4:45 AM, Wednesday, March 23, 2016

I was awakened by transformer flashes at 4:30 AM caused by the most intense snowfall rates I’ve seen this year (about 2 in/h). Fascinating! I wish I had forecasted in better. I decided to do a quick blog in case I lose electricity.

The shift westward in the location of the mid-level storm intensification (to just south of Denver rather than near Limon) made a big difference in the focus of the storm. Areas along the foothills are getting clobbered in the pre-dawn hours. As the intensity eases up later this morning or afternoon, the worst may still be in store for the east side of metro Denver. Although there is a lot of variability, many locations from the Palmer Divide northward seem on the way to a 6-10 inch range. Be careful, it’s heavy wet snow for shoveling, and there may be some power outages around the region.

And we may get to enjoy shoveling snow again Friday night or Saturday.