Mountain West Discussion

[masomenos]

Welp, when you consider the old record low max was 27, and today the max was 24 (at midnight... max during the day at DIA was 16), that's pretty uncommon. Given the non-magnitude of the snow most places, the cold should be much bigger news. Then again, you don't have to plow cold.

I don't ever remember seeing those kind of daytime temps in April at those latitudes. Extremely impressive. I'd be willing to guess we see something like this maybe a few times per century.

[Brewers]

Cheyenne had a high of 12 degrees today which shatters the previous record low max of 23 for this date. The current temperature of 7 degrees right now also ties the record low for the date.

[beavis1729]

Cheyenne had a high of 12 degrees today which shatters the previous record low max of 23 for this date. The current temperature of 7 degrees right now also ties the record low for the date.

That represents a departure of -41 vs. the normal high of 53.

 

 

At 5 PM CDT (4 PM MDT), it was 108F in Laredo TX and 8F in Cheyenne WY.  What's a 100-degree difference among friends. 

[mayjawintastawm]

OK, so with a really weird day today (high sun angle made it look warm, wind/temps made it definitely otherwise), here's a bit of weird Denver weather trivia: (I don't have a good source of info to verify, so you're on your own):

 

 

Yesterday the temp averaged 16 F (-30 departure from normal), and today so far 15 F (-31 departure).

 

1. When was the last -30 or more departure day in Denver? I'm guessing a really long time, like 50 years.

 

2. When were the last back to back -30 or more departure days? I'm guessing none on record.

[beavis1729]

OK, so with a really weird day today (high sun angle made it look warm, wind/temps made it definitely otherwise), here's a bit of weird Denver weather trivia: (I don't have a good source of info to verify, so you're on your own):

 

   

 

   

 

Yesterday the temp averaged 16 F (-30 departure from normal), and today so far 15 F (-31 departure).  

 

   

 

1. When was the last -30 or more departure day in Denver? I'm guessing a really long time, like 50 years.  

 

   

 

2. When were the last back to back -30 or more departure days? I'm guessing none on record.  

 

 

 

Actually, back-to-back -30 departure days occurred in Denver on December 14-15, 2008:

 

 

 

12/14/2008:  15/-18 (departure -31)

 

12/15/2008:  2/-19 (departure -38)

 

 

 

Today's low temp of 6F in Denver was the 2nd coldest temp on record so late in the season (beaten only by 6F on 4/12/1997).  Honorable mention goes to an 8F low temp on 4/18/1953.

[Chinook]

OK, so with a really weird day today (high sun angle made it look warm,

 

I saw snow from a blue sky in mid-day.

[icebreaker5221]

Looks like more significant snow this week, especially for northern CO and southern WY. 

 

By the way, does anyone have that link to the season-to-date line graphs of mountain snowpack?  I seem to have lost it.  I suspect the mountains are doing much better than last year, but definitely still below 2011 levels. 

[mayjawintastawm]

Actually, back-to-back -30 departure days occurred in Denver on December 14-15, 2008:

 

 

 

12/14/2008:  15/-18 (departure -31)

 

12/15/2008:  2/-19 (departure -38)

 

 

 

Today's low temp of 6F in Denver was the 2nd coldest temp on record so late in the season (beaten only by 6F on 4/12/1997).  Honorable mention goes to an 8F low temp on 4/18/1953.

Thanks Beavis. <wiping egg off face> wow- goes to show how extreme things can get, though somehow this seems more "extreme" in April than in December. Where do you get your data?

[beavis1729]

Thanks Beavis. <wiping egg off face> wow- goes to show how extreme things can get, though somehow this seems more "extreme" in April than in December. Where do you get your data?

No problem!  

 

As far as the data...I remembered that Denver had a big cold snap a few years ago...so I looked at the monthly F-6's on the NWS climate site.

[Vandy]

Looks like more significant snow this week, especially for northern CO and southern WY. 

 

By the way, does anyone have that link to the season-to-date line graphs of mountain snowpack?  I seem to have lost it.  I suspect the mountains are doing much better than last year, but definitely still below 2011 levels. 

 

I'd say it depends on how you want to look at it. We're higher than we were at this time last year, but we haven't reached last year's integrated SWE in some of the basins. Either way, a really bad year unless we get a true whopper of a snowstorm before the month is out. http://www.co.nrcs.usda.gov/snow/snow/watershed/current/daily/maps_graphs/swe_hilo.html

 

[icebreaker5221]

I'd say it depends on how you want to look at it. We're higher than we were at this time last year, but we haven't reached last year's integrated SWE in some of the basins. Either way, a really bad year unless we get a true whopper of a snowstorm before the month is out. http://www.co.nrcs.usda.gov/snow/snow/watershed/current/daily/maps_graphs/swe_hilo.html

 

 

Ok, that's a little worse than I realized.  Fortunitely the next week or so looks cooler and wetter than average, which should help WY2013 get a bit closer to the Median (although the prospects of actually reaching are very slim). 

