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Next Storm/Next Snow Forecast Discussion from the Cherrywood Observatory – February 21, 2019

This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

Forecast discussion:

The winds of change, change again. The trough in the West gets reinforced with some new cold air. We cool from upper 30'sF to right around 30F (not THAT much of a drop). Precipitation chances start to increase midday and become more meaningful after midnight tonight (Figure 1).

The 7! Timer model has the most likely period of snow running from 11pm to midnight Friday into Saturday (Figure 2).

At the surface, this is another juicy storm that is moving into the desert southwest. Most of its moisture will be gone, again, by the time it gets over the continental divide (Figure 3 and 4).

The GFS shows another foot to a foot and a half of snow piling up in the drought stricken southwestern mountains and a coating to 1 inch falling in Longmont by the end of the weekend (Figure 5). The NAM needs to be watched though, it drops about 4-6 inches in town (Figure 6) - that is an outlier. I'm not getting my big shovel out yet. Even weatherunderground (Figure 2 again) shows a coating to, maybe up to 2 inches out of this storm for us.

The longer range forecast:

We return to the 40'sF for the weekend with no big system on the horizon into next week. Not warm and not cold - we'll be close to normal temperature-wise.

Figure 1: the graphical forecast for the next 10 days for Longmont, CO from weatherunderground.com
Figure 2: 7Timer (GFS) forecast for sky conditions and precipitation type for the next 3 days for Longmont.
Figure 3: The forecast surface map for Thurs PM. From NCEP.
Figure 4: The forecast surface map for Friday AM From NCEP.
Figure 5: the forecast accumulated snow map from the GFS and weather5280.com for Colorado, through Monday noon.
Figure 6: the forecast accumulated snow map from the NAM and tropicaltidbits.com for Colorado, through Sunday AM.

Current Weather

Cloudy

Cloudy

33°F

UV Index
0 Low
Pressure
30.2 Steady
Visibility
3 miles
Dewpoint
31 °F
Humidity
92%
Wind
NE 1.7 mph
Gust
2.9 mph
Wind Chill
33 °F

Hourly Forecast

Today
6 AM
34°F
Cloudy
Today
7 AM
35°F
Cloudy
Today
8 AM
34°F
Intermittent clouds
Today
9 AM
35°F
Intermittent clouds
Today
10 AM
36°F
Intermittent clouds
Today
11 AM
38°F
Rain and snow
Today
12 PM
40°F
Intermittent clouds
Today
1 PM
41°F
Intermittent clouds
Today
2 PM
42°F
Cloudy
Today
3 PM
43°F
Cloudy
Today
4 PM
41°F
Cloudy
Today
5 PM
40°F
Cloudy

7 Day Forecast

Rain and snow

Friday

43 °F

Chilly with some sun, then turning cloudy; a little rain this afternoon


Rain and snow

Friday Night

32 °F

Periods of snow; rain mixed in early, accumulating 1-3 inches


Flurries

Saturday

40 °F

A bit of morning snow with little or no accumulation; otherwise, cloudy and chilly; storm total snowfall 1-3 inches


Intermittent clouds

Saturday Night

31 °F

Partly cloudy


Partly sunny

Sunday

64 °F

Partly sunny, pleasant and warmer


Partly cloudy

Sunday Night

41 °F

Partly cloudy


Intermittent clouds

Monday

79 °F

Warmer with a blend of sun and clouds


Partly cloudy

Monday Night

36 °F

Partly cloudy


Intermittent clouds

Tuesday

64 °F

Cooler with periods of clouds and sunshine


Mostly cloudy

Tuesday Night

40 °F

Mostly cloudy


Sunrise and Sunset

Sunrise
6:15 AM
Sunset
7:44 PM

Based on AccuWeather data