In Brief:
Quiet weather for the week to come.
Thursday update:
The last storm under performed on my forecast. Longmont received about 1.5 inches of snow over 36 hours. The week ahead looks very quiet even as snow storm after snow storm hits the western slopes (great news!). Temperatures stay around seasonable normal for that time as well (Figure 1 update). There now is a small chance of rain/snow around the 11th. We'll see!
End Thursday update.
Forecast Discussion:
...WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM LATE SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH
MONDAY EVENING...
* WHAT...Heavy snow possible. Total snow accumulations between 2 and
5 inches possible. Winds could gust as high as 35 mph.
* WHERE...Portions of east central, north central, and northeast
Colorado.
* WHEN...From late Sunday night through Monday evening.
* IMPACTS...Travel may become very difficult to impossible due to
heavy snowfall on roadways. Plan on slippery road conditions. The
hazardous conditions could impact the Monday morning and evening
commutes.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Monitor the latest forecasts for updates on this situation.
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We will see a high of around 50 Saturday/New Year's eve (Figure 1).
New Years Midnight Forecast: It will be around 31F at the stroke of midnight. Skies will be mostly cloudy winds will be light south or southwest winds and a negligible chance of precipitation.
Then we turn our attention to the next storm system. This too is a not-so-cold Pacific front with lots of moisture. The current expected track of the low is really good for I-25 and foothills snow (Figure 2). This last storm way over performed giving much of the Front Range south of Fort Collins 6-12 inches. This could happen again. Precipitation may start as rain again (lower chance than last time) Sunday late afternoon changing to snow that should last through Monday afternoon.
Snowfall Roundup:
I'm giving Longmont to Broomfield 3-5 inches.
The GFS gives this area paints 2-5 inches (Figure 3).
The Canadian gives this area 3-6 inches (Figure 4).
Weather5280's Matt Maken predicts 2-5 inches (Figure 5).
Channel 7 news gives 2-4 inches (not shown).
Channel 9 (and the EURO model - not shown) gives 3-5 inches.
The Longer Range Forecast:
We stay cool through the end of the week after this storm with a warm-up to normal temperatures by Friday. Quiet weather is the story for the rest of the 10 day period.
