So, April has been wild. We started with temps near 70º. Then we saw some snow. We jumped back up into the 70s. Stayed there for a bit and then saw record cold and snow move back in. Now we’re back in the 60s. Talk about a roller coaster ride.
Those cold temperatures we experienced are holding our monthly temperature down about 4.5º F for the month. Will 10 days left in the month, we will close that gap but will still end below average for April as a whole.
Officially, at DIA we’ve received 0.44″ of rain through 4/21 which is 0.58″ below where we should be for the month. Now, if you’ve kept up with me while I’ve lived in Denver, you know that I’m not 100% for our officially reporting station being out near the airport. It’s ~30 miles from downtown and the micro climates here in Colorado are extreme, so ultimately, what they get at DIA is skewed from what downtown (and the bulk of Denver’s population) get. Denver/Stapleton is the reporting station I like to use and sometimes even the Denver downtown water department. Denver/Stapleton has picked up 0.55″ of precipitation this month and the downtown Water Department has picked up 0.79″ of precipitation. You can noticed the descrepencies even over a ten-mile difference.
Even though it seemed like we got a lot of snow and some rain this month, most of Colorado is actually sitting below average in terms of recorded precipitation. The driest place in the state in in the SW corner near the San Juan mountains. We will hopefully be getting some decent moisture this week to make up for our current deficit.
FORECAST
We have more chances for rain than anything this week although a few snowflakes could sneak in, we’re mainly talking liquid precip.
The above video shows the energy in the atmosphere. We have a shortwave, or ripple of energy in the main flow, that will bring the chance for some rain showers for Tuesday.
We have the threat for a severe thunderstorm or two across the Eastern and Southern Plains of Colorado. This comes because there is the chance of seeing large, damaging hail in the dark green shaded area. In light green, general non-severe thunderstorms are possible.
Wednesday will be mainly dry and sunny but as we get to the end of the week, NW flow will bring moisture and orographic lifting to the state which will result in rain showers and even some thunderstorms.
Ultimately what this means is on and off rain chances for the remainder of the week. Except Wednesday, Wednesday will be bright and sunny.
This week will be noted by mainly average temperatures and rain chances. The bigger disruption we may see in our lives is Thursday and Friday when consistent NW flow will bring rain chances, and a few snowflakes to the area but other than that, we’re not looking at any extreme weather.
Enjoy the week and the warmer temps! Looking ahead to this weekend, mid to upper 70s are possible!
~ Rain or Shine
I’m Andy Stein
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