Hurricane remnants boost rain chances in Colorado

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Hurricane Fabio is no more, but moisture from the system is streaming into Utah and western Colorado

The remnants of Hurricane Fabio are visible as a blue spot west of northern Baja, with a tongue of moisture from the system extending to the Four Corners. Click on the map to see the animated version at NOAA’s GOES West satellite imagery page.

Moisture from TD Fabio could help boost rain chances in western Colorado today.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — West Coast surfers know to keep an eye on the hurricanes that form near southern Mexico and then generally move west and northwest into the Pacific until they dissipate over cooler waters.

Even though those storms may be hundreds of miles away, they often generate powerful swells that set up ideal surf conditions from Baja as far north as the Bay area at breaks favored by a southern swell.

And sometimes those storms make a turn to the north and affect the weather in the western U.S. That’s what happened to Fabio, a once-powerful hurricane that has weakened to a remnant tropical depression. The moisture from Fabio is streaming to the northeast over southern California and Nevada and has already reached the Four Corners area. (more…)

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Weather: Almost tropical …

Posted on July 15, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Colorado monsoon season right on schedule

Early morning dew in the grass near Straight Creek shows there’s moisture available to fuel afternoon thunderstorms.

A steady monsoon flow streaming northward should keep much of western Colorado moist the next few days.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY —Hopes are high that another surge of tropical moisture streaming north from Old Mexico will soak at least parts of the Western Slope and the high country with rain the next few days.

National Weather Service forecasters in Grand Junction described conditions in western Colorado as almost tropical, with dew points in the mid-40s and 50s, which means there’s plenty of moisture available for condensation and formation of rain clouds. (more…)

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Colorado: Flash flood watch for Front Range, West Slope

Posted on July 7, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Recent burn areas especially susceptible to floods and mudslides

A NOAA satellite image shows the flow of monsoonal moisture streaming northward from Mexico over New Mexico and Colorado.

A flash flood watch has been issued for large parts of the Colorado high country. Click to visit the NWS forecast page.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — What a difference the monsoon makes. After several weeks of parched conditions and extreme fire danger, a big slice of the Colorado high country is suddenly facing a new threat.

Slow-moving thunderstorms could drop up to two inches of rain on ground that’s either saturated with moisture or scarred by recent wildfires, leading to potentially dangerous flash floods, especially in the Four Mile, the Waldo Canyon and High Park burn scars, according to a flash flood watch issued by the National Weather Service. (more…)

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Colorado: June brought record temps nearly statewide

Posted on July 5, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Monsoon moisture finally started to build in the Colorado high country in late June. Photo by Bob Berwyn.

Monsoon promising some relief for parched state

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY — June 2012 brought exceptionally warm temperatures to most of Colorado, with Denver setting an all-time record for the month based on data going back to 1872.

In Dillon, where official temperatures are tallied for the National Weather Service, the average daily high was 74.9 degrees, also a new monthly record, 6.1 degrees above the historic average of 68.8 based on records going back to 1909. (more…)

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Summit County: Late monsoon season lingers

Posted on August 27, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

The northern Pacific, including the Gulf of Alaska, is starting to become more active.

Drier and cooler conditions expected mid-week

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — An unusually late monsoon weather pattern is lingering over the high country this weekend, helping to push annual precipitation readings to one of the highest totals on record in recent memory. As a moist southwesterly flow interacts with disturbances out of the northwest, expect afternoon and evening showers to persist across much of the region.

The current setup includes a high pressure area over the Four Corners that’s allowing moisture to rotate up from northern Mexico, and several embedded impulses, called vort maxes, that will help stir up the atmosphere, leading to vertical development and convective showers. Bottom line, showers are in the forecast for western Colorado and the high country through Saturday night and again into Sunday, with highs climbing into the upper 60s and even the mid-70s and nighttime lows in the upper 40s. (more…)

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Colorado: Return of the monsoon?

Posted on August 13, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

An area of subtropical moisture is poised to move into the Colorado mountains late in the weekend.

Sunday and Monday could bring a return to showery weather

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — After more than a week of primo summer weather, a late-season surge of monsoonal moisture could return Sunday and Monday, as moist air from the Gulf of California is entrained in the slow clockwise circulation around a subtropical high pressure system.

Overall, the weather pattern is typical for the season, as the westerlies start to strengthen across the central Pacific, with low pressure systems developing farther north and moving inland across the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies.

One of the lows moving eastward will help pump up the high pressure area to our south starting Saturday night. As the ridge builds over the Rockies, moisture could spread well north into the forecast area. Sunday could be an active day for Thunderstorms in the region as moisture deepens and continues to move north, bringing a 40 percent chance of showers.

