Summit County Citizens Voice

Drier air is pushing into western Colorado.

Seasonal shift under way as westerlies strengthen

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — After some dramatic midnight thunder-boomers, look for dry and sunny weather for the rest of the weekend as drier air moves into the Colorado high country.  There was still some convection in northwest Colorado early Saturday morning, so you can’t completely rule out the chance of isolated thunderstorms.

The change from the monsoon pattern of the past few weeks is part of a timely season shift as the westerlies gradually start strengthening over the West and the northern Rockies.

That doesn’t mean the monsoon won’t make an encore appearance. August can go back and forth between the southerly flow that brings moist subtropical air to the region, and the drier winds from the West. But for the weekend and a good part of next week, the outlook is for fair weather as a jet stream passing over Wyoming and northern Colorado bends the monsoonal flow to the east and south.

Specifically, there’s very little chance of precipitation in the forecast at least through Wednesday, with highs forecast to reach the low to mid-70s each day. With clear skies and dry air, look for nighttime lows to drop into the low 40s. Both the highs and lows are very near seasonal averages for this time of year.

Frisco’s average high for Aug. 6 is 73 degrees, the average low is 39 degrees. By the end of the month, average highs drop down into the high 60s and average lows dip back into the mid 30s, just a few degrees above freezing, and it’s not unusual to start seeing a bit of frost late in the month.

The all-time record August high for Frisco is 87 degrees, reached Aug. 11, 1939 during a decade acknowledged to be one of the warmest in the modern record (think Dust Bowl). The all-time record low is 20 degrees, set Aug. 23, 1928.

Friday’s hotspot for the country was Cushing, OK, reaching 113 degrees, while Bodie State Park in Calif. dropped all the down to 28 degrees.

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