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Next Storm/Next Snow Forecast Discussion from the Cherrywood Observatory – July 9-10th, 2019

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

In Brief:

We have one more chance of severe weather on posting day (Monday) - then moisture levels drop and a ridge warms the upper atmosphere. Rain chances drop to nearly zero for a couple of days. Peak heat hits Thursday - then afternoon storm chances return as the heat drops back towards normal (near 90F) on through the weekend and beyond.

Forecast Discussion:

Our latest ribbon of moisture is still over Colorado Monday afternoon (Figure 1 - green arrow) but dry air is moving in from the west (orange arrow). With a trough approaching - we still have a chance of severe weather (a Marginal Risk 1 on a scale of 1-5) for hail and high winds. The minimal tornado risk is further out on the eastern Plains (Figure 3). Our rain chances over the next 3 days all occur Monday afternoon and evening. It will be spotty and minimal, unless you get a direct hit from a thunderstorm (Figure 4).

The Longer Range Forecast:

The 500mb upper air flow 36 hours from now shows the same flow pattern today overlaid on the ridge that is moving in. This will be a very different flow pattern (aka DRY - Figure 5). Storm chances resume on our day of maximum heating (mid 90'sF on Thursday) then the ridge weakens around Colorado and moisture can again form our afternoon thunderstorm chances on through the weekend.

Figure 1: the water vapor satellite image (browns/reds are dry air, whites and light grey is moist air, purple/blue is ice and high cloud tops). From the the NWS.
Figure 2: The 500mb forecast upper air analysis for Wednesday early am. Pink dot is Longmont. Red lines are troughs, blue lines are ridges.
Figure 3: The severe storm weather forecast for the U.S. from the Storm Predication Center in Norman, OK. Made Monday for Monday.
Figure 3: the forecast accumulated precipitation map from the GFS and weather5280.com for Colorado, for the next 3.5 days.
Figure 5: The forecast surface map for Tuesday riday night from NCEP.
Figure 6: the graphical forecast for the next 10 days for Longmont, CO from weatherunderground.com

Current Weather

Partly sunny

Partly sunny

62°F

UV Index
8 Very High
Pressure
30.04 Falling
Visibility
8 miles
Dewpoint
43 °F
Humidity
50%
Wind
ESE 1.7 mph
Gust
4.3 mph
Wind Chill
62 °F

Hourly Forecast

Today
12 PM
66°F
Mostly sunny
Today
1 PM
69°F
Mostly sunny
Today
2 PM
71°F
Mostly sunny
Today
3 PM
74°F
Mostly sunny
Today
4 PM
76°F
Mostly sunny
Today
5 PM
75°F
Mostly sunny
Today
6 PM
72°F
Mostly sunny
Today
7 PM
69°F
Mostly sunny
Today
8 PM
65°F
Intermittent clouds
Today
9 PM
61°F
Mostly cloudy
Today
10 PM
58°F
Mostly cloudy
Today
11 PM
56°F
Mostly cloudy

7 Day Forecast

Mostly sunny

Wednesday

76 °F

Mostly sunny, pleasant and warmer


Partly cloudy

Wednesday Night

42 °F

Patchy clouds


Mostly cloudy w/ t-storms

Thursday

74 °F

Becoming cloudy; breezy in the afternoon with a thunderstorm in spots


Cloudy

Thursday Night

49 °F

Considerable cloudiness


Showers

Friday

67 °F

Mostly cloudy with a couple of showers


Thunderstorms

Friday Night

46 °F

Cloudy with showers and thunderstorms


Showers

Saturday

50 °F

Cloudy and chilly with a couple of showers


Rain

Saturday Night

39 °F

Cloudy with steady rain becoming intermittent


Mostly cloudy

Sunday

59 °F

Mostly cloudy and warmer; a stray afternoon thundershower


Partly cloudy

Sunday Night

38 °F

Partly cloudy


Sunrise and Sunset

Sunrise
6:08 AM
Sunset
7:49 PM

Based on AccuWeather data