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The Next Storm/Next Snow Forecast Discussion from the Cherrywood Observatory – March 20, 2018

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

Forecast Discussion:

This is the best hit of water we've had in months and months.  Let's look at the Front Range rundown...

Figure 1 is rainfall for Boulder County.  Longmont received 1/2 to 3/4ths of an inch of water (I predicted 1/4th to 1/2 an inch - so this storm over-performed on me. Good!). Boulder was similar in its water amounts.

Figure 2 is snowfall for Boulder County - we (Longmont) received 1/2 to 1 inch of snow, on average.  Boulder did about the same as well.

In Figure 3 and 4, Denver saw a lot of 1/2 to 1 inch rainfall amounts and 1-8 inches of snow (heavy amounts on the south and southwest edges).

Figures 5 and 6 show 1/4th to 3/4th's of an inch of water north of Longmont but very little snow, a trace to an inch along I-25.

Additional snow showers moved over all afternoon and evening on Monday. Now we warm to normal and above normal temperatures again.

Figure 1: Boulder County rainfall reports as of 7am Monday 3/19 from CoCoRaHS.

Figure 2: Boulder County snowfall reports as of 7am Monday 3/19 from CoCoRaHS.

Figure 3: Denver Metro rainfall reports as of 7am Monday 3/19 from CoCoRaHS.

Figure 4: Denver Metro snowfall reports as of 7am Monday 3/19 from CoCoRaHS.

Figure 5: Larimer County rainfall reports as of 7am Monday 3/19 from CoCoRaHS.

Figure 6: Larimer County snowfall reports as of 7am Monday 3/19 from CoCoRaHS.

The longer range forecast:

A ridge slowly inches overhead Tuesday through Friday.  As a representative image of this ridge, take a look at the blue line in the 500mb upper air forecast map (Figure 7) for Thursday AM.

Our next (also possibly nice and wet) storm begins mid-weekend. The trough moving in (the red line in Figure 8) is our next storm.

Figure 7: The 500mb forecast upper air map for Thursday morning from the GFS.

Figure 8: The 500mb forecast upper air map for Sunday morning from the GFS.

Current Weather

Partly cloudy

Partly cloudy

44°F

UV Index
0 Low
Pressure
29.72 Rising
Visibility
8 miles
Dewpoint
28 °F
Humidity
54%
Wind
W 3.2 mph
Gust
7.8 mph
Wind Chill
43 °F

Hourly Forecast

Today
10 PM
42°F
Partly cloudy
Today
11 PM
41°F
Partly cloudy
Tomorrow
12 AM
40°F
Mostly clear
Tomorrow
1 AM
39°F
Mostly clear
Tomorrow
2 AM
38°F
Mostly clear
Tomorrow
3 AM
37°F
Mostly clear
Tomorrow
4 AM
36°F
Mostly clear
Tomorrow
5 AM
36°F
Partly cloudy
Tomorrow
6 AM
35°F
Partly sunny
Tomorrow
7 AM
37°F
Intermittent clouds
Tomorrow
8 AM
41°F
Intermittent clouds
Tomorrow
9 AM
45°F
Intermittent clouds

7 Day Forecast

Partly sunny w/ showers

Tuesday

60 °F

Times of clouds and sun with a couple of brief showers beginning at midday; windy


Partly cloudy

Tuesday Night

35 °F

A shower in spots this evening; otherwise, partly cloudy and colder; there can be frost in the normally colder spots


Intermittent clouds

Wednesday

58 °F

Cool with times of clouds and sun


Mostly cloudy w/ showers

Wednesday Night

39 °F

Increasing clouds with a shower in spots late


Intermittent clouds

Thursday

56 °F

Cool with times of clouds and sun


Partly cloudy

Thursday Night

40 °F

Partly cloudy


Mostly cloudy

Friday

63 °F

Mostly cloudy and warmer


Clear

Friday Night

42 °F

Clear


Mostly sunny

Saturday

68 °F

Mostly sunny


Mostly clear

Saturday Night

43 °F

Mainly clear


Sunrise and Sunset

Sunrise
5:52 AM
Sunset
8:02 PM

Based on AccuWeather data