Tuesday Afternoon Update

Looks like things are on track for another snow event tomorrow (Wednesday). There are a lot of ingredients that would usually hinder snow fall in Denver, but enough energy with the passing cold front that a few inches are expected here in town. Generally they are calling for 2-6 inches, with heaviest amounts in the western and southern suburbs as per usual. Snow should develop sometime during the middle of the day and decrease from north to south during the evening hours. Minor adjustments to the snow totals forecast could occur between now and then - so stay tuned.

As I suspected, models are now starting to diverge on the storm for Friday night into Saturday. Some models are starting to put track of the storm further north, which does not bode well for snowfall in Denver, while still others still point to a anther potent storm for the area. This is still several days out, and anything could happen between now and then.

Snow... Snow... Snow...

Good morning!
You'll recall that I mention a chance of snow with the cold front that came in last night in my blog "looking ahead" . Looks like this came to be, maybe a few hours later than I thought it might. Looks like the chance of snow will remain today, with the possibility of wrap-around snow bands this afternoon. I have a feeling most of the snow for the rest of the day will stay south-southeast of Denver. We'll see!

Another chance of snow remains for Wednesday - maybe another quick inch or two? We'll have to keep an eye on this.

Best chance for a real storm continues to be Saturday/Saturday night. I'm going to resist getting too excited about this because we just had a decent storm last week and I feel like the likely hood of a repeat remains low.

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P.s. There has been a request for another 10-20 inch snow storm (asap). Doing the best I can, but this IS Denver after all, and I wouldn't put money on that happening anytime too soon.

Looking Ahead...

This coming week looks to remain unsettled, though no blizzards in the forecast (yet).

Tomorrow we will climb to near 60 degrees, so let the melt continue! Then sometime tomorrow night a fairly strong and fast moving cold front will drop through the forecast area knocking our temps back into the 40s for Monday. At this point, with the exception of a few rain or snow showers as the front passes through it looks like any significant snow will stay confined to areas north and the mountains.

By the middle of the week we have yet another slight chance of snow showers... and then Friday there is another chance of a system affecting the area. With Friday still six days out - I would say there is no reason to get excited or worried (depending on your personality type) about this potential storm because a lot can change between now and then, and will.

*Snow Totals*

Here are the most recent snow totals (inches) as of 6am, Friday:

Eldorado Springs: 24.3

Westminster: 17.3

Boulder: 16.2

Thornton, Broomfield, Aurora: 14

Northwest Denver: 13

Highlands Ranch: 12.5

Castle Rock: 11.5

Downtown: 10.5

Fort Collins: 8

Snow drifts of 2 - 4 feet reported.

Heavy Snow Moves East... For Now

At 2:00pm the heaviest snow has moved south and east of Denver. Light snow should continue, however, and with any luck at all some heavier bands of snow will set up again later this afternoon and evening.

Video Update!

*Live* from the heart of the storm...

BLIZZARD WARNING

A blizzard warning has been issued for Denver for the rest of the day and tonight. A blizzard warning means there will be sustained winds of 35mph+ combined with heavy snow and blowing snow. Expect visibilities below one quarter mile at times today.

Forecast still on track for 8 - 16 inches here in Denver. Some models push that number closer to 20 inches here in town. If things continue to come together the way they have been... we could be measuring this one in feet folks!

Enjoy!

Major Winter Storm Taking Shape...

The National Weather Service (NWS) has just issued a *Winter Storm Warning* for much of northeast Colorado, including Denver. The winter storm warning is for "heavy and considerable blowing snow" from late tonight through Friday morning. The pink in the image to the right shows the warning area (click to enlarge).

How much snow? The NWS says snowfall totals from 8 - 15 inches along the urban corridor can be expect, with 1 - 2 feet of snow for the foothills and points south. I, however, remain skeptical.

Dust off the ol' shovels................ This could get interesting!

***UPDATE***

The Nation Weather Service has issued a *Winter Storm Watch* for Denver County from late Wednesday night into early Friday morning. This means that there is a considerable threat for winter weather during this time period. Latest snow fall estimates range from six inches in the Denver/Boulder area to upwards of 12 inches south of town.

As I stated in my previous post, we sit right at the cusp of a decent snow fall, or no snow at all. Let's hope they are right and we pick up some much needed moisture!

Chance of Snow!

Our next chance of snow will come during the day Thursday and into Thursday night. I hesitate to get too excited about this storm because it is Denver after all, and since when does it snow here? That said, this storm is setting up to be a better snow maker for the city than Monday's storm. However - much like Monday's storm set up a little too far north and missed us, this one threatens to keep the heaviest snow to our south! Right now it looks like the heaviest snow will be along the Palmer Divide, with a chance for a few inches in town as well.

We all know how quickly things can change, so stay tuned!

I wanted to kick off my blog by showing an image from http://www.nws.noaa.gov/ of how hard this latest storm had to work to avoid Denver. You'll notice winter storm watches and warnings to our west, north, and east... With a little bubble around Denver proper. Over the weekend I talked multiple times about the need for the low to track 100 miles south of where it ended up tracking in order for us to get snow out of this system. This image shows that quite clearly and you can see that if everything was shifted 100 miles south we would find ourselves in the midst of blizzard conditions right now.