Noah Brauer

Noah Brauer is a meteorologist at MeteoStar in Denver, CO. He holds a degree in geography and minors in math and atmospheric science. Noah is from Vancouver, Canada, and now calls Parker, CO home.
State of the Atmosphere
The State of the Atmosphere: Sunday, July 23, 2017
Today was a fairly typical day for the books here in Denver, with high temperatures around the metro reaching the mid to upper 80s (DIA hit 90°F), with readings in the low to mid 90s over the northeastern plains. Climatologically speaking, this is typically the hottest time of the year in Denver with an average high temperature of 90°F. Here is a look at temperatures at 1:00 PM MDT across northeastern Colorado: Notice how winds at the surface contain an easterly component. This upslope flow
State of the Atmosphere
The State of the Atmosphere: Sunday, June 25, 2017
Another unseasonably cool but comfortable day here in Denver, and of course a welcome change after last week's heat. Afternoon highs through early afternoon were hovering in the mid 60s to near 70 across the greater Denver area, well below our average high of 86°F for the date. Check out our lunchtime temperatures from today, quite a few readings in the 60s across Northeastern Colorado. Not bad for the last week of June! The north-northeasterly winds at the surface here
State of the Atmosphere
The State of the Atmosphere: Sunday, May 21, 2017
After an unseasonably chilly day on Saturday, with Denver recording an official high of 62°F, we started to warm up closer to seasonal highs today, with the Denver area recording highs in the mid to upper 60s, just a few degrees shy of the average high for this day of 73°F. Thankfully the snow from last week is long behind us now, but not before burying the Front Range under an incredible late season snow . The great news is, the storm also deliver
State of the Atmosphere
The State of The Atmosphere: Sunday, April 30, 2017
Back to your regularly scheduled spring! We ended up with 5.5" at our station in central Denver, which is about what most of the city saw – somewhere between 4 and 6" of snow. At Denver International Airport, where official records are kept , 2.4" of snow was recorded. This was enough to dig us out of the least snowy season on record (we needed just 2.0" ). Denver has now
State of the Atmosphere
The State of the Atmosphere: Sunday, April 9, 2017
After hitting 77°F for a high at Denver International Airport on Saturday, we saw a 20-25°F drop in high temperatures along the I-25 corridor after a cold frontal passage yesterday evening. Our average high for this time of year is around 60°F. Looking at visible satellite imagery from earlier this afternoon, we can see that there were a few thunderstorms across the Northeastern Plains. Spring is definitely here! Despite the cooler, post-frontal airmass, we still managed to warm up to near se
State of the Atmosphere
The State of the Atmosphere: Sunday, March 26, 2017
We finally managed to receive some moisture here across Northeastern Colorado on Thursday and Friday, and luckily the trend of cooler and active weather looks to continue through the end of the month. Water vapor imagery shows an accurate depiction of what we will see through the work week: A progressive pattern with multiple shortwave troughs bringing much needed moisture to Denver and the High Plains, and possibly some severe wea
State of the Atmosphere
The State of the Atmosphere: Sunday, February 19, 2017
It was another very mild week across Northeastern Colorado, with Denver recording yet another day in the 60s today. DIA managed to hit 64°F despite the cloud-cover ahead of our next system. Check out the mild temperatures and the gusty southerly flow this afternoon across Eastern Colorado: This put our high °F above our average high temperature of 47°F. This trend of above average temperatures will continue into the first half of the week before seeing some cooler and potentially wetter weathe
State of the Atmosphere
The State of the Atmosphere: Sunday, January 29, 2017
Today was certainly a mild day in Denver and this trend will likely continue through the work week as a longwave ridge dominates the upper-air pattern over the western United States. Today we hit 61°F at Denver International Airport which is an impressive 17°F above our average high for this date of 44°F. Check out some of the readings across the High Plains as of 3:10 PM MST! Look at all the widespread 55-65°F readings over Eastern Colorado (red numbers). Some places in the Texas Panhandle are
Meteorology Terms
Fresh Snow Cover and Clear Skies: Why so Cold at Night?
It is common for us to experience particularly frigid temperatures the night after a snow event. It turns out that there are a number of factors that make cloudless post-winter storm nights anomalously cold: The earth receives energy from the sun during the day as shortwave radiation (ultraviolet, visible, and shortwave infrared radiation), and emits energy at night in the form of longwave radiation (infrared radiation). However, it is important to note that not all of the energy that the ea
CSI
What is Conditional Symmetric Instability (CSI)?
