Monday, November 3, 2008

Snow for Colorado

Well a great looking storm system as far as the alignment of the trough axis to give significant weather to Colorado. The unfortunate part is this system is tracking too far north to bring anything of significance to Colorado. However the western slope is getting a good shot of snow Tuesday night thru Wednesday morning before the trough kicks out and keeps heading east. Models show the trough propagating eastward without much deepening and intensification as it moves over Colorado.

Tuesday:
Western slope will have rainy conditions in the valleys and snow in the high mountain passes. Frontal passage will take place later afternoon/evening period with windy conditions along the western slope during frontal passage. Rain changing to snow late afternoon/evening with broadening across western slope and snow intensifying overnight into Wednesday morning. Upper level dynamic not playing much of a role with snow accumulation. Mid level forcing induced by terrain will be the main forcing component for the intense snow periods. Snow totals Tuesday night/Wednesday morning hard to pin point. Models showing anywhere around 3-6” around Vail/Aspen with 6-12” over the Flattops. Rabbit Ears could pick up 4-8” by Wednesday morning.

Wednesday:
Snow taping off in late morning hours as the system moves eastward. Cold temperatures will dominant as high pressure and subsidence builds in behind the exiting system. Light snow possible throughout the day for western slope. For the Denver area, Foothills and high mountains could see a few inches of snow from this system but nothing much expected other than possible rain showers for the Metro area.