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The Front Range Forcast: Warm, possible Christmas snow

In Brief

Very warm dry weather all week with "maybe" a Christmas Eve storm.

Forecast Discussion:

A persistent western ridge will give us really warm and calm conditions through Friday.  In Colorado, this is shorts and t-shirt weather (Figure 1). See the Longer Range forecast for what 'might' happen for Christmas.

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Figure 1: the 10 day graphical forecast for Longmont from weatherunderground.com

The Longer Range Forecast:

The upper air patter for Christmas Eve, from the GFS (Figure 2) is a weird mess.  I've not seen a scramble quite like this before.  It gives the mountains some snow but nothing really down to I-25 by midnight Dec 25/Dec 26 (Figure 3). The Canadian model looks more 'normal' to me (but still messy - Figure 4) and gives us a whopping 8-10 inches of snow Christmas Eve (Figure 5)!! 

This forecast is still very far away and there is a LOT of disagreement between the models.  Send a note to Santa requesting snow for Christmas! Check back here!

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Figure 2: the Christmas Eve 500mb upper air forecast map from the GFS and tropicaltidbits.com
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Figure 3: the GFS snowfall totals through Christmas night midnight from the GFS and tropicaltidbits.com
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Figure 4: the Christmas Eve 500mb upper air forecast map from the Canadian model and tropicaltidbits.com
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Figure 5: the Canadian snowfall totals through Christmas night midnight from the GFS and tropicaltidbits.com

 


About the Author: John Ensworth

John Ensworth used to work from Longmont as the PI for the NASA through the IGES (The Institute for Global Environmental Strategies). He now teaches technology, algebra, astronomy, meteorology, film school, and Lego robotics to middle/high school.
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Current Weather

Clear

Clear

62°F

UV Index
0 Low
Pressure
30.11 Steady
Visibility
6 miles
Dewpoint
51 °F
Humidity
65%
Wind
SW 1.6 mph
Gust
3.3 mph
Wind Chill
62 °F

Hourly Forecast

Today
2 AM
63°F
Clear
Today
3 AM
62°F
Clear
Today
4 AM
60°F
Clear
Today
5 AM
59°F
Clear
Today
6 AM
58°F
Sunny
Today
7 AM
62°F
Sunny
Today
8 AM
68°F
Sunny
Today
9 AM
74°F
Sunny
Today
10 AM
78°F
Sunny
Today
11 AM
82°F
Mostly sunny
Today
12 PM
85°F
Mostly sunny
Today
1 PM
88°F
Mostly sunny

7 Day Forecast

Partly sunny w/ t-storms

Thursday

92 °F

Not as hot; a shower in spots late this morning, turning breezy this afternoon with a thunderstorm in spots


Mostly clear

Thursday Night

58 °F

A shower in spots late this evening; otherwise, clear to partly cloudy and not as warm


Partly sunny w/ t-storms

Friday

88 °F

Sunny to partly cloudy with a thunderstorm in the afternoon; thunderstorms can bring hail and damaging winds


Partly cloudy w/ t-storms

Friday Night

58 °F

A thunderstorm in spots early in the evening; otherwise, partly cloudy


Mostly cloudy w/ t-storms

Saturday

86 °F

Clouds and breaks of sun with a thunderstorm in the afternoon


Partly cloudy

Saturday Night

58 °F

Partly cloudy


Partly sunny

Sunday

97 °F

Partly sunny


Partly cloudy

Sunday Night

59 °F

Partly cloudy


Mostly cloudy

Monday

93 °F

Mainly cloudy


Mostly clear

Monday Night

60 °F

Clear to partly cloudy


Sunrise and Sunset

Sunrise
5:40 AM
Sunset
8:31 PM

Based on AccuWeather data