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Next Storm/Next Snow Forecast Discussion from the Cherrywood Observatory – March 15, 2019

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

Forecast Discussion:

Before we look at the quiet and warm weather ahead of us, let's look back at the snow totals. Figure 1 is the 24 hour snow total before the morning of 3/14 (Pi day). I circled the down-slope snow-hole that was featured in the forecast maps for days last week. It was there! The yellows and reds are 6 to 12 inches of snow. Figure 2 is the 48 hour total which is pretty impressive and features our mega-snow hole again (circled).

Looking Figure 3, we received about 3-4 inches across town. I forecasted 2-6 inches, so ... pretty good. Figure 4 is Larmier county where the foothills got significant snow. You can scan across the Denver Metro in Figure 5.

Today we are high and dry with mainly high pressure around the state -Figure 6. Boring, but a nice break.

The longer range forecast:

We are sitting with northwest flow aloft into the weekend with a ridge inching toward the state (Figure 7). Each day will be a bit warmer into next week. You can see the temperature trend from the mid-40'sF climbing to the low 60'sF by the end of next week when a bit of rain may arrive. Spring showers?

Looking out 5 days, there is just a small amount of mountain snow now and then, but nothing significant around us.

Figure 1: 24 hour snowfall interpolation map from National Weather Service National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center
Figure 2: 48 hour snowfall interpolation map from National Weather Service National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center
Figure 3: total new snow totals for Wednesday/Thursday up to 7am for Boulder county from CoCoRaHS.
Figure 4: total new snow totals for Wednesday/Thursday up to 7am for Larimer county from CoCoRaHS.
Figure 5: total new snow totals for Wednesday/Thursday up to 7am for Denver metro from CoCoRaHS.
Figure 6: The forecast surface map for Friday PM from NCEP.
Figure 7: The 500mb forecast upper air analysis for Sunday AM. Pink dot is Longmont. Red lines are troughs, blue lines are ridges.
Figure 8: the graphical forecast for the next 10 days for Longmont, CO from weatherunderground.com
Figure 9: the forecast accumulated snow map from the GFS and tropicaltidbits.com for Colorado, over the next 5 days.


Current Weather

Partly cloudy

Partly cloudy

48°F

UV Index
0 Low
Pressure
29.6 Steady
Visibility
8 miles
Dewpoint
21 °F
Humidity
35%
Wind
WSW 4.9 mph
Gust
13.1 mph
Wind Chill
46 °F

Hourly Forecast

Today
4 AM
45°F
Mostly cloudy w/ showers
Today
5 AM
43°F
Intermittent clouds
Today
6 AM
42°F
Mostly cloudy
Today
7 AM
43°F
Cloudy
Today
8 AM
47°F
Partly sunny w/ showers
Today
9 AM
51°F
Partly sunny
Today
10 AM
54°F
Intermittent clouds
Today
11 AM
56°F
Intermittent clouds
Today
12 PM
58°F
Mostly cloudy
Today
1 PM
59°F
Showers
Today
2 PM
61°F
Intermittent clouds
Today
3 PM
60°F
Intermittent clouds

7 Day Forecast

Showers

Monday

57 °F

A few showers in the morning; otherwise, mostly cloudy, breezy and cooler


Partly cloudy w/ showers

Monday Night

42 °F

Partly cloudy; breezy with a shower in spots late


Partly sunny w/ showers

Tuesday

61 °F

Very windy; a couple of showers this morning; otherwise, times of clouds and sun


Partly cloudy

Tuesday Night

34 °F

Partly cloudy


Intermittent clouds

Wednesday

57 °F

Cool with times of clouds and sun


Mostly cloudy

Wednesday Night

39 °F

Increasing clouds


Partly sunny w/ showers

Thursday

56 °F

Times of clouds and sun with a couple of showers; cool


Cloudy

Thursday Night

40 °F

Cloudy


Mostly cloudy

Friday

66 °F

Mostly cloudy and warmer


Mostly clear

Friday Night

40 °F

Mainly clear


Sunrise and Sunset

Sunrise
5:53 AM
Sunset
8:01 PM

Based on AccuWeather data