Some of that moisture will linger into Monday, especially across the northern part of the forecast zone, before drier air moves back into the area Tuesday. Another spell of showery weather is possible late in the week.

 

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Colorado: Flash flood watch for mountains, foothills

Posted on August 2, 2011 by Bob Berwyn
Weather map Colorado

Heavy rains possible across large parts of Colorado today.

Remnants of Tropical Storm Don boost rain chances in Southwest Colorado, along the Divide and in the foothills

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — The dregs of Tropical Storm Don have prompted a flash flood watch across a big chunk of the Colorado mountains, from the San Juans up to the central Continental Divide, where slow-moving thunderstorms could drop between 1 and 2 inches of rain.

The watch is in effect from 2 p.m. through the evening. In areas where there is heavy rain, backcountry travelers can expect creeks to rise rapidly, and there a chance of mud and debris flows across mountain highways and backcountry dirt and gravel roads. In Summit County, the watch is in effect for the higher terrain of the Gore and Ten Mile ranges, including Breckenridge.

Even after a long trek across the dry desert Southwest, there’s enough circulation and moisture associated with the system to create the potential for soaking downpours in the afternoon and early evening, with humidity levels in in the mid- to upper atmosphere about as high as they get during monsoon season.

Showery weather is expected to continue through Wednesday, with a gradual drying trend starting Thursday and lasting into the weekend.

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Summit County: Monday rainstorm sets all-time record

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

The steeple of Father Dyer Church in Breckenridge was damaged by a July 18 lightning strike. PHOTO BY CARL SCOFIELD. Click on the image to visit Scofield's photography website.

July 18 24-hour precipitation total is the greatest on record; all of Summit County under flash flood watches and warnings for Tuesday afternoon and evening

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY — Monday’s rainstorm will go down in the history books as the largest 24-hour precipitation total on record, according to Breckenridge weather watcher Rick Bly, who tallied 3.17 inches of water at his downtown weather station.

The previous record was set way back in the early 1890s, when weather observers measured 2.6 inches of rain in a 24-hour span.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Bly, adding that he and his wife unplugged all their electrical appliances during the height of the storm just to be safe.

Bly has been measuring precipitation in Breckenridge for more than three decades. During that time, he said he’s only measured more than one inch of rain during a 24-hour period four or five times, with the biggest total during his watch at 1.7 inches. Yesterday’s storm was 100-year event, he said. (more…)

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Colorado: Flash flood watch issued for much of the state

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

Heavy rains expected today, with drying trend the next few days

Flash flood watch in effect through midnight across much of Colorado.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — A flash flood watch is in effect through midnight across large parts of Colorado, as another surge of deep monsoonal moisture from the south brings a good chance of moderate heavy rains to much of the state.

With the ground already saturated in many areas, persistent rain could trigger dangerous high flows in some rivers and streams, as well as rock and mudslides in steeper canyons and hillsides.

Other areas of concern named specifically by the NWS are Piceance Creek in Rio Blanco County, areas south of Highway 82 between Glenwood Springs and Aspen and route 133 south of Carbondale as well as areas south of Gateway along Route 141 and Route 50 south of Delta. (more…)

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Summit County weatherblog: Ready for the monsoon?

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

Wilderness Sports sponsors the Summit Voice weatherblog. Click to visit Wilderness Sports online.

Summer rains could be boosted by evaporating snow

A National Weather Service graphic shows what a typical post-La Niña monsoon could look like.

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY — You might want to get your outdoor yah-yahs out of the way early the next few days, as the National Weather Service is predicting an early onset of the monsoon season, with a good chance for afternoon thunderstorms through the rest of the week. Wednesday could be the wettest day, as a plume of subtropical moisture takes direct aim at the high country, but scattered daily rain can be expected right on through next weekend.

Specifically, the National Weather Service says there is a 40 to 50 percent chance of rain through Friday, with highs in the low 70s each day and overnight lows in the mid-40s, fairly close to seasonal averages. The record high for July 5 is 84 degrees, set in 2001. The record low, a chilly 24 degrees, set way back in 1931. Frisco’s all-time record high for July is 89 degrees, a reading that hasn’t been reached since 1939.

The U.S. southwestern monsoon season occurs when winter and spring’s jet stream-driven westerlies retreat to the north. Instead of being dominated by incoming cyclonic storms off the Pacific, the weather in the Southwest and the Rockies is influenced by the clockwise rotation of air around a big area of high pressure parked in the center of the country, often over Texas. The rotation draws moist air northward from the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of California and the eastern Pacific. (more…)

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