Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

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FXUS65 KBOU 171756
AFDBOU

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO
1156 AM MDT Sun Mar 17 2024

.KEY MESSAGES...

- A little cooler today with a slight chance of light snow mainly
  in the mountains and foothills.

- Warmer weather next week, with occasional light mountain snow
  showers through the week.

&&

.UPDATE...
Issued at 951 AM MDT Sun Mar 17 2024

Visible satellite imagery shows clouds have pushed south into the
forecast area this morning. Temperatures are now starting to climb
out of the 30s and should remain on track with the current
forecast. We adjusted the sky grids to account for the lack of
cloud coverage over Park and Grand Counties at this time. &&

.SHORT TERM...(Today and tonight)
Issued at 325 AM MDT Sun Mar 17 2024

Overall, conditions will be fairly similar to yesterday. More
cloud cover around will likely lower high temperatures by a couple
of degrees from Saturday however. Northeast CO will remain under
a deformation zone today, with a closed upper low over the Desert
Southwest and trough over the Great Lakes Region. There is a fair
amount of mid level cloudiness along the Front Range/Urban
Corridor and it looks like it will persist through much of the
day. There were isolated to scattered snow showers overnight in
the mountains and over the Palmer Divide this morning but those
are decreasing at this time. Some of those showers are expected to
return this afternoon, with the best chance in the mountains from
the I-70 corridor southward. Across the plains, light west/northwest
this morning will increase a become north/northwest this
afternoon. The northeast plains could see some gusts to
around 30 mph this afternoon.

.LONG TERM...(Monday through Saturday)
Issued at 249 AM MDT Sun Mar 17 2024

Quiet weather to prevail early next week over Colorado while we
sit between a long wave trough over eastern North America and the
persistent upper level low over the Desert Southwest. Temperatures
Monday warm up to near normal, mid to upper 50s over northeast
Colorado. The warming trend continues into Tuesday with lower to
mid 60s for northeast Colorado. The slowly weakening closed low
over the Desert Southwest crawls a little closer to the region
Tuesday with a few snow showers possible over the mountains. Not
much change for Wednesday as the Desert Southwest low finally gets
caught up in the flow aloft and tracks east across the Southern
Rockies. This will bring another chance for snow showers to the
central and southern Colorado mountains.

For Thursday through Saturday, a westerly flow aloft will
prevail. Expect seasonal temperatures to continue under this
pattern with upper 50s to mid 60s over northeast Colorado. Will
begin to see better chances for mountain snow Friday and Saturday
when a wave or two tracks across the region. This will be ahead of
stronger trough diving south along the Pacific coast which occurs
Saturday and Sunday. Details on this trough, on how strong it
will be and where it tracks is still unclear with it being a week
away.

&&

.SHORT TERM...(Today and tonight)
Issued at 325 AM MDT Sun Mar 17 2024

Overall, conditions will be fairly similar to yesterday. More
cloud cover around will likely lower high temperatures by a couple
of degrees from Saturday however. Northeast CO will remain under
a deformation zone today, with a closed upper low over the Desert
Southwest and trough over the Great Lakes Region. There is a fair
amount of mid level cloudiness along the Front Range/Urban
Corridor and it looks like it will persist through much of the
day. There were isolated to scattered snow showers overnight in
the mountains and over the Palmer Divide this morning but those
are decreasing at this time. Some of those showers are expected to
return this afternoon, with the best chance in the mountains from
the I-70 corridor southward. Across the plains, light west/northwest
this morning will increase a become north/northwest this
afternoon. The northeast plains could see some gusts to
around 30 mph this afternoon.

.LONG TERM...(Monday through Saturday)
Issued at 249 AM MDT Sun Mar 17 2024

Quiet weather to prevail early next week over Colorado while we
sit between a long wave trough over eastern North America and the
persistent upper level low over the Desert Southwest. Temperatures
Monday warm up to near normal, mid to upper 50s over northeast
Colorado. The warming trend continues into Tuesday with lower to
mid 60s for northeast Colorado. The slowly weakening closed low
over the Desert Southwest crawls a little closer to the region
Tuesday with a few snow showers possible over the mountains. Not
much change for Wednesday as the Desert Southwest low finally gets
caught up in the flow aloft and tracks east across the Southern
Rockies. This will bring another chance for snow showers to the
central and southern Colorado mountains.

For Thursday through Saturday, a westerly flow aloft will
prevail. Expect seasonal temperatures to continue under this
pattern with upper 50s to mid 60s over northeast Colorado. Will
begin to see better chances for mountain snow Friday and Saturday
when a wave or two tracks across the region. This will be ahead of
stronger trough diving south along the Pacific coast which occurs
Saturday and Sunday. Details on this trough, on how strong it
will be and where it tracks is still unclear with it being a week
away.

&&

.AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Monday afternoon)
Issued at 1142 AM MDT Sun Mar 17 2024

Ceilings have lowered to around 6000` AGL for KDEN, KBJC, and
KAPA this afternoon. These low ceilings should persist through
04Z before clearing out overnight. Light NNW winds will continue
through 04Z when they will shift to S/SW flow. A transition to
westerly flow is likely late tomorrow morning/early afternoon.

&&

.BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
None.
&&

$$

UPDATE...Bonner
SHORT TERM...Cooper
LONG TERM...Meier
AVIATION...Bonner


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