[Chinook]

Oh my gosh. Winter won't end. It is paying us back for the heat wave last year. The models show a strong upper level trough here with arctic air on 4/17 and 4/18.

[tacoman25]

Actually, back-to-back -30 departure days occurred in Denver on December 14-15, 2008:

 

 

 

12/14/2008:  15/-18 (departure -31)

 

12/15/2008:  2/-19 (departure -38)

 

 

 

Today's low temp of 6F in Denver was the 2nd coldest temp on record so late in the season (beaten only by 6F on 4/12/1997).  Honorable mention goes to an 8F low temp on 4/18/1953.

 

I don't believe this is correct. The records I see from the WRCC show the previous coldest record low after 4/8 being 7 in 1959: http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?co2220

 

Therefore, the low of 6 was DEN's coldest temperature on record so late in the season. The high of 12 Cheyenne saw was also their coldest high this late in the season. Pretty remarkable.

[tacoman25]

Latest models indicating several rounds of significant precip for the Front Range next week...mostly snow.

[beavis1729]

I don't believe this is correct. The records I see from the WRCC show the previous coldest record low after 4/8 being 7 in 1959: http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?co2220

 

Therefore, the low of 6 was DEN's coldest temperature on record so late in the season. The high of 12 Cheyenne saw was also their coldest high this late in the season. Pretty remarkable.

You could be right...but I pulled my data from the following, which shows a low of 6F on 4/12/1997:

 

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/bou/include/showProduct.php?product=aprn.txt&parentdir=cli

[BlizzardWx]

Who is ready for round 2? Looks good for some off and on light snow here on the GFS while the NAM and ECMWF certainly look more promising.

[tacoman25]

You could be right...but I pulled my data from the following, which shows a low of 6F on 4/12/1997:

 

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/bou/include/showProduct.php?product=aprn.txt&parentdir=cli

 

Huh. Well I would trust the local NWS records over the regional climate center, so you're probably right. Weird that there is that discrepancy.

[tacoman25]

Who is ready for round 2? Looks good for some off and on light snow here on the GFS while the NAM and ECMWF certainly look more promising.

 

This could be the grand finale of our late-blooming winter on the Front Range. Certainly looking like it has the potential to be our biggest storm yet.

[Chinook]

By golly. The GFS calls for 18" for all cities in the area:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mayjawintastawm]

wow, nuts... but this winter I don't trust any forecasts more than, say, half an hour in advance. 

[Chinook]

Looks like we will get two periods of snow.

[BlizzardWx]

This could be the grand finale of our late-blooming winter on the Front Range. Certainly looking like it has the potential to be our biggest storm yet.

Yeah some of the totals are amazing on the models! I am hopeful for you guys, but for me too.

[Chinook]

Not sure if my snow shoveling skillz are that advanced. I haven't had much practice.

[Chinook]

Here we go:

 

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO
816 PM MDT SUN APR 14 2013

.UPDATE...AM ISSUING A WINTER STORM WATCH FOR MUCH OF NORTHEAST
COLORADO FROM MONDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT. CONFIDENCE
IS INCREASING IN A BANDED SNOW EVENT IN NORTHERN COLORADO AND
SOUTHERN WYOMING AS AN UPPER JET WILL REMAIN DRAPED ACROSS THE
AREA...THIS WILL COMBINE WITH INCREASING MOISTURE AND INCREASING
LOW LEVEL UPSLOPE TO CREATE SNOW. THE PRECIPITATION WILL START AND
SPREAD EAST DURING THE DAY MONDAY...BUT WITH FALLING TEMPERATURES
MONDAY NIGHT THE BEST ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED. SNOWFALL AMOUNTS
OF 6 TO 10 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE.

[mayjawintastawm]

Kudos to all under the snow band north of town. Otherwise, QPF...meh. Keeps going down, as always. I'll be really happy if we get half an inch this week, but not even expecting half that.

[Chinook]

I got 8" of snow in my yard. It's the first time to 8" snow depth this year at my place. Visibility is 500ft to 1/4 mile.

[tacoman25]

Looks like about 5-6" on the ground already in south Boulder. Had heavy banding for awhile over us and to the east and north...now it looks like it's dumping in my neighborhood in NW Westminster.

[boulderrr]

Was up in Lyons earlier and there had to be close to 10" on the ground. The roads here in Boulder are mostly snow covered and CU just announced they'll be closing at 2PM this afternoon. Hope it continues through the afternoon and evening! 

[Chinook]

Looks like Denver rush hour is currently getting heavy snow.

[mayjawintastawm]

excellent- got about 3.5" between 1 and 5 PM here at work in Aurora, wife tells me about 1" at home. Holy gradient Batman!