Matt Makens

Matt is a native of the area, raised in rural Douglas County. An Atmospheric Scientist by education, trade, and passion – he's a consultant in the ag industry specializing in weather and climate.
Snow
Double-digit snowfall totals, for some the first in decades, falls across Front Range before weekend warming trend
Things are going to melt quickly, but we have a lot to melt. Let's start with a look at snowfall reports from this latest storm, and then we will look at the warming temperatures for the week ahead. First, snowfall reports and observations were compiled for the following maps, and for some locations this was the first double-digit snowfall in a long time. From a previous post this week [https://www.weather5280.com/2024/03/13/significant-snowstorm-on-the-way-for-denver-area-feet-of-snow-likely-
Denver Weather
Denver weather: Overnight data continues with significant snow event for Wednesday through Thursday
Data analyzed Monday night through Tuesday morning has been... impressive to say the least. A significant storm continues to keep Colorado in its sight, and for Denver, this remains a consequential storm to watch. Speaking of "watch," the Weather Service issued one for the Denver metro areas, Palmer Divide, and Front Range Mountains. Warnings and Ad
Denver Weather
Denver Weather: Winter storm impacts on the way
We have some changes afoot, arriving a little Wednesday but mostly Thursday into Friday morning with the arrival of wintry weather for the metro areas and the state. A quick look at the hourly planner makes things look interesting soon: Warm temperatures erode into a cool day Friday with rain and snow in between. Here are some snapshots covering the next 48 hours. These will show you when and where to look for rain and snow. From those images, you can see the line of deepest blues that dev
Denver Forecast
Denver Weather: System brings rain and snow with temperatures dropping all of Tuesday
There's a system set to arrive in the metro areas overnight through Tuesday, meanwhile the mountains are cashing in on snow from that system Monday. Meanwhile, Denver hits the 60s with this wind Monday prior to see a downhill trend all day Tuesday. Starting with the hourly temperatures, you'll see that downhill slide all of Tuesday. Although Monday is warm, that wind has a bit of a bite to it. While temperatures cool off Tuesday, more of that wind chill will be a factor. I certainly hope fires
SOTA
Denver Weather: 60s this week, I thought the calendar said February
No, I'm not implying that 60s should be considered rare in February, but my point with the headline is that this week looks very mild for February, with all daily high temperatures coming in at or well above average through next weekend. Don't take this to mean the weather will be quiet, however, as we will have a chance for rain (yes, rain in February - we saw this last week, too) and snow in the metro this workweek. Many Februarys have been mild, with lots of 60s included. Here is a list of
Denver Weather
Colorado weather: Tracking two systems to impact us with rain, snow, wind, and a cool down
A warm Tuesday is underway, occasionally breezy, but have you seen the additional cloud cover where you are? That's the next system, increasing moisture ahead of putting down heavy snow in parts of the mountains Wednesday and then rain and snow to parts of the plains. There is also a weekend system to put on your radar. Let's start with the near term. Here's an hourly planner for Denver going out 72 hours. Wednesday has the potential to be a touch warmer than Tuesday, but we see the chance for
Weather5280 Insider
Insiders: February's potential to slam the Front Range, or merely graze
February’s weather pattern has a chance to deliver lots of moisture for the Front Range and Plains. If you reread that sentence, you’ll see, “chance.” This El Niño winter has had moments of delivering lots of snow to the state – think back to the epic two weeks of snow for our Colorado resorts, especially Steamboat Resort (third snowiest January since 08/09 season) [https://www.instagram.com/p/C2is1jEgfMv/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=0846d993-9761-4a7a-9e95-14e308dee
Denver Weather
Denver weather: Arctic cold to hang on through Monday, meanwhile mountains get dumped on with heavy snow and wind
We aren't going to rival the stretch of cold of 1983, but the next three days may end up somewhere in the top 30 of coldest three day stretches. The average high through Monday will be near 4 degrees is all! This list is of the coldest average high temperature of three day periods. If we truly average about 4 degrees, that puts Denver Area at the 25th coldest three day stretch on record. As of this post, Denver low temperature for today is -12 degrees, which is warmer than the -20 degree recor
Denver Weather
Multiple waves of snow to hit Colorado and parts of Denver metro area
We are almost to the weekend, and if you are a skier and plan to be on the hills, you'll see some freshies. If you aren't leaving the metro areas, you too have a chance of some snow. Here's a quick animation that shows areas of snow during the weekend. The images for Sunday are what catch my attention, with those deep blues indicating heavy snow over the mountains - a place desperately needing snow. A recent post about just that -> Snowpack numbers are dismal across Colorado and the West, wi
Denver Weather
Colorado weather: Snow hits south hardest, some showers in Denver metro by the evening
Colorado Springs is setting itself up to be snowier than Denver by this time tomorrow. A strong system, which we've discussed in the past few days, is headed through with its biggest impact on Southern Colorado. For the rest of Wednesday in Denver: Look for continued low cloudiness and areas of fog. Mist/light rain is possible along with some snow from the late afternoon through the evening. Some roads may become slick, but overall not much of a chance to use snow shovels with this system. Fo
Denver Weather
Denver weather: Quick hitter to deliver wind, cold, and some snow to areas Friday