When reading a National Weather Service forecast discussion during the winter months, we sometimes come across the term "Conditional Symmetric Instability (CSI)". This was true with our latest storm that is winding down today. But what exactly is CSI, how can we diagnose it, and how does it differ from other phenomena that can dump multiple inches of snow in a localized area? CSI involves heavy, banded snow that has a typical duration of 3 to 4 hours. These snow bands have a length anywher
State of the Atmosphere
The State of the Atmosphere: Sunday, December 18, 2016
It has been quite the chilly weekend across northeastern Colorado, and the majority of the country for that matter. Denver broke the old record low maximum temperature for the day on Saturday (7°F), which was set back in 1884. Denver International Airport recorded a high of 3°F, which was recorded at 12:19 AM MST. Granted, records that date back as far as 1884 were recorded in downtown Denver which is a considerable distance from DIA [https://www.weather5280.com/blog/2015/03/26/why-denvers-offic
State of the Atmosphere
The State of the Atmosphere: Sunday, November 6, 2016
Once again, the main story this week across Northeast Colorado will be the above average temperatures and the absence of any moisture (surprise!). Yesterday, some locations south and west of Denver managed to receive a trace of rain, but DIA recorded another dry day. Below is a CoCoRaHS map showing some of the rainfall reports from yesterday. Despite the cloud cover yesterday, Denver still managed to reach a high of 69°F, which is a remarkable 12°F above our average high of 57°F. Sunday featu
State of the Atmosphere
The State of the Atmosphere: Sunday, October 16, 2016
Is it really October right now? It sure doesn't feel like it, with yet another day of well-above average temperatures across Northeastern Colorado. Similar to yesterday, Denver hit 86°F this afternoon, which is an impressive 21 degrees above our average high of 65°F. Some locations on the Southeastern Plains soared into the mid 90s! Check out the surface map from 2:23 PM MDT: Note how the flow at the surface is primarily out of the west. As we look at this morning's sounding out of Denver, we
State of the Atmosphere
The State of the Atmosphere: Sunday, October 9, 2016
While the weather continues to be fairly quiet in Colorado , it has been far from tranquil in Haiti, the Bahamas, and along the southeastern coast of the United States this past week. Unfortunately, this monstrous storm took the lives of nearly 900 Haitians, along with 17 Americans on the East Coast. While the strongest winds remained just offshore of the United States, Matthew still caused torrential rains, destructive storm
State of the Atmosphere
The State of the Atmosphere: Sunday, September 11, 2016
Sunday was another hot day across Northeastern Colorado, with Denver recording a high temperature of 90°F. To put that into perspective, our average high for this day is 81° F. These warm temperatures are partly due to weak upper-level ridging and flow out of the west. As we know, westerly flow translates to downsloping east of the Front Range. Looking at this morning's sounding, we can see that a very dry air mass is in place, with a precipitable water value of 0.21". However as we head into
State of the Atmosphere
The State of the Atmosphere: Sunday, July 24, 2016
Saturday was another hot day in Denver, with Denver International Airport recording an official high of 98°F. While this is 8°F above our average high for the date, we remained short of the 102°F record set back in 2005. Looking at water vapor imagery, we can see that mid and upper-level moisture continues to be transported from the southwest into Colorado. This will likely bring us another round of afternoon showers and thunderstorms this afternoon. Overall, a fairly typical late-July day on S
Severe Weather
Update on Threat of Severe Weather For Eastern Colorado Monday
An active couple of days is in store for us in Northeastern Colorado, with Monday likely being the most active severe-wise out of the two. This evening we're seeing a good round of storms developing along and east of I-25, some of these will be severe. Greatest threat as we outlined last night will be the potential for heavy rainfall with these storms. A trough that is currently located over California will eject east and w
Severe Weather
Today's Severe Weather Outlook Ahead of Weekend Rain, Snow
Looking for our latest snowfall forecast? Here's our discussion from yesterday: In the Weekend Battle of Rain vs Snow, Snow Likely Wins in Many Locations , another update will be out this afternoon. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- While heavy snow and rain will likely be the main concern with this weekend's system, we also hav
Denver Forecast
End of the Week Outlook
As we continue to melt away whatever remaining snow we received from our winter storm earlier this week , there is a chance that we might have another shot at seeing some light accumulations throughout the Denver Metro area on Friday. Below is an infrared satellite image which shows our system of interest bringing some rain to the Pacific Northwest and snow to the Washington Cascades. Heading into Friday, a northwest
State of the Atmosphere
The State of the Atmosphere: Sunday, October 25, 2015
As we enter the last week of October, there is still the question of whether or not we will see our first snowfall before the end of the month. While it certainly wasn’t cold enough for snow in Denver last week, we received some much needed moisture for the Front Range. A whopping 0.79” of rain fell at DIA last Wednesday which shattered the old record of 0.63” set back in 1906. Although not record-breaking, we also saw 0.70” of rain on Thursday. So far in October, we have received 1.76” of preci
Denver Forecast
The State of the Atmosphere: Sunday, September 20, 2015
As we officially welcome the Autumnal Equinox on September 23, we certainly won’t have to say goodbye to summer-like temperatures this week. With the exception of a weak upper-level trough sliding over us during the middle of the week, upper-level ridging will remain prominent and the temperatures here in Denver will reflect this. The previous record high in Denver for this upcoming Monday, September 21, is 88°F, set back in 1926, which we will have a good shot at tying if not breaking. Simil
Weather
What is the Denver Convergence Vorticity Zone?
The Denver Convergence Vorticity Zone (DCVZ) is a unique mesoscale, terrain-driven feature that occurs east of the Front Range, primarily during the warm season (May-August). The American Meteorological Society defines the DCVZ as "A mesoscale flow feature of convergent winds, 50 to 100 km in length, usually oriented north-south, just east of Denver". The location of a DCVZ can vary, however it is usually confined to areas east of I-25 and can extend as far north as For