next Snow Forecast Discussion from the Cherrywood Observatory – March 10, 2019

This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

Forecast Discussion:

Friday's storm blew through with mainly rain, wind, and snow under the heaver convection (Figure 1). We had only a few 100th's of an inch in town. We have a few, somewhat below normal (temperature-wise - Figure 3 ) days ahead of us as the weekend ends and the week starts. Snow continues in the mountains (Figure 2). What's new?

The longer range forecast:

Our mid-week storm is looking better and bigger (if you think a bigger snow storm is better). Figure 2 shows it beginning with rain as warm southwest flow covers the state. The upper-air pattern, in Figure 4, shows what is called a negatively tilted trough over the state Wednesday (the red line upper left to lower right over Colorado). There is even a closed circle over SE Colorado all describing a strong, classic, spring storm with blizzard potential out on the eastern Plains. This will have lift, jet stream support, and strong up flow over NE Colorado, and a lot of moisture (if it pans out).

We are still too far out to be certain, and not all models are creating this scenario, but more are looking to come in line with this picture.

The weatherunderground.com model in Figure 3 shows us getting 5-8 inches of snow.

The GFS in Figure 5 also gives us 5-8 inches.

The GEM in Figure 6 is more in the line of 2-4 inches.

Stay tuned!

Figure 1: total new snow totals for Friday/Saturday up to 7am for Boulder county from CoCoRaHS.
Figure 2: The forecast surface map for Sunday PM from NCEP.
Figure 3: the graphical forecast for the next 10 days for Longmont, CO from weatherunderground.com
Figure 4: The 500mb forecast upper air analysis for Wednesday AM. Pink dot is Longmont. Red lines are troughs, blue lines are ridges.
Figure 5: the forecast accumulated snow map from the GFS and weather5280.com for Colorado, through the next 5 days.
Figure 6: the forecast accumulated snow map from the GEM and tropicaltidbits.com for Colorado, through the next 5 days.

Current Weather

Mostly cloudy

Mostly cloudy

38°F

UV Index
0 Low
Pressure
30.21 Rising
Visibility
8 miles
Dewpoint
31 °F
Humidity
74%
Wind
ESE 1.6 mph
Gust
3.8 mph
Wind Chill
38 °F

Hourly Forecast

Today
3 AM
39°F
Showers
Today
4 AM
38°F
Partly cloudy
Today
5 AM
38°F
Partly cloudy
Today
6 AM
37°F
Partly sunny
Today
7 AM
39°F
Partly sunny
Today
8 AM
42°F
Mostly sunny
Today
9 AM
45°F
Mostly sunny
Today
10 AM
49°F
Mostly sunny
Today
11 AM
53°F
Mostly sunny
Today
12 PM
55°F
Mostly sunny
Today
1 PM
59°F
Mostly sunny
Today
2 PM
61°F
Partly sunny

7 Day Forecast

Mostly cloudy w/ showers

Friday

76 °F

Some sun, then increasing clouds, becoming breezy in the afternoon with a shower in spots late


Partly cloudy w/ showers

Friday Night

37 °F

Partly cloudy with a couple of showers


Partly sunny

Saturday

66 °F

Partly sunny and not as warm


Mostly clear

Saturday Night

40 °F

Clear to partly cloudy


Mostly cloudy

Sunday

76 °F

Mostly cloudy and warmer; breezy in the afternoon


Mostly cloudy

Sunday Night

47 °F

Rather cloudy; breezy late


Windy

Monday

60 °F

Very windy; cloudy and cooler


Intermittent clouds

Monday Night

43 °F

Partly cloudy


Intermittent clouds

Tuesday

62 °F

Windy with times of clouds and sun


Partly cloudy

Tuesday Night

36 °F

Partly cloudy


Sunrise and Sunset

Sunrise
5:57 AM
Sunset
7:58 PM

Based on AccuWeather data