80s to give way to rain and snow

The mercury hit 82 degrees today shattering a our record high by 6 degrees! Now the bottom is set to fall out as we head into the day tomorrow. Latest forecasts looking good for finally getting some much needed moisture up and down the front range, some of that coming in the form of snow. This time of year it starts getting difficult to predict snow totals as so much hinges on how fast rain turns to snow, and accounting for warmth in the ground after weeks of above seasonal highs. With overnight lows in the 20s Sunday night (a whopping 55 degrees cooler than this afternoon's highs!) rain should eventually turn to snow and some accumulation is expected in the city. Many of the mountain communities are already under winter weather alerts as heavy snow and driving wind is expected to pummel locations to our west. I will wait another shift before getting too specific about snow amounts in the city, so for now just prepare for big changes in our weather over the next 12 to 24 hours!

Snow in May not as cool as snow in December

Unfortunately, weather happens with little regard to how we feel about it. After summer-like conditions today (highs broke 80 degrees in many locations) we are in for a reality check tomorrow. The cold, wet weather - which is not all that uncommon for Denver this time of year - is returning with a punch, dropping highs nearly 30 degrees Thursday from where we were today. Scattered rain and rain/snow mixes are in the forecast nearly every day through the weekend. While lows may drop into the 30s several nights in row, we likely wont be seeing any blizzards here in town... it'll be just cool and wet enough to make things uncomfortable at times.

Not an awesome forecast for all my faithful readers who will likely be attending a moving party Friday and Saturday and then the event-of-the-year Saturday with the Oblio's Arrow CD release at the Larimer Lounge. High Saturday are forecast to be in the low 50s with drizzle. Ugh.

Flirting with snow?

Springtime in the Rockies can be quite spectacular when it comes to weather, and the next 48 hours are gearing up to be just that. The latest forecast from the National Weather Service shows a barrage of weather advisories issued across the state, including: winter weather warnings, winter weather advisories, winter storm watches, tornado warnings, tornado watching, severe thunderstorm warnings, flood advisories... the list goes on.
At this time any precipitation to fall in Denver looks to be all rain over the next few days. Areas to our south and west (i.e. Castle Rock) may end up with a late-Spring whopper of a snowstorm if temperatures drop enough tomorrow evening. Many mountain locations are bracing for 15 - 30 inches of snow!

Take a look at the current radar and warning map (click to enlarge):

Finally a storm worth blogging about?

It has been a long time since we have been under any kind of winter weather advisory, but that could all change in the next 24 hours. Already the National Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch for much of northeast Colorado, including Denver, for a potential storm Thursday night and Friday. At this point best estimates are looking like 5 - 10 inches of snow in most locations. Temperatures should be cold enough with this system that precip should be all snow (unlike last weekend), but ground temperatures have warmed significantly over the last days which always makes spring snowfall forecasts quite difficult. In any event, a good chance of snow and likely very gusty winds are in store for Friday - let's see what happens!

Until then, enjoy another day in the 60s on Thursday.

The following image shows the winter storm highlights for northeast Colorado (NWS).