948
FXUS65 KBOU 062117
AFDBOU

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO
317 PM MDT Mon May 6 2024

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Very active weather pattern through the next couple days, with
  Winter Weather, Fire Weather, and High Wind highlights in effect

- Periods of snow and blowing snow through Tuesday with some
  travel impacts, especially across the Park Range/Rabbit Ears
  Pass.

- Widespread gusty winds continue through at least Tuesday, with
  the strongest winds expected across the higher Foothills.

- Cool and unsettled weather along with much lighter winds
  Thursday through Saturday.

&&

.SHORT TERM /Through Tuesday/...
Issued at 135 PM MDT Mon May 6 2024

High winds will continue to be the main concern for impacts across
northeast Colorado this afternoon through Tuesday. Based on
surface observations, the stronger winds are across the Front
Range mountains/foothills and the adjacent plains with gusts 40-60
mph and locally higher for the Front Range windy spots. Radar
shows snow continuing across the mountains with CDOT cameras shows
minor impacts to the higher passes. A band of showers remains over
northern Weld County; however, large dewpoint depressions will
make it difficult for any liquid to hit the ground.

Starting with the highest impact..wind. Strong winds continue
through Tuesday. Toward the early evening, winds decrease some
across the urban corridor with high winds still across the Front
Range mountains/foothills. More dry subsident flow moves in
overnight. Model cross sections show a period of decreased
moisture in the high country before the next wave approaches.
There is also indication of a wave mountain wave set up during
this time with cross sections showing a stable layer with
increased flow aloft, and decreased moisture. This supports the
potential for wind enhancement across the Front Range mountains
and foothills in the 03-09z timeframe. If this were to set up,
those areas could see gusts 60-75 mph and locally up to 80 mph in
the windy spots, further justifying the ongoing High Wind
Warning. Moisture increases again in the high country by sunrise
and the pressure gradient relaxes across the Front Range which
will decrease the higher magnitude winds Tuesday morning. Tuesday
will still be windy, although not as windy as Monday with HREF
showing mean gusts 40-60 mph for the Front Range and 30-45 mph
elsewhere.

Regarding snow. Snow continues in the mountains through early
this evening with minor impacts to travel possible. Later in the
evening, moisture decreases along with lapse rates promoting a
lull in snow for a period overnight. The next wave increases and
deepens moisture across the high country with steepening lapse
rates early to mid AM Tuesday. This will increase snow showers
across the mountains. Tues AM through late afternoon will be the
best timeframe. Can`t rule out minor impacts, although May sun
angle will make it difficult to accumulate on most trafficked
roads. Mountain passes will have the higher chances of any impact.
With windy conditions, patchy blowing snow is possible. From
tonight through tomorrow, we`ll see closer to advisory level
amounts. Held off for now on issuing any additional headlines
with hesitation on actual travel impact. Could see up to another
foot in the Park Range in spots and 4-8 inches for the Front Range
mountains and mountains of Summit County with some locally higher
amounts.

&&

.LONG TERM /Tuesday night through Monday/...
Issued at 135 PM MDT Mon May 6 2024

Winds will gradually subside Tuesday evening as gradients relax
slightly and we lose daytime heating and mixing. There is still a
moderate gradient aloft, however, so gusty winds could linger off/on
overnight into early Wednesday morning in/near the foothills but to
much less magnitude than tonight. With less wind, clearing skies,
and a very dry airmass, there is a greater than 50% chance of
sub-freezing temperatures on the plains. With the growing season
beginning, we`ve opted for a Freeze Watch in all but the northeast
corner where winds will stay up a bit more. There`s a greater
chance we could remain above freezing in some of the western
suburbs depending on wind, but opted to keep it simple for now
with a contiguous area across the plains and I-25 Corridor. It`s
also been quite some time since it`s frozen in the western
suburbs.

For Wednesday, generally lighter breezes are expected in most
areas, with temperatures still averaging a few degrees below
normal. We`ll be mostly caught in between moisture sources
(departing to our east and another staying to our north) during
the day, so only a few mountains snow showers expected.

That will start to change Wednesday night and Thursday as an
elongated trough slips southward into our forecast area. And yes,
that will be the remnants of the deepening (current) storm system
moving through the western Dakotas tonight and Tuesday. Given the
increase in moisture and instability associated with the upper
trough, at least scattered showers are expected Thursday and
Thursday night. Temperatures will be several degrees below normal,
and in fact snow levels could hover around 7,000 feet during the
day, and a little lower than that at night. We don`t see any big
precipitation amounts at this time, but perhaps a couple more
inches for the northern mountain snowpack.

For Friday into Saturday, there is still considerable uncertainty
regarding how the upper trough further elongates and even shears
south/southwest. The EPS members are showing strong agreement with
the shearing/deeper trough into the Desert Southwest, while the
GEFS is almost entirely opposite showing the elongated trough
essentially getting squashed to our south and building a ridge
quicker into our area. Even the EPS, however, is a little too far
south and west so overall a drier weather pattern is expected to
develop sometime around Friday, and then hold through most of the
weekend. It`s hard to buy the EPS solution of lifting the low back
to the northeast and across us toward Sunday, but definitely
worth keeping an eye on as that could slow our warming trend and
drier weather forecast. At this point, it`s hard to argue with the
ensemble forecast which shows gradual moderation and above normal
temperatures by Sunday and Monday. Low odds (~20%) that we would
stay cooler with more numerous showers.

&&

.AVIATION /18Z TAFS through 18Z Tuesday/...
Issued at 1219 PM MDT Mon May 6 2024

Expect VFR conditions through the TAF period. Strong westerly,
gusty winds continue this afternoon through the early evening.
Gusts in the 30-40 kt range are likely this afternoon with higher
gusts at BJC (~40-55 kts). Winds decrease gradually early
evening 23-03z at APA and DEN out of the W/WSW. Winds may stay
more elevated at BJC for for the early evening, decreasing toward
midnight. 09-12z winds turn more westerly at the terminals. Winds
mix out in the 14-17z timeframe Tuesday morning, bringing back
gusty WNW winds although not as high as Monday. Gusts up to 35 kts
possible in the afternoon.

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...
Issued at 135 PM MDT Mon May 6 2024

Critical fire weather conditions expected for southern Lincoln
County and far southeastern Elbert County Tuesday. Min relative
humidity dropping to 8-12% combined with gusty winds up to 40 mph
will support this. The rest of the plains has potential for areas
of elevated conditions in the afternoon. A Red Flag Warning will
be in effect for southern Lincoln County/SE Elbert County Tuesday
from 11 AM to 7 PM.

&&

.BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
Winter Weather Advisory until 6 PM MDT this evening for COZ031-
033-034.

High Wind Warning until 6 AM MDT Tuesday for COZ035-036.

High Wind Warning until midnight MDT tonight for COZ038-039.

Freeze Watch from late Tuesday night through Wednesday morning
for COZ038>049.

Red Flag Warning until 9 PM MDT this evening for COZ247.

Red Flag Warning from 11 AM to 7 PM MDT Tuesday for COZ247.

&&

$$

SHORT TERM...Mensch
LONG TERM...Barjenbruch
AVIATION...Mensch
FIRE WEATHER...Mensch