Brendan Heberton

Born and raised in Denver, Brendan has been tracking the weather along the Front Range his entire life. He is the founder of Weather5280, content lead, forecaster, and site developer.
Snowfall Totals
Running list of snowfall totals as monster March snowstorm wallops Front Range of Colorado
The much anticipated storm arrived overnight and has already buried parts of the Front Range under feet of snow with another 12 to 24 hours to go! While parts of the metro area fell victim to mild temperatures and prolonged rain/mixing last night, the majority of folks have already hit the low-end of their forecast range, and most of
Snowfall Forecast
Significant snowstorm on the way for Denver area, FEET of snow likely for the foothills; Latest snowfall forecast & discussion
We're just hours away from the onset of a significant Colorado snowstorm set to bury the Front Range foothills in feet of snow, and possibly bringing upwards of 12" of snow to the Denver metro area. Impacts will be greatest at higher elevations west of Denver and Boulder and across the western Palmer Divide, but the cities are looking at a significant snow event as well, and travel from late tonight through Thursday will not be advised, and in all likelihood impossible in some locations as dee
Snowfall Forecast
Forecast update: Heavy snow, plentiful moisture looks increasingly likely for Denver, Front Range of Colorado
We continue to track the potential for a wet, heavy snowfall across the region for the latter half of the week. Of course, there remains uncertainty around the details, and like every system, this one has some unique pros and cons going for it. Still, guidance is supportive of plentiful moisture across the region and likely some good accumulating snow for some of us. On several measures, this setu
Denver Forecast
Colorado weather: Another mild afternoon in the forecast ahead of rain and snow showers across the state
Our mini-heatwave continues today as temperatures will again climb into the mid 60s along the Front Range ahead of a bit of change in the weather later today and for your Thursday. Temperatures on Tuesday were similarly warm across the region, with more than a handful of daily record highs being set across Colorado and the central plains states. This animation shows those locations that set records, or came close. For Denver, the high of 66°F on Tuesday was well shy of the record for the date
Snowfall Forecast
Colorado weather: Quick chance of snow Friday could bring accumulation to Denver, Front Range
We continue to track the week-end storm, which will bring pockets of good accumulating snow to the northern mountain to kick off the weekend, and it looks increasingly like a few bands of snow will develop along the hills Friday evening – with perhaps a few communities along the urban corridor picking up a quick 1 to 3" of snow under those bands. Here's the hourly planner for the Denver area, you can see it's a relatively brief window Friday afternoon/evening for that snow to occur, but a fair
Colorado Snow
Saturday storm update: Impressive snow band overnight; how much snow to expect today
As we discussed last night , this system has had a few tricks up its sleeve. A snow band last night delivered the goods, and oh-how-close it was to finally delivering Fort Collins a boom! While Fort Collins did manage some accumulating snow as convective showers peeled off the hills, the main band setup just to the east of the city, extending from the northwest Denver suburbs up through G
Snowfall Forecast
Measuring Saturday's "boom" snowfall potential along the Front Range
Just a quick post tonight as we're watching evening data come in, and figured we'd share a few maps with you Insiders as it does look like there's at least some potential for some sneaky solid totals for communities that end up under the heavier bands from this system. Colorado snow forecast: A look at timing and snow mapsIt’s Friday morning and we’re seeing a weak storm system bring light snow and flurries to the south Denver metro, just enough snow to cause havoc on I-25 in Colorado Springs
Colorado Weather
Colorado weather: Next winter storm(s) is on the way, will deliver snow to much of the state
We're tracking more accumulating snow for much of the state Friday and into the weekend as more wet weather moves our way to end the week and our unsettled pattern continues. For the urban corridor that means an uptick in snow chances Friday, then again Friday night and Saturday before odds drop off Saturday night. Temperatures will cool into the low 40s Friday, and hover around freezing on Saturday with that off and on snowfall. The forecast remains a bit messy, even as we could see some fo
Snowfall Totals
Colorado snow storm delivers heavy wet snow, plentiful moisture; A quick look ahead
A quick post this evening to share precipitation and snowfall totals from our storm yesterday. It was a wet one, really by any measure, but particularly for the first days of February. Denver International Airport picked up 5.5" of snow, we had forecast 2 - 6" for the city. The storm also delivered 0.76" of precipitation, which is nearly double the monthly average for the month of 0.41". Wow! AND DIA was some surprise (surprise) not all that representative of what we saw over the core of the c
Snowfall Forecast
Guidance again hints at some big-time snow, but will it *stick*? Latest forecast and discussion for greater Denver area snow this weekend
This has been one of those weeks. Here we are just hours out from the arrival of our weekend storm, and I think most forecasters if they're being honest would say we don't have a great idea of how things are going to ultimately pan out. Just about everything is on the table still, from being dry-slotted, to more rain than snow, to well... a healthy amount of heavy, wet snow across a good portion of the urban corridor. It's really been one of those weeks where things just haven't quite added up
