Colorado Daily Snow

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By Joel Gratz, Founding Meteorologist Posted 6 years ago August 2, 2017

Early August cool-down east of the mountains

Update

Hope you’re having a great summer so far!

I am writing a non-snow-related update because there is a bit of interesting weather coming to Colorado on Thursday, August 3rd.

A front will bring cooler air to areas near and east of the divide on Thursday. Areas like Denver, Boulder, Ft Collins, and west to the continental divide around Longs Peak and the Indian Peaks will see temperatures drop to 10-20 degrees below normal. Turn off the A/C and enjoy the cool air! Maybe even through on an OpenSnow hoodie for good measure!

This is a map of temperature compared to average on Thursday. Notice the cool conditions over northeastern Colorado.

To give a perspective of how much cooler the air will be on Thursday, let’s first take a look at the high-temperature forecast for Wednesday.

And below is the high-temperature forecast for Thursday. Notice that high temperatures over the eastern half of Colorado should decrease by 10-20F compared to Wednesday’s highs, while temperatures over the western half of Colorado will be similar between Wednesday and Thursday.

Why will eastern Colorado cool off while western Colorado (most of the mountains) not see the cool air?

First, movement of the cold front is from northwest-to-southeast and is sideswiping northeastern Colorado as it pushes toward the middle of the country.

Second, the cooler air is dense and heavy and does not easily flow up and over the bigger mountains. This means that the coolest air will hug the eastern side of the mountains, and won’t get over the continental divide to the west. If this were a winter storm, we’d be talking about the best snow around Rocky Mountain National Park and over the flatlands around Denver.

I always enjoy a strong cold front, but there is another reason that I am interested in Thursday’s weather.

There should be low clouds hugging the eastern slopes of the mountains on Thursday morning and midday. The purple colors show high humidity at about 10,000 feet, which indicates a good chance for clouds.

I love hiking to the summit of a peak to get above the low clouds and look down on an ocean of white fluff. It’s a tough meteorological challenge to forecast the location and height of the low clouds, and there’s another challenge to find a hike that gets you just above these clouds. It’s a fun puzzle to attempt to solve.

Enjoy the cooler air on Thursday, and I’ll post an update soon with a view above the clouds if the plan comes together...

JOEL GRATZ

About Our Forecaster

Joel Gratz

Founding Meteorologist

Joel Gratz is the Founding Meteorologist of OpenSnow and has lived in Boulder, Colorado since 2003. Before moving to Colorado, he spent his childhood as a (not very fast) ski racer in eastern Pennsylvania.

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