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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

Mostly cloudy

Mostly cloudy

64°F

UV Index
3 Moderate
Pressure
29.86 Falling
Visibility
8 miles
Dewpoint
37 °F
Humidity
38%
Wind
W 3.8 mph
Gust
9.9 mph
Wind Chill
64 °F

Hourly Forecast

Today
4 PM
63°F
Thunderstorms
Today
5 PM
63°F
Mostly cloudy
Today
6 PM
61°F
Mostly cloudy
Today
7 PM
58°F
Intermittent clouds
Today
8 PM
54°F
Intermittent clouds
Today
9 PM
51°F
Intermittent clouds
Today
10 PM
48°F
Intermittent clouds
Today
11 PM
45°F
Intermittent clouds
Tomorrow
12 AM
44°F
Partly cloudy
Tomorrow
1 AM
42°F
Partly cloudy
Tomorrow
2 AM
41°F
Partly cloudy
Tomorrow
3 AM
40°F
Partly cloudy

7 Day Forecast

Partly sunny w/ t-storms

Sunday

63 °F

Warmer with times of clouds and sun; a stray afternoon thundershower


Intermittent clouds

Sunday Night

37 °F

Partly cloudy


Partly sunny

Monday

70 °F

Partly sunny and pleasant


Intermittent clouds

Monday Night

43 °F

Partly cloudy


Mostly sunny

Tuesday

73 °F

Mostly sunny and pleasant


Intermittent clouds

Tuesday Night

41 °F

Clearing


Intermittent clouds

Wednesday

65 °F

Times of sun and clouds


Intermittent clouds

Wednesday Night

39 °F

A thundershower in spots in the evening; otherwise, partly cloudy


Rain

Thursday

53 °F

Cooler with occasional rain and drizzle; breezy in the morning


Partly cloudy

Thursday Night

32 °F

Partly cloudy


Sunrise and Sunset

Sunrise
6:03 AM
Sunset
7:53 PM

Based on AccuWeather data