Colorado Weather
Colorado weather: Who sees rain, who sees snow, and who sees nothing at all
We've been a bit quiet, but there hasn't been much to report on with regard to the upcoming system either. Most of what we outlined on Monday remains true, though the paths to a big time snow at lower elevations are certainly far fewer this morning vs what we were seeing in guidance a few days ago. But so it goes. The storm track has been relatively stabl
Colorado Weather
Monday AM update: Heavy rain and snow a possibility for Colorado next weekend, so too is a near-miss
We've been talking about the early days of February for a couple of weeks now on Weather5280, and for Insiders we had an update on what we're watching for the month yesterday as well. From a forecasting perspective, things certainly look "interesting", while the uncertainty remains quite high as to how things will ultimately pan out. We'll get in the weeds a bit here, and then breakdo
Colorado Snowpack
Latest Colorado snowpack numbers, and what's on tap for the remainder of the month
Temperatures have warmed and the storm track has quieted after a pretty good stretch of winter over the first part of January across the region. Much of eastern Colorado is running from 8 - 12°F degrees below average through the first 20 days of the month. Last week's cold was impressive, and not just in our backyard but across much of the country as you can see below: We have also finally seen some meaningful snow across parts of the state, and after a dismal start to the new year for snowp
Colorado Weather
More heavy snow falling across the northern mountains; gusty winds and a few snow showers for the Front Range
We've got another system swinging through the state today and Thursday which will bring more wintry weather to parts of the state. The northern and central mountains will see another 1 to 2 feet of snow by the time things wrap up on Thursday, in particular across the higher terrain of the Gore and Park Ranges. For lower elevations, snow with this system will be sparse – in fact, the latest HRRR (below) shows nothing along the urban corridor through Friday morning. Still, some snow showers may
Arctic Cold
Colorado weather: Coldest night of the arctic outbreak tonight; how much additional snow to expect, and when it will end?
A good chilly morning to you all! We hope everyone is somewhere warm and safe this holiday Monday, and enjoying a wintry weather day that may be reminding some of you of the good ol' days in Colorado. ☃️ Here's a look at current temperatures across the northern high plains this morning – Colorado almost looks warm compared to our neighbors to the north, but look at those single digit values all the way down into Oklahoma this morning. Brr! The snow and cold has been real with this impressive
Arctic Cold
Active weather pattern continues, tracking more snow chances and Arctic cold on tap for Colorado
I fully realize that in that title there are plenty of folks rolling their eyes a bit, especially if you live along the urban corridor north of Denver. What active pattern, amirite? Yesterday's snow was really not exception to the pattern we've seen over the last weeks – Denver and north hard-pressed to squeeze meaningful snow out of the system, with the Palmer doing pretty well, and happily more than 2 feet of snow for parts of our southern mountains over the last three days. We've seen som
Colorado Snowpack
Snowpack numbers are dismal across Colorado and the West, will January deliver the goods?
It's the worst start to to a new year for snowpack across Colorado since 2018, with the median snowpack running at just 68% to start 2024. Ouch! The troublesome snowpack numbers aren't unique to Colorado either. Across the west we see the majority of basins running below average to date, and in perhaps a majority of cases well below that longterm average. Basins running 70% of better of median are in few company. This year's issue isn't just that it's been dry, but it's also been warm. What
Denver Snow
Colorado weather: A colder and snowier weather pattern possible by Thursday across the region
First, a very Happy New Year to you all! It hasn't been the worst start to the winter along the front range, but we certainly haven't seen any storm define this winter thus far, and some locations have fallen well behind their seasonal norms for snowfall to date. That has a chance to change as several waves of low pressure look to speed across the region later this week and next weekend. One of our biggest missing factors so far has been the lack of true cold air. Model data seems like it wa
Denver Forecast
A bit more snow to go... system that just won't quit delivers plenty of wintry surprises Tuesday
Ironically, what wrecks me as a forecaster today was exactly what made me fall in love with forecasting snow however many decades ago. One of my earliest memories of snow along the Front Range was from a very similar setup to the one we are dealing with today. A system that was meant to move on delivered a wallop of 6+ inches of snow to my street in similar fashion to what we saw unfold early this morning across parts of the metro area. I remember listening to forecasters on the radio try to exp
Snowfall Forecast
Another update on pre-Christmas snowstorm set to move through Colorado, NWS issues winter weather alerts
Bah humbug. That's how forecasting this system's got me feeling. Still a lot of uncertainty today with regard to who sees how much snow. A few things we do know for sure and we'll cover them in this update, and we'll again touch on latest snowfall forecast amounts for the region. Let's dig in. What we know Temperatures are set to tumble. Anomalous heat across much of the CONUS today will shift east as our moves through tonight and Sunday. By Monday morning temperatures will be below aver
