Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Today, we’re covered in white. A sloppy white wet snow to be exact. The forecast came together nicely for most folks.
There was a bit of a dissapointment near Boulder thanks to downsloping winds off the the Cheyenne Ridge to the north but other than that, most of what is being reported was within the range of snow totals I gave on Wednesday.
Overall, the SW Foothills and Palmer Divide were favored for the big snow. As mentioned before, Boulder missed out due to ineffective upslope. The winds were too northerly rather than northeasterly and that limited what they saw. Additionally, downsloping winds cause air to warm and Boulder saw some downsloping winds that led to them seeing a change back over to rain in the middle of the night for a brief period.
Regardless of the snow, everyone got a great drink of water.
Most areas picked up between a half inch and an inch of liquid so far with this storm. Some areas around the Denver Metro and SW Foothills saw 1-2″ of liquid, which for a high desert, is quite a gulp of water. Great news for our drought.
ST. PATRICK’S DAY FORECAST
Snow will continue today through the early afternoon. Temperatures will be above freezing so road conditions should remain okay.
Overall, a few snow showers, mainly confined to the Foothills west of Denver will see some decent additional accumulation today. For most of the Urban Corridor, 1-2″ of additional snow is likely. All snow will be tapering off by this evening and clearing skies will begin to unfold.
Skies will turn sunny for Friday and Saturday with Sunday turning partly to mostly cloudy ahead of our next storm which looks to move in between Monday and Tuesday. Enjoy the warm up while it’s here!
OUR NEXT STORM
This incoming storm for Monday and Tuesday of next week show potential to be a big snow producer. Similarly to the current storm though, temperatures will be marginal to start and that will inhibit snow totals a bit. At least right now.
During March, the location of a storm is key. We (in Denver and the surrounding areas) want a low pressure to form and move over SE Colorado since winds with a storm in that position would push up the mountains and Palmer Divide near Denver.
Here’s a look at where the 3 big models have the storm for Monday/Tuesday.
Most of the models are currently agreeing that a storm will develop and move *very close* SE Colorado. Currently, all the models are showing rather significant snow with this storm. Especially in Denver, the SW Foothills and Palmer Divide.
As of right now, it’s hard to talk totals but it’s also hard to ignore what the models are showing. For a general idea, here’s what the thinking is *currently.* This will change so don’t take this to heart.
THIS IS NOT A FORECAST
FoCo: 5-10″
Boulder: 6-14″
Denver: 6-16″
Castle Rock: 8-18″
Conifer: 10-20″
Colorado Springs: 3-6″
With these totals, we’ll lose some of it to melting so cut these down by at least a third but even with that, an impactful storm is looking probably during this time frame. I’ll write a more detailed post regarding this storm Friday or Saturday but I wanted to get you some information to work with so you can prepare and watch the trends with me.
Finally, another storm looks *possible* right before the end of the that could bring another round of moisture to the area. Woof. A lot to watch but ultimately this is all great news because we know how quickly we can dry out here.
Stay tuned!
~Andy
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