NOAA released the final data on 2020 Friday and the result was the 2nd driest year on record for Colorado. Here is a progression in images for the year.

Throughout this week, wind will be part of a system to develop over the High Plains. In some locations, wind will easily top 60 mph.

This weekend's snowfall worked out just about as expect across the state, with a nice snow during much of the day Saturday and Saturday night delivering from a Trace to 4" of snow across the I-25 corridor and adjacent plains. The "boom" totals were around 4", while others ended up with less than an inch. The majority of those from Colorado Springs to the Wyoming state line saw from 1 to 3" of snow, including 1.9" officially for Denver. Here's a look at totals from across the forecast area:

We've been tracking light snow showers since early this morning across the Front Range and urban corridor, something that we'll continue to do through the remainder of the day and into Saturday night. The snow, while generally light, will at times be heavier under more organized bands and better upslope flow later this afternoon, with a Trace to 3" possible across the greater metro area before all is done late tonight or early Sunday morning. The system will take a pretty southerly track today

As we covered in the State of the Atmosphere , the next system to swing through our area arrives this weekend. With it comes chilly temperatures and at least a chance for snow up and down the I-25 corridor, mainly Saturday afternoon and Saturday evening. Here is the hourly planner for Denver as of Thursday afternoon: Snowfall totals aren't expected to be great, especially north of the Palmer Divide.

Some of Colorado's SNOTEL sites are in their lowest 15th percentile for snow water equivalent to date, and the state's average has dropped to kick off the year. Colorado sits at 80% of average snowpack as of January 5th's assessment, which is down several points since the end of December. Let's do a visual check of snowfall for the season thus far. Now, let's see how that snowfall compares to average. This uses the NWS snowfall season, which starts July 1st. Looking at that previous map,

What may be the strongest system of the week, if not next two weeks, forms Wednesday the 6th and spreads impact to the east by the weekend. Here are a few timesteps showing the center of the system to form over SD-NE-KS-OK-TX by midday Wednesday: Now we see Thursday at midday: We now see a much stronger system over Arkansas. By Friday that system is headed to the East Coast, but weaker. The impact of the system will be wind, and thunderstorms from Texas and Oklahoma to Louisiana to Arkansas

Happy New Year to all. We hope you had a quiet, wonderful, and safe New Year's weekend. We look forward to sharing the weather with you in the year ahead! The state of the atmosphere to start 2021 remains mostly unremarkable across the region. While we do see a few snow chances on the horizon, nothing convincingly so at this time and our mountains will need more than that to catch up after a slow start to the season. Status on La Niña and Latest NMME Model OutlookHappy New Year Insiders! La

Happy New Year Insiders! La Niña Update: First, the map below shows the precipitation anomaly in inches during the past 30 days. Besides drought having already been entrenched, most of Eastern Colorado, and the Western High Plains have actually been ok, during the past month. Our mountains have struggled, as have many in The West. Notice how dry it has been in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. This is pretty uncharacteristic of a strong La Niña, but remember, this La Niña is a l

The year has finally come to a close, and I think we can all agree that we don't feel bad shutting the door on 2020. While we welcome 2021, let's look back at some of the most memorable weather and climate events that occurred in Colorado this past year. Boulder Snow On October 10, 2019 3.8 inches of snow fell in Boulder. Not anything memorable, except it started off Boulder's snowiest season on record. On April 17, 2020 16.9 inches of snow accumulated, bringing Boulder's seasonal total to a wh

2020 was a warm and dry year for most, 8th driest and 15th warmest for the Denver area. Denver recorded just 8.74" of precipitation this year, 5.56" below the long term average of 14.30 inches. Official state and county ranks for this year will be published in early 2021 as data is finalized in the coming weeks. Here, however, a quick overview for the United States for the 2020 temperatures and precipitation. Same thing, but zoomed into Colorado. Clearly a pronounced warm and dry signal is a

The latest snowfall didn't amount to too much for the metro areas. For the state, these totals are through 5 am. For the most part, December only had a few highlight areas for snowfall. Most locations on the Front Range and in the Central Mountains were less snowy than average for the month meeting our expectations for the metro areas. Snowfall for the season to date is shown here as percentage of average: Where do you go from here? Well, the next two weeks support snowfall in the mountain

As we watch the weather pattern over the next two weeks, perhaps the most notable system for the Central US will be that which develops over Texas by New Year's Eve. The system shown here (enclosed contours) is the center of a system that will develop rapidly from Mexico to Texas and then scoot toward the Great Lakes. Wednesday evening: Thursday evening: Friday evening: This is one of a few systems that will impact the country, but may come away as the strongest of those to develop within t

Light snow is falling across much of Northeast Colorado this morning, and will continue to do so off and on through Tuesday morning with varying impacts across the region. In general, snowfall totals are expected to stay on the light side with this event. A few areas could see several inches add up, but the likelihood for that being the immediate Denver metro area remains low. With that, our forecast from yesterday [https://www.weather5280.com/2020/12/27/the-state-of-the-atmosphere-sunday-de

It's hard to believe, but this is the last State of the Atmosphere of 2020. The last days of the month will feature another turn toward cold after Christmas Day warmth and Saturday's absolutely beautiful weather across the region. A large trough off the West Coast will move inland tonight and early Monday, then into the Great Basin by Monday evening. Overnight Monday and through the day Tuesday the trough moves overhead: Before eventually intensifying south and east of our area Wednesday a

A more active weather pattern will return this weekend to close out 2020 with chances of snow. We discussed last week that if December was to end wetter than average for the metro areas, and much of the state for that matter, we will be reliant upon a pattern shift for the last few days of the month. It's too early to say if the snowfall amount to come will do the trick, but at least the flow will again turn more active. A ridge in place for Christmas [https://www.weather5280.com/2020/12/21/t

Strong wind is to move over the state, especially the plains, from Tuesday through Wednesday; high wind warnings in place for eastern Colorado. This is the same disturbance that is to spread some snowfall in the mountains, several inches in many cases. Here are the active alerts as of midday Tuesday: high wind warning for eastern Colorado and winter weather advisories in the mountains. The snow skips Denver, but not the wind or cold. Through midday Wednesday wind will be at its strongest. P