Snowfall Forecast
Friday morning update: Snowfall forecast for Colorado, Denver area over the holiday weekend
We continue to track a change in the weather due to arrive this weekend and bring with it some rain, snow, wind, and cooler temperatures as we move through the long holiday weekend. In yesterday's update [https://www.weather5280.com/2023/12/21/hoping-for-a-white-christmas-in-denver-heres-an-update-on-the-incoming-rain-and-snow-to-colorado-this
Snowfall Forecast
Hoping for a White Christmas in Denver? Here's an update on the incoming rain and snow to Colorado this weekend
As we discussed in our last update , we are tracking some moisture headed for Colorado this weekend. Some of that moisture will fall in the form of rain (😱), some in the form of snow (❄️), and some... well may not may not fall at all (🌬️). There are really two systems we are tracking for the holiday weekend. The first is a wet but warm system which will climb out of the southwest today and Frida
Colorado Weather
Foothills, Palmer Divide see freezing drizzle and fog, update on snow potential for Colorado Springs, SECO
A busy, and well, wintry update this Tuesday evening for you. We've got Winter Weather Advisories in place lining Colorado's Front Range and Palmer Divide, and continue to track rain and snow for southeast Colorado – which gets going in earnest later tonight and on through much of the day Thursday. First for the northern urban corridor and foothills where we are seeing pockets of freezing drizzle and fog tonight. A Winter Advisory is in effect through noon tomorrow to account for low visibilit
Weather5280 Insider
Weather5280 Insider: Southern plains rain and snow, warm pattern for CONUS, and late month activity for west coast?
We've inching toward the halfway mark here in December, and somehow nearing the end of 2023. Time for a quick update on what we're watching for the next days and final weeks of the year. The big weather story this week will be plentiful wet weather across the Southern Plains for the latter half of the week into next weekend. This will be a widespread precipitation event for Texas, with some of that anomalous moisture expected to push into southeast Colorado, and portions of New Mexico, Oklahom
Snowfall Totals
Denver area snowfall totals, forecast for remainder of the weekend
It was a bit of a rollercoaster of a forecast to get there , but in the end it all (mostly) worked out. This morning much of the Front Range basks under a blanket of fresh snow, putting us all in the holiday spirit as we inch toward the end of 2023! What a wonderful view from City Park this morning of the Mile High City, under about 3" of fresh snow and low
Snowfall Forecast
Winter Weather Advisories posted; Snowfall forecast update as snow arrives in Colorado, Denver area
This hasn't exactly been a fun snowfall forecast to pin down. Some pretty wild up-and-downs in the data over recent days, with little agreement in the data on who sees what and when, with varying jet influences, upslope, and even marginal temperatures at times. This morning we think things look a bit clearer, and well, the first round of snow has already arrived across parts of the urban corridor and Palmer Divide – so let's see what to expect from the remainder of the day today and tonight.
Snowpack
Slow start to the season for Western U.S. snowpack, will that change in December?
It hasn't been a great start to the snow season across the Western United States, with the majority of basins from Colorado to California reporting (well) below average snowpack through the last days of November. The season is young, so today's numbers aren't necessarily a harbinger of what's to come, but as we get into December we start to really hope to see those numbers climb across the board. For Colorado specifically, the statewide median snowpack is sitting at just 58% as compared to t
Snowfall Forecast
Thanksgiving Day forecast update: Colder air has arrived, snow in the forecast for much of Colorado
The initial cold front associated with the incoming chance of snow has pushed through Northeast Colorado this morning. Highs today will be more than 20-degrees colder than the balmy highs we saw yesterday, and we'll be colder yet on Friday. You can see the front draped across east-central Colorado this morning: For the greater Denver area that means we'll see a high of about 40°F today, before falling into the teens overnight tonight into Friday morning. Highs in Denver on Friday likely won't
Travel Weather
Traveling for Thanksgiving? Here's what to expect for weather conditions across the U.S. this week
So far so good as we kick of one of the busiest travels weeks of the year across the United States. Most airports are operating well within "normal" for delays and cancelations this morning, but there are some weather systems traversing the states this week that are likely to cause some issues from time to time in the coming days, including the threat for severe weather across parts of the south today. Today's outlook Brief: Snow will linger across the Rockies and adjacent plains Monday, with
Colorado Weather
Colorado weather: Rain and snow showers likely today, Winter Weather Advisory west of Denver
Surely you feel the change . Cooler weather has arrived to much of the state and the Intermountain West this morning, as well as some pockets of rain and snow along the Front Range. Temperatures this morning are in the middle and upper 30s along the urban corridor, and they won't do much better than that for highs. Denver is forecast to top out at 42°F, with a similar outlook for cities up and down I-25