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The Front Range Forecast: A Spring Snow is on the way

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Figure 5: the 10:1 snowfall forecast for the next 3 days from the GFS and tropicaltidbits.com

In Brief:

A warm weekend becomes rain, thunderstorms and some snow at lower elevations.

The Forecast Discussion:

A more Spring-like storm is on its way for Sunday afternoon and evening (Figure 1). This storm will create a more prolonged impact in the mountains (Sun AM to Mon AM, then again Tuesday and Wednesday mid-days). At lower elevations, precipitation will mainly fall between 1pm Sunday and 11pm Sunday (Figure 2 and Figure 3).

The cold front should sweep past Longmont around 2pm. Precipitation will start as rain and thunderstorms with windy conditions and dropping temperatures. Liquid water totals seem to add up to 0.25 to 0.75 inch with locally 1 inch in lucky neighborhoods (Figure 6). Temperatures will be in the 50's Sunday, so we won't see lower elevations switch to snow until evening (the low will be around 20F). The Monday morning commute could be slushy with ice on bridges. Drive carefully//slow down!

Mini-snowfall roundup:

Weather5280.com  1-4" (Figure 4)
The GFS    2-4"  (Figure 5)
Channel 9    1-3"
Channel 7  2-3"
I'm calling for 0.5-3" in Longmont.

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Figure 1: the 10 day graphical forecast for Longmont from weatherunderground.com
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Figure 2: the surface forecast map and precipitation for Sunday PM from the GFS and tropicaltidbits.com
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Figure 3: the surface forecast map and precipitation for Sunday midnight from the GFS and tropicaltidbits.com
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Figure 4: the snowfall forecast from Matt Makens and weather5280.com
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Figure 5: the 10:1 snowfall forecast for the next 3 days from the GFS and tropicaltidbits.com
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Figure 6: the precipitation forecast for the next 3 days from the GFS and tropicaltidbits.com

The Longer Range Forecast:

Things remain cool at the start of the week (Figure 1) with a return of a few rain/snow showers Tuesday PM. We warm up nicely by the end of the week with indications of a more stormy weekend.

 


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

54°F

UV Index
0 Low
Pressure
29.91 Rising
Visibility
8 miles
Dewpoint
34 °F
Humidity
48%
Wind
WSW 3.2 mph
Gust
5.9 mph
Wind Chill
54 °F

Hourly Forecast

Today
4 AM
52°F
Mostly clear
Today
5 AM
50°F
Mostly clear
Today
6 AM
48°F
Mostly sunny
Today
7 AM
51°F
Mostly sunny
Today
8 AM
57°F
Mostly sunny
Today
9 AM
62°F
Mostly sunny
Today
10 AM
66°F
Mostly sunny
Today
11 AM
70°F
Mostly sunny
Today
12 PM
72°F
Mostly sunny
Today
1 PM
75°F
Mostly sunny
Today
2 PM
77°F
Mostly sunny
Today
3 PM
79°F
Mostly sunny

7 Day Forecast

Sunny

Friday

85 °F

Sunny and very warm


Partly cloudy

Friday Night

48 °F

Partly cloudy


Partly sunny w/ t-storms

Saturday

79 °F

Mostly sunny and not as warm, becoming breezy with a thunderstorm in spots this afternoon


Partly cloudy w/ t-storms

Saturday Night

49 °F

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


Mostly sunny

Sunday

83 °F

Sunshine and patchy clouds; breezy in the afternoon


Mostly clear

Sunday Night

51 °F

Mainly clear


Intermittent clouds

Monday

70 °F

Cooler but pleasant with times of sun and clouds


Thunderstorms

Monday Night

46 °F

Cloudy; evening thundershowers followed by a couple of showers late


Mostly cloudy

Tuesday

60 °F

Mostly cloudy and cooler


Intermittent clouds

Tuesday Night

37 °F

Partly cloudy


Sunrise and Sunset

Sunrise
5:42 AM
Sunset
8:12 PM

Based on AccuWeather data