Weather5280 Insider
Status of the MJO and potential impacts on our weather
Just as a refresher, the MJO or Madden-Julian Oscillation is an eastward moving disturbance of clouds, rainfall, winds, and pressure that traverses the planet in the tropics and returns to its initial starting point in 30 to 60 days, on average. There can be multiple MJO events within a season. So, the MJO is best described as intraseasonal tropical climate variability (i.e. varies on a week-to-week basis). It is different from El Niño or La Niña, because those phenomena remain stationary with
Colorado Weather
Confidence Growing in Pattern Shift as Global Models Spell Winter
There's greater confidence today that we'll see our long-awaited pattern shift back to winter next week after several weeks of (largely) unseasonably warm weather . While it seems prudent to ignore the details today given how hard it's been to break the pattern, we wanted to address a few things we're looking at as we head into the weekend and next week. As it stands, the timing of this pattern shift will align nicely with wh
State of the Atmosphere
The State of the Atmosphere: Sunday, October 5, 2014
Whoever ordered a quiet weather pattern is rejoicing in their decision. We are now in, perhaps, the longest stretch of calm days that we’ve had in months. First, the reason. Remember the pronounced blocking pattern that was the persistent Great Lakes low(s) of last winter…? aka “Polar Vortex”..grrr at that term. Well, a similar blocking pattern has a low parked over the Great Lakes region with no intention of moving any time soon. We are on the compensatory ridge of the pattern. The current rid
Teleconnections
Denver's Dry Snow Season Continues, Eyes on Next System
Although a springlike warm-up has moved in for the mid-week, it is still April after all. April is the second snowiest month for us. Those snows are typically separated by brief warming periods, like we are experiencing currently. Denver needs a big snow storm to help save what has been a relatively snow-free winter. Since 1881, only 15 years have had less snow than this one. The 1881/82 season only had 15.9 inches. Disclosure: despite a "dry" snow season, Denver's YTD moisture is 0.45" ahead o
Teleconnections
The State of the Atmosphere: Saturday, March 15, 2014
Outlook for the second half of of March into early April While we've seen a few storms move through recently, only one has produced what could be considered decent moisture. The others have been coming from the northwest, moving too fast, and have been followed by wind which basically nullifies the moisture benefit by sucking it right back out of the ground. March is traditionally our snowiest month, but this likely won't end up being the case given the pattern. This has to do with the overall