There's a rapid change about to move across Colorado and right through the metro areas Friday. You'll notice wind, a sharp drop in temperatures and many of us will see some snow to add potential icing to roads in time for us to start the weekend. Out of all elements, I think wind and the temperature change will be the takeaway. Snowfall, remains hit and miss for much of the metro areas with this one...but still a threat and a threat to roads before we get the day done Friday. So, when does this
Weather5280 Insider
Weather5280 Insider: Weather outlook for December
December is upon us and the first week looks anything but wintry for much of the Front Range and Plains. The snowpack certainly isn't looking very good at the moment but the season is early and we shall see some progress in parts of the West this month. The snowpack to close out November is shown here, lots of red and orange on that map for well-below normal snowpack. In order to recover, a negative-phased Arctic Oscillation can help give snow to the Central and Northern Rockies. Although we m
denver weather
Colorado Weather: First of two Thanksgiving systems hits through Monday
There are two main disturbances that will impact the weather across Colorado, including travel impacts in Denver, through Thanksgiving Week with the first hitting now through Monday. The first system has some alerts in place, so let's begin there. Isolated impacts expected in the mountains, most of which focus on the San Juans. Let's watch as the forecast radar shows us where and when to expect some precipitation. Then, just an hourly timeline for Denver's precipitation chances shows chances
Denver Weather
Tracking a pattern change for Thanksgiving Week?
So far, November has been pretty quiet following the Halloween Weekend snow, but we will see a more active finish to the month across the region starting in waves this week into next. For the Denver Area, the month to date is 16th warmest and 16th driest (period of record starts in 1872). The city has only recorded a trace of precipitation to this point. If you look at historic patterns when the atmosphere was acting like it is now, they all lean toward colder shots of air from Canada making t
Denver Weather
Denver weather: 30-degree drop in the next 24 hours
Enjoy the 70s of Tuesday, Denver will be in the 40s for highs Wednesday with a cool-hitter on the way that will deliver areas of heavy snow and travel issues to some of the mountains. To start, here's the hourly planner for Denver and Colorado Springs, note the drop in temperatures tomorrow with increased chances for precipitation. DenverColorado SpringsYes, you will feel cooler temperatures Wednesday morning, but the biggest "feel" difference will be that we just can't warm-up for the day, or
Snowfall Forecast
Colorado snow storm: Saturday afternoon update, latest forecast
> 9am Fort Collins. Some light snowfall accumulation overnight. #cowx @BianchiWeather @MattMakens @weather5280 @CReppWx pic.twitter.com/sNC2waQHcq — Howard Gebhart (@GebhartHoward) October 28, 20
Denver Weather
Denver weather: Freeze warning for metro areas through Saturday morning
A freeze warning has been issued for the state's metro areas and Plains for Friday overnight into Saturday morning including Colorado Springs, Denver, Fort Collins, and Pueblo. The specifics of the warning from NWS-Boulder: > ...FREEZE WARNING IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 9 AM MDT SATURDAY... * WHAT...Sub-freezing temperatures as low as 25 expected. * WHERE...Portions of north central and northeast Colorado including   Denver, Boulder, Sterling, Julesburg, Akron. * WHEN...From midnight
Denver Weather
Denver Weather: Coldest in five months, freeze comes to many
With highs in the mid-50s, this is the coldest Denver has been since early May. We may well see our first freeze of the season officially at DIA but a lot of us will hit the freezing mark while the high country sees its first "substantial" snow in months. First, let's address the overall impact of this winter-like system. Those in Wyoming have the highest impact from cold, precipitation and wind. Along those lines, let's see where the snow will be falling, and how much. We have anxious eyes on
Colorado Weather
Colorado Weather: First winter-type storm hits in just hours
As of this writing, we have a few hours before significant change blows across Colorado. First, wind will increase fire dangers and the annoyance factor before temperatures drop dramatically and then some of us will see snow and/or rain showers before the first hard freeze of the season for some places. Let's get to the impact map to sort out areas of greatest change. The winter weather advisory for the high country is issued by the NWS with the following details: > WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY RE
denver weather
Denver Weather: Taste of fall weather as temperatures drop more than 20 degrees this week
There's a temperature drop on the way to much of Colorado this week, and for Denver we will go from the 80s Monday to the 60s Tuesday through the end of the week. Parts of the area could have their first frost of the season. What's driving this cool off? A strong trough over the West will head toward Wyoming and be a glancing blow to Colorado, with cooler temperatures and some showers. This animation shows the progression of that trough (blue shades). Although there will be isolated to scatter
Colorado Weather
Colorado weather: Weekend outlook, add some storminess
We are almost to the weekend, and the weather will cooperate for a lot of your plans. Do keep in mind that we will see chances for thunderstorms increase throughout the weekend, particularly southern Colorado and parts of the high country that will have some rain and snow. I'll have some snow and rainfall data here in a moment. For Denver, overall a quiet pattern continues. Here's a planner for the next three days. So, for Denver the trend is pretty darn quiet. There will be activity reaching
State of the Atmosphere
Colorado weather: Where's the snow and cold?
