Latest
PM UpdateTuesday PM update: hot summer continues
By Brendan Heberton
Tue, Aug 11, 2020
Through August 10th, Denver has recorded 50 days with a temperature of 90°F or hotter since January 1, 2020. Since records began in 1872 only one year has recorded more 90 degree days over the same time period and that was 56 days in 2012. We all remember how hot that summer was. While anomalously warm, you can see quite clearly in the chart above recent years have more often than not featured many more 90 degree days than the long term average. Prior to 2000, only 4 years recorded more than f
Insider Pro Update
Drought update & the outlook: Thursday, August 6th, 2020
By Matt Makens
Thu, Aug 06, 2020
The latest drought monitor released Thursday continues to show the primary issues around the Four Corners region to Texas as well as the Pacific Northwest. The moderate and severe drought classification areas did increase for the week. With the slight increase in drought, it is refreshing to see that the evaporative stress in the drought regions wasn't high in the past two weeks as it had been earlier in July. Let's check the recent conditions via The National Drought Mitigation Center, Univer
Weather5280 Insider
August outlook includes little moisture
By Matt Makens
Thu, Aug 06, 2020
La Nina in the works doesn't help our chances of a wet August, and the state of the Northern Pacific and Atlantic Oceans make the wet signal even weaker for the month. Brian Bledsoe laid the framework for our dry outlook in his La Nina update earlier this week . Let's dig into a few other correlations. For August, precipitation correlates most highly with PNA, SOI, and PDO ocean-atm
Climate
Weather5280 Insider
Days with temperatures in the 100s, a perspective for Colorado and Denver
By Matt Makens
Wed, Jul 08, 2020
Drought
Have you heard the term "flash drought?" What exactly does that mean?
By Becky Bolinger
Wed, Jun 24, 2020
Previous Posts
Severe WeatherAnother severe weather day across Eastern Colorado, large hail possible
By Brendan Heberton
Tue, Aug 04, 2020
The last couple of severe weather days haven't panned out to produce all that many storms. The latest of which was on Sunday, where the strongest storms of the afternoon ended up southeast of Colorado Springs, with very little storm coverage (let alone anything severe) across the northern urban corridor. Today we once again see a heightened chance of storms to become severe across Eastern Colorado this afternoon and evening. The greatest risk for these storms to develop and become severe looks
Weather5280 Insider
La Niña update and potential analog year as we look ahead to fall
By Brian Bledsoe
Mon, Aug 03, 2020
We will continue to update you on the progress of La Niña, because we think it is the single most important thing in our long range forecast. Granted, we still have a ways to go before the active hurricane season comes to an end, but the development of La Niña will likely have some pretty big ramifications. At the time of this article, here is a look at the sea surface temperature anomalies: cYou can see the “blue and green” shading off the west coast of South America, indicating cooler than
State of the Atmosphere
The State of the Atmosphere: Sunday, August 2nd, 2020
By Brendan Heberton
Sun, Aug 02, 2020
Not much new to report as we head into the final month of meteorological summer. This summer has been overwhelming hot and dry across the region, with few exceptions to that rule in recent weeks. The first week of August isn't likely to be much different in either regard, though the forecast will feature daily storm chances along the Front Range this coming week, so perhaps a few locations will get lucky with some beneficial moisture. Temperatures will be near average, so this could be worse
Weather5280 Insider
Drought expands despite latest surge in tropical moisture
By Weather5280
Thu, Jul 30, 2020
During the past week we noted the tropical surge of moisture, which was brief and did bring rainfall, yet there was little benefit as the latest drought monitor indicates. The state went from 74% in drought last week's monitor to now 84%. Less than 1% of the state is considered 'normal.' Where we benefited from rainfall resulted in a reduction in the area covered in severe and extreme drought classifications. Let's do a quick rainfall check for the week, month to date, and for the year to dat
State of the Atmosphere
The State of the Atmosphere: Monday, July 27th, 2020
By Weather5280
Mon, Jul 27, 2020
The tropical surge of moisture has benefited many areas of Colorado but has missed some of us along the I-25 urban corridor in recent days. Below is a look at how much rain has come through in the past week. There are some higher totals over southern Colorado, but the biggest totals come from Yuma County where too much rain has led to flooding. Yes, that's a 10"+ 7 day max across extreme Southwest Nebraska! Overall, however, great to see so much of the state seeing moisture in what has otherwi
Weather5280 Insider
Forecast continues to show increased rain chances in the days ahead, but how long will it last?
By Matt Makens
Thu, Jul 23, 2020
There's a wet period, for a few days, approaching late this weekend through early next week. This looks especially true for portions of Southern Colorado, but could extend across Northeast Colorado as well depending on how things ultimately evolve. This rainier stretch, although likely a brief one, will be much needed. Let's look at the past two weeks of precipitation: Hmmm, doesn't that look ugly from a water standpoint?! Clearly, no 'monsoon' signal in the past two weeks with big deficits a
Insider Pro Update
Drought update & the outlook: Thursday, July 23rd, 2020
By Matt Makens
Thu, Jul 23, 2020
The latest drought monitor released Thursday continues to show the primary issues around the Four Corners region to Texas as well as the Pacific Northwest. What that drought monitor does not show is the extreme evaporative losses during the past two weeks across the Central Rockies, the Southwest, and Texas. Losses like that will result in a rapid expansion of the drought and severity of drought in these areas. However, later in this post we have a somewhat wetter outlook that will help recove
Monsoon
What's the North American Monsoon, and how does it impact Colorado?
