Summary

• Ridge of high pressure sets up Wednesday
• Continues through early next week
• This means dry weather and great leaf-watching
• Next chance of a storm will be mid to late next week (early Oct)

Details

Hi folks!

It feels odd when I don’t write a daily forecast, but there just hasn’t been much to talk about except perfect fall weather. I love this time of year, when the days are warm, the nights crisp, and the hills are ablaze in yellow Aspens. It’s my second favorite season, behind winter of course:-)

Following the ideal stretch of weather we experienced from last weekend through Monday (September 19-21), we saw a weak storm skirt the southeastern part of Colorado on Tuesday and Tuesday night. This storm brought only clouds to most areas, though a few spots saw a shower.

That storm is now only a memory as it moves to the east, and a ridge of high pressure will replace it and bring perfect weather back to Colorado through the weekend.

I am getting married at Buttermilk Mountain on Saturday 9/26, so this dry and sunny weekend forecast is a huge relief for Lauren, myself, and our guests. I hope this forecast is also great news for you, and that you get to take advantage of another fantastic fall weekend by getting up into the mountains and enjoying the scenery!

Looking ahead to next week, a storm that is cut off from the main flow of weather will likely push into the California area by mid week, and it might then head toward Colorado later next week.

As you know from my previous forecasts, it is very hard to predict the movement of cut-off storms more than 1-2 days in advance, so I won’t speculate on the 7+ day forecast for late next week because we have no idea where this storm will wind up. It could move over Colorado and bring us a day or two of clouds and high elevation snow showers, or it could miss us completely and we will stay dry. Time will tell.

On a somewhat different topic, the peak of leaf viewing depends somewhat on your exact location, but based on my own pictures from the last 11 seasons, I’d say the first weekend in October is about the height of the color. So this weekend (Sep 26-27) and the following weekend (Oct 3-4) should be gorgeous, and I hope you’ll get out there. If we do see a storm later next week (about Oct 1-2, ish), this could dust the mountain tops with snow, which would make the scenery even more gorgeous, but the wind and snow from the storm could also take some of the leaves off the trees. We’ll see.

Have a great weekend and I will check in again during the middle of next week (September 30th) after the wedding fun has settled down.

As I enter a new phase of life (being married!), I can’t help but take a moment and think back over the last eight years of writing snow forecasts, first on an email list that I started with 37 people, then on coloradopowderforecast.com, and then on opensnow.com. I thank you so much for enjoying my work (and our other forecasters!) and supporting me with your viewership, your words, and your actions. Writing about weather is what I love to do, and you make it possible. Again, thank you:-)

JOEL GRATZ