Ned Weather

The warm before the storm.

Posted by: MrMixon, 5:28 PM GMT on March 07, 2013

It looks like the Front Range is in the cross-hairs for the next big winter storm (does this one have a name yet?). They've raised a Winter Storm Watch for most Front Range communities, including Nederland, Boulder, and Denver. I particularly like the NWS' verbiage on travel:

"hazardous winter driving conditions will plague drivers in the mountains and foothills from Friday night through Saturday night."

Plague? They sure aren't sugar-coating this one...

Here's the GFS 120-hour snowfall prediction for our area.

I'm guessing Nederland will be in the 12-16" range for total accumulation. Just in time for the Frozen Dead Guy Days festival this weekend. Last year the festival's Saturday events were mostly cancelled due to exceptionally high winds, which toppled tents and pummeled people with sand and debris put in motion by the winds. Looks like snow is going to be the big challenge for festival-goers this year. I think the primary threat is the possibility of Boulder Canyon closing due to accidents, cutting off the main access road for people coming into Nederland. So... be careful out there folks.

In the meantime, warm air advection ahead of the storm is making for a beautiful warm day here along the Front Range.

This is a common trend for our area just prior to major winter storms. The counter-clockwise flow of low pressure southwest of our area brings southerly winds. As the low pressure center tracks east our southerly winds will trend more southeast and eventually start coming out of the east. This is when the snow starts since easterly winds are "upslope" for us. After that winds continue their counter-clockwise trend and transition to the northeast (still upslope... and cold), then north (mostly just cold... showers should start diminishing), then eventually northwest. The northwest winds usually clear out the precipitation abruptly as the flow becomes downslope and warming and drying begin.

CONDITIONS AROUND THE STATE

Alamosa:

Boulder:

Denver:

Estes Park:

Fruita:

Mosca:

Nederland:

Nederland II:

Salida:

Westcliffe:

Useful Stuff:

Permalink | A A A

Top of Page

Reader Comments

Display: 0, 50, 100, 200

Sort: Newest First - Order Posted

Viewing: 1 - 6

Page: 1 — Blog Index

1. MrMixon 9:13 PM GMT on March 08, 2013
Here's the latest GFS snow prediction. Looks like things haven't changed much since yesterday's run. The early morning run had bumped us up a bit, but now they've pulled back to about where they were yesterday. Still looks to be a good 12-15" snowfall for us... with a very sharp gradient down to the plains: Fort Collins and Eastern Boulder County are predicted to get 4" or less: Member Since: March 26, 2006 Posts: 38 Comments: 954

2. MrMixon 9:16 PM GMT on March 08, 2013
As for timing, snow is supposed to start in the highest mountains in the afternoon and spread down to the foothills by evening. Composite radar is showing some scattered light showers popping up in the mountains now: Member Since: March 26, 2006 Posts: 38 Comments: 954

3. MrMixon 10:29 PM GMT on March 08, 2013
Animated Water Vapor Loop: Member Since: March 26, 2006 Posts: 38 Comments: 954

4. MrMixon 4:20 PM GMT on March 11, 2013
Beautiful Monday here, same as yesterday. Things warmed up dramatically on Sunday after the storm cleared out late Saturday night. I measured about 10-11" of snow at our place. A bit less than what the GFS predicted, but not far from predictions and a respectable snowfall nonetheless. We'll take it. Will try to post some photos later today... Member Since: March 26, 2006 Posts: 38 Comments: 954

5. MrMixon 3:51 AM GMT on March 20, 2013
A little late in posting this, but we ended up getting another 4" of snow on Monday, which brought our storm total up to about the range predicted by the GFS. It also gave me my second opportunity to watch my newly-plowed ($) driveway get buried by a "secondary" pulse of precip that arrived after the main pulse. Member Since: March 26, 2006 Posts: 38 Comments: 954

6. WunderAlertBot (Admin) 3:18 AM GMT on March 23, 2013
MrMixon has created a new entry.

Viewing: 1 - 6

Page: 1 — Blog Index

Top of Page

New Comment

Community Standards Policy Comments will take a few seconds to appear.

Post Your Comments

Please sign in to post comments.

or Join

Not only will you be able to leave comments on this blog, but you'll also have the ability to upload and share your photos in our Wunder Photos section.

About MrMixon

Tropical Blogs

Tropical Weather Stickers®

Contact This Author

Local Weather

Nederland, Colorado

55 °F

Scattered Clouds

Detailed Conditions & Forecast

Recent Photos

MrMixon's Wunder Photos

Previous Entries for 2013

Big Springs Subdivision Nederland, CO
Elevation:	8400 ft
Temperature:	42.7 °F
Dew Point:	26.3 °F
Humidity:	52%
Wind:	Calm
Wind Gust:	3.0 mph
Updated: 12:01 AM MDT on May 19, 2013 Station History