By Matt Makens
Wed, Jul 22, 2020
The North American Monsoon (NAM) is a seasonal weather pattern that develops a persistent wind flow. The wind flow is specific and brings tropical moisture into Mexico, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and sometimes Texas. Using this image from the Boulder NWS office, note the high-pressure area over Texas (subtropical high) and the low-pressure area over/near the Baja (monsoon low). The corresponding wind flows with each feature pull in tropical moisture over the region (green colors repre
Insider Pro Update
New beta features for Insider Pros and user survey
By Brendan Heberton
Tue, Jul 21, 2020
We recently shared some new beta features we are working on with a handful of Insider Pros, and had such great feedback on these features and our attached survey that we wanted to share this out more broadly. We are seeking your input on these beta releases, asking for feature requests, and hoping for feedback about how Weather5280 better assist your business and decision making. WeatherBoard
Severe Weather
Tuesday AM update: Severe storms to hit parts of Colorado
By Weather5280
Tue, Jul 21, 2020
A boundary is sitting over Eastern Colorado and that may trigger damaging thunderstorms Tuesday afternoon and evening. The feature you see hatched in yellow on the surface map above is the severe weather potential zone along the cold front. Just the outlook, as of Tuesday morning, shows the potential severe weather areas. Those impacted include Cheyenne, Fort Collins, Greeley, Boulder, Denver, Castle Rock, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, and points east. The threats today, via the NWS: Let's see h
Weather5280 Insider
Taking the pulse of a potential shift to a 'wetter' pattern to end July, begin August
By Matt Makens ANDWeather5280
Mon, Jul 20, 2020
The rainfall pattern, or lack thereof, may see a bit of an uptick to round out July and begin August. We've been discussing this for a week or so now, and thought we'd offer another update as how the data continues to evolve. We've discussed the drought at length in previous posts, and that rainfall deficit is quite long lived for many. And with that, if we manage a rainier pattern ahead, we still have our work cutout for us to make an impressionable impact on those deficits. Here's a look a
State of the Atmosphere
The State of the Atmosphere: Sunday, July 19th, 2020
By Brendan Heberton
Sun, Jul 19, 2020
We're cruising through another month. Another hot and dry month. To date, Denver's temperature for July 2020 is running 4.0°F above the longterm average for the month. Only three days this month have recorded highs cooler than 90°F, with Saturday coming in just shy of the 100°F mark at DIA, and hitting the century mark in Boulder ! Most of Colorado has seen above average temperatures this month. Those that haven't have for the most p
Weather5280 Insider
A series of fronts could help deliver a period of wetter weather for the region
By Matt Makens
Thu, Jul 16, 2020
We've been looking for a period of wetter weather, and perhaps we've entered just that. Perhaps. Tuesday and Wednesday's cooler/wetter weather pattern brought to us by a few cold fronts may be a signal of a change. That change may be to see more frequent cold fronts during the rest of July into early August. Over the last week we've seen areas of appreciable moisture over Eastern Colorado, with even more widespread rainfall across Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska: Going forward, data doesn't
State of the Atmosphere
The State of the Atmosphere: Sunday, July 12th, 2020
By Brendan Heberton
Sun, Jul 12, 2020
July, 2020 has been absolutely cooking across the region to date. And, while the week ahead will feature a few days with better storm chances, and at least one modest cold front, there's plenty of hot and dry ahead as we see it. Through the first 11 days of the month, Denver's temperature is running 4.5°F degrees above average. And, with just 0.10" of precipitation recorded at Denver International Airport, the city is a good 0.5" below average for precipitation to date. Each afternoon, with
Weather5280 Insider
Updated monsoon outlook
By Brian Bledsoe
Sat, Jul 11, 2020
We have talked at length about how we thought the monsoon would fail again this year, and wanted to update you on whether out thoughts have changed. The answer in short is no. While some areas have received some rain lately, it has been quite spotty overall, and not nearly enough to erase the ongoing drought for much of the area . Here is a look at precipitation anomalies over the last 90 days: You can
Insider Pro Update
Drought update & the outlook: July 9th, 2020
By Matt Makens
Thu, Jul 09, 2020
Exceptional drought conditions were removed from Colorado and Kansas this week thanks to some thundershower activity. H owever, the drought categories D1 to D4 expanded in coverage area by less than a percentage. There were observed evaporation stresses east of the Rockies, but some surpluses found across the Western US also. Expect the evaporative stress
Weather5280 Insider
Days with temperatures in the 100s, a perspective for Colorado and Denver
By Matt Makens
Wed, Jul 08, 2020
One hundred degree temperature readings do happen in Denver, but aren't typically all that common for the city. Denver averages just two 100-degree days each year. That average is a 30-year average which combines DIA and Stapleton locations. ACISDIA came online in mid-1994. In its 20 full summers of data, DIA has had years without a single 100-degree day (1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2009, 2011, and 2015) but has had as many as 13 100-degree days (2012). Here's the list of top 4 occurrences