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413 FXUS65 KBOU 121819 AFDBOU Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO 1219 PM MDT Sun Oct 12 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Windy with a quick shot of snow over the northern mountains this morning. - Dense fog over much of Weld and Morgan counties early this morning. - Precipitation chances return late Monday across the mountains and plains. - Above normal temperatures expected mid-week. && .UPDATE... Issued at 429 AM MDT Sun Oct 12 2025 Dense fog developed in low lying/colder areas of Weld and Morgan counties early this morning. Webcams show visibilities down to 100 yards or less along US 34 and on US 85 south of Greeley. The approaching front should dissipate this by mid morning. Speaking of which, there`s a substantial batch of showers, along with wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph, along the front just entering our area from the west. The snow level will drop in the showers, it`s even down to 32 degrees at Craig, so much of Jackson, Grand, and Summit counties will have a quick shot of wet snow over the next few hours. There shouldn`t be much impact across most of this area, but it may be cold enough over the passes for some slush and also low visibility in the heavier showers. Main impact to I-70 in Summit county should be between 5 and 8 am. Also, it looks like it should get cold enough for at least patchy frost tonight in the colder areas of Weld and Larimer counties. There`s some question about cloud cover and a little wind further south and east, but there`s some threat for Morgan and Logan counties and the colder low spots from Douglas county out to Limon as well. We`ve posted a frost advisory for Weld and Larimer counties where the threat is greatest. It still looks like it should just be the colder spots and not widespread, and not a sure thing. Other minor changes include higher PoPs this morning for the current shower band and more cloud cover although it`s not clear how much will survive east of the mountains, nor how quickly and how far north the warm advection clouds coming up from the south tonight and Monday will develop. && .DISCUSSION /Through Saturday/... Issued at 220 PM MDT Sat Oct 11 2025 Current radar shows scattered light showers over the mountains and plains, which will end this evening as an upper level shortwave reaches Colorado. With tropical moisture being advected into our region, snow levels will stay above 12,000 feet. We have been slow to warm up across the western/northwestern plains today as a surface lee trough has formed, keeping the warmer southeast winds to the east of the low. Current observations show temperatures in the mid 60s closer to the foothills, while the farther eastern plains have already reached mid to high 70s. With the expected cloud cover through this evening, temperatures most likely will stay in the 60s for the majority of the plains. There will be a lull in precipitation across the mountains and plains tonight. Just before sunrise, the upper level shortwave will travel across Wyoming and advect cold air into our region, along with providing enough forcing for precipitation across the higher terrain. 700-mb temperatures should get down to -2 to -4 dg C, which would support snow levels above 8500 feet. Expect 1-4" along the western slopes of the Park Range and Front Range mountains by early Sunday afternoon. In addition, with cross- barrier flow of 30-40 kts. winds could gusts up to 50 mph at the highest peaks, which will make blowing snow likely through early Sunday afternoon. For the plains, downsloping winds should keep conditions dry on Sunday. A well-defined cold front will arrive sometime in the morning, bringing wind gusts up to 45 mph in the northern plains. With minimum relative humidity values between 20-25%, elevated fire weather conditions are possible in the north and northeastern plains. Monday will be cooler behind the cold front, with max temperatures in the low 60s across the plains and 40s-50s in the higher terrain. With south/southwest flow aloft, warm air advection will aid in light showers across the forecast area. As of right now, NBM looks sufficient in the spatial extent of PoPs, with best chances of precipitation across the mountains and eastern plains. Around mid-week, we will continue to be under southwest flow aloft due to an upper level low forming over California and a ridge building over the southern United States. At the surface, southerly winds will bring warmer and drier conditions, with temperatures expected to be 10-15 degrees above seasonal normals. By the end of the week, the upper level trough will travel northeast from California and track into Wyoming. However, there is still model variability in terms of track, evolution, and intensity of the low. Some ensemble solutions favor a piece of energy breaking from the main trough and traversing Colorado, which would bring precipitation chances back to the mountains and plains by Thursday. Will continue to monitor the situation. && .AVIATION /18Z TAFS through 18Z Monday/... Issued at 1151 AM MDT Sun Oct 12 2025 VFR conditions expected through the TAF period. Gusty westerly winds have finally set in across KDEN and KBJC late this morning. With the gusty NW winds in place off the Cheyenne Ridge, an anticyclonic wind pattern has developed across the plains which is keeping KAPA winds light and northeasterly. Expecting gusty WNW winds to persist at KBJC/KDEN through the afternoon before gradually diminishing through the evening. Winds at KDEN are expected to settle into the SSE for the overnight hours and continuing through the TAF period, with increasing gusts beginning around 14/15Z Monday morning. There is low confidence in the winds at KAPA for this afternoon, as there is potential for a shear zone to move across the field keeping the northeasterly winds in place on its northern edge, and bring WSW winds in on its southern edge. If the boundary stays to the south, winds will likely stay northeasterly, but if it moves more north, we can expect winds to become WSW. Have introduced a TEMPO to account for this between 21-24Z. There is far more agreement in guidance and higher confidence in winds past 0Z, with an easterly turn expected before settling into the SSE for the overnight through the rest of the TAF period. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Frost Advisory from 2 AM to 8 AM MDT Monday for COZ038-042-043. && $$ UPDATE...Gimmestad DISCUSSION...MAI AVIATION...999