Yesterday, we returned to our Littleton farm to find that several days of extreme heat and bright sunshine had taken a toll on the vegetation. The leaves of our native shrubs were drooping and our "lawns" and pastures were more brown than green.
Fortunately, a cold front dipped through northeastern Colorado last night, protecting us (for now) from the hot domes of high pressure that sit over the Eastern U.S. and the Desert Southwest. Our afternoon high was almost 20 degrees (F) cooler than it was yesterday and clockwise winds around the center of high pressure (now over the western Dakotas) ignited afternoon thunderstorms, bringing welcome rain and dropping the temperature into the sixties.
This welcome relief from our recent heat wave should last a couple of days before the atmospheric ridge from the Desert Southwest expands northward once again. It's a battle of high pressure domes and most of us along the Front Range are surely rooting for our protector from the Northern Plains.
Fortunately, a cold front dipped through northeastern Colorado last night, protecting us (for now) from the hot domes of high pressure that sit over the Eastern U.S. and the Desert Southwest. Our afternoon high was almost 20 degrees (F) cooler than it was yesterday and clockwise winds around the center of high pressure (now over the western Dakotas) ignited afternoon thunderstorms, bringing welcome rain and dropping the temperature into the sixties.
This welcome relief from our recent heat wave should last a couple of days before the atmospheric ridge from the Desert Southwest expands northward once again. It's a battle of high pressure domes and most of us along the Front Range are surely rooting for our protector from the Northern Plains.
