For more than a month, a ridge of high pressure has been sitting over the Four Corners Region and the Southern High Plains, deflecting Pacific storms and their cold fronts to the north. As a result, the Front Range urban corridor has enjoyed warm, dry, sunny weather, with afternoon highs often reaching the seventies and low eighties (F).
This afternoon, gusty southwest winds have again brought mild, sunny weather to the area but the end is near. By 2PM, clouds were building to the west and the Continental Divide began to disappear within an upslope haze of snow. A broad atmospheric trough, which currently encompasses most of the Pacific Northwest and Intermountain West, is moving eastward, producing a surface low along its leading edge.
By this evening, that cold front will move across the Front Range urban corridor and our winds will shift from the northeast. This upslope flow will initially produce rain showers but, as the atmosphere cools, wet snow is expected by early morning. Fortunately, Colorado will be enveloped by the trough for the coming week and cool, showery weather should become the rule, bringing some relief from our recent drought. Sometimes, The End is a good thing!
