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The Front Range Forecast: Cold, not much snow

In Brief:

A potentially big storm seems to have vanished for Monday, colder than normal for a while.

Forecast Discussion:

We remain chilly this weekend with very light snow on Saturday (Figure 1).

Leading up to the weekend, many (but not all) models were beginning to show another big hit (6+ inches) of snow for the Front Range Sunday into Monday (Figure 2). This morning, it vanished from the models.  Now there is a chance of a coating to an inch or snow around the region (Figure 3). I was so hoping for another snow day.

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Figure 1: the 10 day graphical forecast for Denver from weatherunderground.com

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Figure 2: the 1.5 day old forecast for the Monday storm from the GFS and tropicaltidbits.com

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Figure 3: the GFS forecast for the Monday storm snowfall made Saturday from weather5280.com

The Longer Range Forecast:

The airflow over the West will be out of the north for much of the week (Figure 4). This north flow will keep the cold air coming. You will see small snow chances now and then as ripples travel down the flow giving us a 2 to 5 inches of snow over the region over the next 10 days (Figure 1 and 5).  It will remain chilly to cold throughout.  Will another big storm form out of the pattern that just isn't showing up now?  It might!  Stay tuned.

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Figure 4: the 500mb upper air forecast map for midnight Wed/Thur from the GFS and tropicaltidbits.com
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Figure 5: the 10 day snowfall forecast from the GFS and weather5280.com

 


About the Author: John Ensworth

John Ensworth used to work from Longmont as the PI for the NASA through the IGES (The Institute for Global Environmental Strategies). He now teaches technology, algebra, astronomy, meteorology, film school, and Lego robotics to middle/high school.
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Current Weather

Mostly sunny

Mostly sunny

69°F

UV Index
8 Very High
Pressure
29.76 Falling
Visibility
8 miles
Dewpoint
48 °F
Humidity
47%
Wind
ENE 2.7 mph
Gust
6.5 mph
Wind Chill
69 °F

Hourly Forecast

Today
2 PM
74°F
Cloudy
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3 PM
73°F
Cloudy
Today
4 PM
72°F
Cloudy
Today
5 PM
70°F
Cloudy
Today
6 PM
68°F
Cloudy
Today
7 PM
65°F
Cloudy
Today
8 PM
62°F
Thunderstorms
Today
9 PM
59°F
Cloudy
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10 PM
56°F
Cloudy
Today
11 PM
55°F
Cloudy
Tomorrow
12 AM
54°F
Cloudy
Tomorrow
1 AM
53°F
Cloudy

7 Day Forecast

Mostly cloudy

Thursday

74 °F

Turning cloudy; warm


Thunderstorms

Thursday Night

47 °F

A thunderstorm in spots this evening; otherwise, considerable cloudiness


Thunderstorms

Friday

70 °F

Mostly cloudy and not as warm with a couple of thundershowers


Thunderstorms

Friday Night

43 °F

Cloudy with a couple of thundershowers


Rain

Saturday

46 °F

Chilly with periods of rain and a thunderstorm


Rain and snow

Saturday Night

39 °F

Cloudy with rain, mixed with a little snow late


Mostly cloudy

Sunday

59 °F

Mostly cloudy and warmer; a stray afternoon thundershower


Partly cloudy

Sunday Night

36 °F

Partly cloudy


Partly sunny

Monday

71 °F

Partly sunny and warmer


Partly cloudy

Monday Night

39 °F

Partly cloudy


Sunrise and Sunset

Sunrise
6:07 AM
Sunset
7:50 PM

Based on AccuWeather data