Fall is in the air... as my family and I camped this weekend we woke up to frost and noticed the changing aspen leaves. So, where's the cold and snow? Some of our peaks caught snow this past week and will have a few flakes again this week but by-in-large we are not seeing significant snow as we draw to a close on this September. The main driver of the weather this week will be a strong low-pressure area sitting over the Northeast Pacific Ocean. This will draw lots of moisture in over the Pacifi
SOTA
Denver Weather: Fall, is that you? Cooler week ahead with rain chances
Feels like fall today, cloudy and light rain at our headquarters with football on the tv so that must mean that fall is in the air. For the week ahead, Denver and the Front Range will be considerably cooler with 60s and 70s versus the 80s and 90s, which will be 5 to 15 degrees cooler than normal from day to day this week. No, that low of 48 for Saturday isn't the first of the "season," we've had a couple temperatures that cool in the past month. The last time the city had a high temperature i
Weather5280 Insider
Insiders: El Niño and the extended outlook
Earlier this year, we were still in the grip of La Niña, but from April through August, we saw a transition toward El Niño. El Niño began to develop in the spring and by summer had a more powerful grip on the atmosphere. There are multiple ways of measuring how strong the grip is, whether that be in the atmosphere, ocean or a combination of those two. The atmosphere's behavior is shown here, by one such metric called the SOI, where positive values are La Niña characteristics and negative valu
SOTA
Denver Weather: Cooler week ahead with scattered storms
It's September 3rd, historically the earliest snowfall for Denver came today in 1961 with 4.2 inches but 2023 brings a mix of sun and clouds with highs into the 90s. Labor Day will also hit the 90s but a bit of a cooler stretch kicks off Tuesday...more on that in a moment. https://www.instagram.com/p/Cwu8CWPs5Cc/ For today and tomorrow, increasing afternoon clouds offer a bit of shade and heat-relief. In the following hourly planner you'll see the rain chances beneath the temperature timeline
Denver Weather
Denver weather: Afternoon and evening storms, plan accordingly
There's another dose of storminess to move through later Monday, which will include potential impact on your school pickup times, commute, or evening sports practices. Here's a look at the overall chances for storms across the state today: The focus is on the Front Range Mountains and along the I-25 corridor. Here's a timeline to help guesstimate the impact at your spot. The difference between these storms and those yesterday is the speed. These, in theory, have a bit faster pace to them and
Denver Weather
State of the Atmosphere: Denver area weekly weather outlook
Temperatures take a bit of a ride as rain chances come and go this week for the Denver area. Expect the next temperature drop tomorrow, and then we warm back into the 90s by midweek. In hourly form, here are the temperatures (top chart below) and rain chances (below). Rain chances will climb early in the week before dropping. Here's an animation showing the potential arrival times of the storms near you. From the hourly planner above, we can go farther to see the next increase in rain chance
Denver Weather
Colorado weather: Big time cool down with areas of heavy rainfall in the forecast
A strong system will spread colder temperatures, more than 20-degrees colder, and heavy enough rainfall our cautionary flags are raised to the potential flooding that may be on the way. At the moment there are no alerts in place for the state, but that may change Friday as heavy rainfall takes aim on parts of the state. We do have alerts for heat for those to the east of the state, who will also cool off later this weekend. Denver's cool off will be throughout the day Friday, but rain chances
Denver Forecast
Denver weather: Record cold Monday morning, hotter days ahead
Denver started the week off setting a new record; a record low temperature was reached at DIA this morning of 49°F, which ties the previous record of 49°F from 1976. > This morning's low temperature fell to a crisp, cool, 49 degrees at Denver International Airport - tying the record low last set in 1976. This is also the first time Denver has seen a temperature below 50 degrees since mid-June! #cowx pic.twitter.com/4Bf7eOE2eq [htt
State of the Atmosphere
State of the Atmosphere: Denver and Colorado's weather for the week
Let's help get you ready for the week ahead with a weather pattern that became cooler and wetter this weekend as a weak monsoonal flow collided with a cold front. The trend this week will be drying and warming... That cold front moves through eastern Colorado Sunday with some areas of gusty winds and lower-level clouds. Here is the temperature outlook from Sunday through Tuesday. Notice that Sunday and Monday feel the impact of the cold front which clears out Tuesday when temperatures return to