Sunday, September 15, 2013

Into the Plume

Driving back to Colorado today, we traveled just south of a cold front that was pushing south across the Great Plains.  As a result, intermittent showers developed throughout most of Kansas though winds were light and afternoon highs hovered in the seventies.

Once we reached Goodland, however, we crossed the arc of the front and a northeast, upsloping wind, produced a layer of low, gray clouds.  The upslope intensified in eastern Colorado, leading to a persistent drizzle and banks of pea soup fog.  Finally, nearing Metro Denver, heavier downpours raked the highway, fed by monsoon moisture from the south; by the time we reached our Littleton farm, the temperature had dropped into the lower fifties and a chilly rain was falling.

Fortunately, the monsoon rains are expected to diminish over the next 24 hours and a warm, sunny week should dry out much of the Metro Area.  On the other hand, the extensive flooding across Boulder and Larimer Counties will take much longer to subside and the floodwaters will move down the South Platte Valley, inundating other areas of northeast Colorado and possibly extending into Nebraska.