Update on Colorado Wind (and Snow) Storm...

As the title of this post implies, the event over Colorado continues to be much more of a wind storm than that of a snow event. Extremely strong wind gusts over 100 mph have been observed overnight and early this morning, as shown on the latest storm report round-up below (click to enlarge).

The table on the left hand side of the image shows the reports ranked from highest to lowest in mph.  I've circled the tie for 1st place, with 115 mph recorded near Breckenridge and Frisco!

As you might imagine, the wind is making the snow depth difficult to measure (and that's putting it lightly).  So far, we have 3 reports of 5 or more inches of snow:  5.5 inches 1 mile Southeast of Steamboat Springs, 6 inches 12 miles North of Fortification and 8 inches just Northwest of Clark.

A variety of High Wind, Winter Storm and Blizzard Warnings continue across much of the region today:

It won't be quite as windy during the day today as compared to yesterday, especially along the front range and foothills West of Denver and Colorado Springs.  Sustained winds of 30-40 mph with gusts of 50-60 mph are still likely across the higher terrain of central and northwestern Colorado, and will taper off even in these areas during the afternoon and evening hours.

In general, an additional 2-4 inches of new snow can be expected in the higher elevations today, with localized amounts near 6 inches possible in the Winter Storm Warning areas.  Regardless of the amount, any additional snowfall being driven by the strong winds will create white out conditions in many areas.

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Second Snowstorm In As Many Weeks Heading to Rockies; Denver & Colorado Springs to Be Impacted...

As alluded to in the weekly outlook on Sunday, another significant round of snow is getting underway in Wyoming this morning, and will spread Southward into Colorado through tonight and Wednesday. This event is taking place nearly 1 week to the day after the first big storm of the season last week...


Below are the latest snowfall forecasts, centered on Denver, from the GFS and NAM models, respectively (scale in inches at the bottom of each image):

A mix of rain and/or snow showers will begin in the higher elevations of the Colorado Rockies this evening and increase into tonight and Wednesday morning.  Blizzard or near blizzard conditions can be expected in the higher elevations.  

In the Denver and Front Range areas, rain and/or snow showers will likely begin this evening, with precipitation changing entirely to snow by Midnight.  Snow will become locally heavy at times tonight and early Wednesday.  A blend of the 2 model presentations above would yield 6-9 inches for most of the Denver Metro area.  Northeast winds of 20-30 mph with higher gusts will cause considerable blowing and drifting of the snow in the lower elevations as well.

The winds will be especially strong on the adjacent Plains near the Foothills and the Palmer Divide (including the Colorado Springs area), where gusts in excess of 40-50 mph are possible.  This will create near blizzard to blizzard conditions in this region as well, especially during any periods of heavy snow tonight and early Wednesday. 

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First Snow of the Season Tapering-Off In Rockies...

First, a few images of the snowfall from in and around the Denver Metro area today, via twitter:

The snow is tapering-off from North to South across Colorado at this hour...but not before dumping a lot of the white stuff up North overnight and earlier today...

A snowfall total of 3-6 inches was most common across the central and Eastern portions of the city of Denver, with 6-8 inches common in the West, closer to the Front Range.  Numbers within the blue boxes on the image below show the observed snow depth, in inches, as of 2pm CDT (1pm MDT):

It was a heavy, wet snow, and there are widespread reports of tree limbs (or in some cases, entire trees) being downed by the weight of the snow across the region, as shown in these images:

Snows are now tapering off across the Northern portions of the region, but light snow is still falling across southcentral Colorado into northeast New Mexico, as well as along the border with northwest and west-central Kansas:

Winter Weather Advisories and/or Winter Storm Warnings continue across southcentral Colorado into northcentral New Mexico into tonight, where widespread amounts of 1-3 inches and localized snowfall amounts of up to 6 inches can be expected.  Light snow or flurries are also likely in the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles and extreme southwest Kansas tonight and early Thursday.  No significant accumulation is expected in this area at this time, mainly due to the warm ground temperatures.

I'll put up another post later this evening (or perhaps tomorrow morning) showing how the computer model forecasts performed on this event.

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First Major Snowstorm of Season Getting Underway in Rockies...

It's kind of hard to make out as darkness has settled in,. but the above traffic camera on I-25 in Cheyenne, WY shows snow falling steadily and already accumulating on the ground (including parts of the roadway, it appears).

Snow will continue to fly across the region tonight and into Wednesday, with well over 20 inches likely to accumulate in the mountains to the West of Cheyenne, Denver and Colorado Springs.  The image below is the latest forecast of snowfall accumulation through Friday from the GFS model, which appears to be spot-on so far with regard to the snow event in the Rockies:

The majority of the snowfall on the above image will take place between now and this time tomorrow, except for the New Mexico portion of the forecast, which will linger into Wednesday night and early Thursday.


If we take the same model data and zoom-in on the Front Range and Foothills of Colorado, you'll see the image below:

The model is currently forecasting 8-12 inches of snow for most of the Denver Metro area, 6-10 inches for much of Colorado Springs, and 4-6 inches for the Pueblo area.  Heavier amounts will be possible immediately West of those cities, along the Front Range and Foothills.


I pointed out that the first snowfall forecast image from the GFS was valid through Friday for a reason.  That same model is forecasting snowfall to accumulate across portions of New York, northern Pennsylvania and on into portions of New England late Thursday into Friday as well.  Here is another look with a focus on that region:

We'll have to monitor forecast trends for this region over the next couple of days to be more precise, but it appears that the first measurable snow of the season is on the way to this region as well.


Based on what we're seeing right now, it is entirely possible that snow will be on the ground in the Northeast with a hurricane or tropical storm making landfall in far south Florida simultaneously this weekend!  What a week for weather nuts!




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Snow Still "On" for Rockies - Including Denver

The above image shows the GFS model forecast for total accumulated snow through 7am CDT on Thursday, 10-27-11. As you can see, 12 inch plus amounts are forecast in the central and northern Rockies, from just West of Denver through west of Cheyenne.

The image below is based on output from the same computer model, but centered in on the Denver area:  

The yellow and green shaded areas on the Southern and Western sides of Denver show where 4-6 inches of snow is forecast by the model at this time.  Even heavier amounts are forecast in the foothills of Colorado Springs and to the West of Pueblo.

I'll have a more detailed post later today including my thoughts on the latest model data, etc., but folks in Colorado and Wyoming can expect a taste of winter over the next couple of days for sure...

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