Tag: Colorado

Monsoon surge late week: Forecast details

Tomer’s Take: Major surge of Monsoon moisture hits AZ, NM, UT, and CO Thursday-Friday. In Colorado, this is the largest surge of the season so far. In Colorado, the Southern Mountains get hit the hardest. Flash flooding possible starting Wednesday afternoon/night with multiple rounds of thunderstorms. Total rainfall by 7/31 could run 1-4 inches in […]

Monsoon surge this weekend

Tomer’s Take: The Monsoon is 1-2 weeks earlier than normal and it’s here to stay (normal Monsoon season is July-August in Colorado). The first official surge of the season occurred last weekend. This weekend’s surge looks bigger and intensity peaks on Saturday. The biggest impact occurs in the San Juan and Sangre De Cristo Mountain […]

Monsoon preview this weekend

Tomer’s Take: A surge of pre-Monsoon season moisture hits Colorado Saturday-Monday. Normal Monsoon season runs July-August. The areas most affected are the Western Slope and Southern Mountains of Colorado. Precipitable water increases to 200% of June 30-year average values. Bottom line: plan on smaller weather windows. Expect mountain thunderstorms by 10am or earlier across the […]

Tonga eruption sent atmospheric shockwaves around the world

GOES-17 high resolution visible satellite captured the Hunga Tonga volcano blowing its top. How high did it shoot? Professor John Peters suggests it might’ve reached the Stratospheric canopy. That’s over 100,000 feet or higher into the vertical atmosphere. Here’s the Infrared channel from GOES-17. Notice the shockwaves –> The magnitude of the eruption is being […]

New to CO: Avalanche transceiver detection via helicopter

Highlights New beacon technology installed on select Flight for Life helicopters can now be used to locate missing people wearing avalanche transceivers. “This technology is another tool in our toolbox,” says Dale Atkins of Alpine Rescue Team. The helicopter beacon can detect any avalanche transceiver on the market today (at 457kHz). Alpine Rescue Team, Loveland […]

Bury the Butte: January 2017

I remember January 4-13, 2017 like it was yesterday. Over a roughly 10-day period the mountain town of Crested Butte received about 100″ of snow. That equated to about 10 inches of snow-water-equivalent. It was a one in 30-year storm cycle. It also included D4-scale avalanches. Most of the major basins in Colorado benefited from […]

Colorado’s windstorm was rare: Stratospheric Intrusion, Tropopause Folding

It turns out this was no ordinary windstorm on 12/15/2021. Based on the evidence, it appears air from the Stratosphere was pulled all the way down to Denver. In Synoptic-Dynamic Meteorology this is called Tropopause Folding. It also means the jet stream descended almost to the valley floor generating those destructive 100mph+ gusts and dust […]

Mountain weather update 11/7: The week ahead

There are two storm systems lined-up for the West. The first storm is minor. The 2nd storm system is the one to watch for CA, UT, WY, and CO. The first storm system is already moving across the intermountain west with minor amounts of rain/snow depending on elevation. The 2nd storm system sitting over the […]

Storm system crossing UT, CO, WY; Small atmospheric river early next week

Light to moderate snow is falling in the mountains of Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado. I’m forecasting minor snow amounts except for a couple isolated locations in Colorado’s Northern Mountains like Cameron Pass. I’m forecasting a few inches of accumulation in Utah’s Wasatch and Wyoming’s Teton Range. In Colorado, light to moderate accumulation is likely in […]