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Mountain West Discussion


ValpoVike
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4 hours ago, mayjawintastawm said:

In case anyone thought today was too warm here (+60 F at my house, first in 2 mos): from Mount Washington, NH, a paltry 6288 feet above sea level.

image.thumb.png.70d1b4a612ea9a788761a3e01da141a6.png

As I mentioned in the Lakes/Ohio Valley banter thread, I have a hard time imagining a -44 degree value without radiational cooling and a valley with lighter winds, or at least some localized low spot. It's truly a once-in-a-generation 850mb temperature up there and also the same for wind chills for some.

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Cold storm incoming next week for the southwest deserts. It may be cold enough for some flakes in the Phoenix metro area. At the very least, snow levels look to be as low as 1,500ft Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. 

Snip from the NWS Phoenix discussion:

Precipitation is also expected 
Tuesday night along a cold front and it may (15 percent) be cold 
enough for rain showers to change over to snow showers before 
tapering off across the lower deserts, including portions of the 
Phoenix area Wednesday morning.

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The models predict a significant snow storm next Wednesday. As usual the GFS is loving the 11.8 to 18.1" near Denver, as it always loves forecasting high amounts of snow for the roughly 5-day forecast. Lots could change before the NWS issues a winter storm watch, but I do expect a winter storm watch at some time.

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7 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

Models are now consistently backing off on any major snow totals in NE CO.

Models generally have Larimer/Weld counties with pretty low amounts of snow. I believe it is due to mainly downsloping from the north at the surface. Also I think a lot of the lift will be towards southern Colorado.

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not quite in Denver

 

Quote
 Concerning...Heavy snow 

   Valid 151431Z - 152030Z

   SUMMARY...Heavy snow with rates of 1-1.5 in/hr is expected to start
   shortly and will continue through the early afternoon. Heavy snow
   may impact travel.

   DISCUSSION...As of 1430 UTC, regional radar and satellite imagery
   showed a broad band of mostly light to moderate snow exiting the
   central/southern Rockies into portions of the adjacent High Plains.

 

mcd0149.gif

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@Chinook What ratios would you generally use for snowfall out in these parts? (Wyoming, Colorado, etc) Looked like your post earlier this week was using a range of about 10:1-15:1?

I know Kuchera maps are called clown maps for a reason :), but I was wondering if they handle things better where precip type is not much of an issue.

Thanks for helping me get up to speed on an entirely new climate!

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2 hours ago, jacindc said:

@Chinook What ratios would you generally use for snowfall out in these parts? (Wyoming, Colorado, etc) Looked like your post earlier this week was using a range of about 10:1-15:1?

I know Kuchera maps are called clown maps for a reason :), but I was wondering if they handle things better where precip type is not much of an issue.

Thanks for helping me get up to speed on an entirely new climate!

Ratios can be frustrating here. Personally I use 10:1 as I have seen too many storms with much higher predictions miss terribly. 
 

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20 hours ago, ValpoVike said:

Ratios can be frustrating here. Personally I use 10:1 as I have seen too many storms with much higher predictions miss terribly. 
 

Ratios are all over the place, but generally 10:1 would be conservative. For example, the 6.3" we got here total over the last storm was from 0.36" of water (17.5:1 average) and I think that was a fairly typical storm. On the other hand, the 11ish inches we got right after Christmas had well over an inch of water in it, probably around 1.3 inches (8.5:1) and maybe even a bit more. That was definitely heavier than usual. Looking at DEN from Dec 2021-Mar 2022 (excluding a rainstorm in late March), there was 46.7" of snow with 2.88" water, so average 16.2:1. My sense in our 13 winters here is that the frequent "misses" are more from QPF that doesn't pan out as predicted.

I'm guessing WY would be drier and colder than here.

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2 hours ago, mayjawintastawm said:

Ratios are all over the place, but generally 10:1 would be conservative. For example, the 6.3" we got here total over the last storm was from 0.36" of water (17.5:1 average) and I think that was a fairly typical storm. On the other hand, the 11ish inches we got right after Christmas had well over an inch of water in it, probably around 1.3 inches (8.5:1) and maybe even a bit more. That was definitely heavier than usual. Looking at DEN from Dec 2021-Mar 2022 (excluding a rainstorm in late March), there was 46.7" of snow with 2.88" water, so average 16.2:1. My sense in our 13 winters here is that the frequent "misses" are more from QPF that doesn't pan out as predicted.

I'm guessing WY would be drier and colder than here.

Definitely drier, even in the comparatively "lush" area in the eastern Bighorn foothills. I think the heavy wet snow is more likely to come in Oct/Nov and March/April. 

I'm guesstimating here, but it looks like Sheridan reported about .7" QPF over Jan. 26-28, and an observer not too far from me reported 13.4" (not sure the exact time frame and I think snow was still falling). So that's a pretty good ratio :), though the wind was definitely blowing in a good upslope direction. 

Got some more snow coming next week, will pay closer attention. Right now the big diff in the forecast is QPF (Euro 1.3", GFS .8").

 

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OK so this is amazing. Never in my 20+ years of reading AFDs have I seen a poem in one.  Here is tonight's from a likely bored forecaster named Rodriguez at BOU: so cool.

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO
848 PM MST Fri Feb 17 2023

.UPDATE...
Issued at 819 PM MST Fri Feb 17 2023

`Twas a day of photogenic clouds,
and it drew the weather weenie crowds.
They come in search of information,
But I am a man of evasion.
In my brain, emptiness abounds.
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