12:40 PM MDT, Tuesday, March 24, 2015

A cold front early Wednesday will result in a colder and cloudier day than we have seen in a while, with 40s as a daytime maximum in most of the Colorado Springs to Cheyenne corridor.

Some intermittent precipitation is likely Wednesday or Wednesday evening. In the lower foothills and plains the temperatures will cool during periods of precipitation. It may cool enough for precipitation to turn from rain to wet snow in a few spots, but little or  no accumulation is expected.  In the higher foothills and mountains 1-4 inches of wet snow is likely.

By the weekend we are probably going to be back to springlike weather.

5:45 AM, Friday, March 20, 2015

Spring officially begins in the mountain time zone at 4:45 PM. There is not much to say about the weather except that it will be springlike this weekend with above average temperatures and mainly sunny skies.  Temperatures should be in the 70-degrees range for the maximum in Denver and Boulder this weekend. The next cool front isn’t due until Monday evening or Tuesday, but a major flip back to winter weather is not expected. Enjoy!

12:35 PM MDT, Tuesday, March 17, 2015

A strong solar storm reached Earth in the predawn hours today and triggered brilliant auroras over the northern states and Canada. The solar storm may have already peaked, but there is enough uncertainty that astronomy enthusiasts all the way down to Colorado’s latitude are planning to take a peek to the north this evening.  We are still dealing with low clouds, but there is a chance it will clear out along the Front Range this evening.

After a milder day on Wednesday, another cool front Wednesday evening or early Thursday should turn it cooler again and bring the chance for some scattered rain (snow in mountains), but nothing big. It appears another mild weekend may be on the way.

12:45 PM, Friday, March 13, 2015

Spring doesn’t officially begin until next Friday afternoon, but this weekend will seem springlike. Temperatures in Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins are likely to range from the mid 60 to low 70s (Sunday will probably be a little warmer than Saturday).  There may be a short spell of cooler, unsettled weather on Tuesday. But at this point no large storms or major cold is expected over the next week.

The snowy February helped the mountain snowpack, with many mountain areas right around average for this time of year. The San Juan range in southwestern Colorado is still running below average.

Noon, Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Cold, snowy weather is likely into Wednesday morning, mainly light, but with some brief heavier periods likely. Plan for a slow commute both Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning. Although a big storm isn’t expected, it got off to a better than expected start along parts of the northern Front Range. In addition, the snowflakes have a dendritic character (fluffy), so a little moisture goes a long way for making snow.

Accumulations:

Nederland, Evergreen, Monument: 5-9 inches (more near the continental divide including Brainard Lake)

Cheyenne, Boulder, Denver, Broomfield: 3-6 inches with a small chance that a period of heavy snow can boost a few localities over 6 inches.

Fort Collins, Longmont, east side of Denver, Colorado Springs: 1-4 inches.

Temperatures: It is likely to fall to the 0-10 range in the Denver-Boulder area the next two nights.  Milder weather should begin to set in Thursday afternoon, but we may struggle to get above average for a few more days.

12:00 noon, Monday, March 2, 2015

A strong cold front along the Front Range Tuesday morning will turn the temperatures notably colder once again through Wednesday night. There may be some light intermittent snow tonight, but it probably won’t amount to much. Then, after the cold front early Tuesday, low clouds should develop followed by widespread snow. The best period for accumulating snow is late Tuesday into early Wednesday morning

Accumulations:

Nederland, Evergreen, Monument: 4-8 inches.

Cheyenne, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver’s west and south sides: 3-6 inches.

Fort Collins, Longmont, east side of Denver, Colorado Springs: 1-3 inches.

With the current storm I see very little chance of widespread heavy snow surprising us (~10%). If anything, there is about a 20% chance that the amounts will be lower than those given above.

It will continue snowy in the western mountain areas today through Tuesday (some rain in the valleys), so expect winter travel conditions, especially at the passes along and north of I-70.

Cold:

Temperatures are likely to fall into the teens after the cold front tomorrow morning. The record low Wednesday morning in Denver is -3 (1978). In Boulder it’s -1 (1960). Both are likely to hold since cloud cover will reduce the chances of falling below zero.  Temperatures are likely to climb above freezing and Thursday and Friday. It’s unclear at this time whether another cold front this weekend will interrupt the warm up. But overall it appears we are transitioning into a milder pattern.