Ski condition reports are just one of the many new features recently added to ThorntonWeather.com.
ThorntonWeather.com is just like the Colorado weather – we are constantly changing! In recent weeks we have added a number of features that we are sure everyone will appreciate from ski condition reports to Denver traffic conditions to national radar and maps. Some of the new additions include:
Added the Colorado Ski Conditions from Colorado Ski Country USA. It is available under the Live Conditions menu on the left.
Modified the Weather Maps page to start off showing the approaching systems (vice radar). Also changed the selection menu at the bottom of the page to show regional information on top.
Do you have a suggestion for something you would like to see us add? Do you have any other comments, questions or criticisms? Use the comment feature below and let us know what you think!
Extremely high clouds, known as deep convective clouds, are typically associated with severe storms and rainfall. In this AIRS image of Hurricane Katrina, taken August 28, 2005, the day before Katrina made landfall in Louisiana, the eye of the storm was surrounded by a "super cluster" of 528 deep convective clouds (depicted in dark blue). The temperatures of the tops of such clouds are colder than 210 degrees Kelvin (-82 degrees Fahrenheit). Image credit: NASA/JPL
Scientists are NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA recently released the results of a study that determined that global warming is causing an increase in high clouds and a corresponding increase in severe storms and rainfall. This is not unlike previous warnings issued by some scientists, in particular those warnings of an increase in hurricane intensity and frequency in the Atlantic. Thus far those previous warnings have not bore out. Will this one?
PASADENA, Calif. — The frequency of extremely high clouds in Earth’s tropics — the type associated with severe storms and rainfall — is increasing as a result of global warming, according to a study by scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
In a presentation today to the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco, JPL Senior Research Scientist Hartmut Aumann outlined the results of a study based on five years of data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on NASA’s Aqua spacecraft. The AIRS data were used to observe certain types of tropical clouds linked with severe storms, torrential rain and hail. The instrument typically detects about 6,000 of these clouds each day. Aumann and his team found a strong correlation between the frequency of these clouds and seasonal variations in the average sea surface temperature of the tropical oceans.
For every degree Centigrade (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) increase in average ocean surface temperature, the team observed a 45-percent increase in the frequency of the very high clouds. At the present rate of global warming of 0.13 degrees Celsius (0.23 degrees Fahrenheit) per decade, the team inferred the frequency of these storms can be expected to increase by six percent per decade.
Climate modelers have long speculated that the frequency and intensity of severe storms may or may not increase with global warming. Aumann said results of the study will help improve their models.
“Clouds and rain have been the weakest link in climate prediction,” said Aumann. “The interaction between the daytime warming of the sea surface under clear-sky conditions and increases in the formation of low clouds, high clouds and, ultimately, rain is very complicated. The high clouds in our observations—typically at altitudes of 20 kilometers (12 miles) and higher—present the greatest difficulties for current climate models, which aren’t able to resolve cloud structures smaller than about 250 kilometers (155 miles) in size.”
Aumann said the results of his study, published recently in Geophysical Research Letters, are consistent with another NASA-funded study by Frank Wentz and colleagues in 2005. That study found an increase in the global rain rate of 1.5 percent per decade over 18 years, a value that is about five times higher than the value estimated by climate models that were used in the 2007 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
JPL manages the AIRS project for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. For more information on AIRS, visit http://airs.jpl.nasa.gov/ .
Much of the western and northern Front Range will be under a High Wind Watch starting tonight.
The relative calm of recent days is about to be replaced with high winds not unlike what we saw last week. Winds will increase tonight and continue through Wednesday east of the Continental Divide. Areas west of I-25 to the Divide and in the north and central mountain areas will be under a High Wind Watch from late tonight through Wednesday night.
Much like last week, the usual suspect areas west of I-25 are the places to watch. Fort Collins, Boulder and the western suburbs of Denver are going to get the worst of the wind. The Peak to Peak Highway, Highway 287 north of Fort Collins, the Boulder Turnpike west of Broomfield, and Highway 93 between Boulder and Golden are naturally going to be prime targets.
Wind gusts in excess of 80 mph can be expected in these areas but as we saw last week, other parts of the metro area can receive their fair share of wind as well. As usual, it is best to put away anything in your yards that could be become a missile and if you are driving in the high wind areas, particular along a north / south route, be prepared for extremely gusty conditions.
The good news is that the downslope winds will also bring warmer temperatures – not that you will want to be outside in the wind. Wednesday we will be well above normal with temperatures in the mid 50’s and Thursday could reach the low 60’s. There is a slight chance of snow Friday but that isn’t looking to amount to much.
2008 will go down as the second most active year for tornadoes on record.
According to the latest data from the Storm Prediction Center, the number of confirmed tornadoes in 2008 will finish well above average. Final numbers through the end of October count 1,621 twisters, exceeding the average over the last ten years of 1,270 per year.
Once the data is finalized, the year will most likely go down as the second most active tornado year on record since record keeping began in 1950. 2004 was the most active year with 1,871 and the number three year was 1998 with 1,424.
While some alarmists may look to climate change as a reason for what seems to be an increase in the number of twisters, the explanation is actually much simpler than that. Technology like radar now allows us to ‘see’ tornadoes in rural areas that normally would have gone unreported. Further, as population grows, there are simply more people living in areas that were unpopulated before and thus twisters are spotted more often.
What about Colorado? Certainly we all remember the Windsor tornado in May. Beyond that, there were a total of 61 tornado reports in 2008. The actual number of twisters will certainly be lower than that once duplicate reports are removed and the tally is official.
TORNADO TOTALS AND RELATED DEATHS...THROUGH 12/31/2008
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0726 AM CST THU JAN 01 2009
...NUMBER OF TORNADOES... NUMBER OF KILLER
TORNADO DEATHS TORNADOES
..2008.. ..2007.. 2006 2005 3YR 3YR 3YR
PREL ACT PREL ACT FIN FIN AV 08 07 06 05 AV 08 07 06 05 AV
JAN 136 84 29 21 47 33 34 7 2 1 4 2 4 1 1 2 1
FEB 230 148 87 52 12 10 25 59 22 0 0 7 12 3 0 0 1
MAR 150 126 214 171 150 62 128 4 27 11 1 13 3 10 7 1 6
APR 189 189 187 165 245 132 181 0 9 38 0 16 0 3 9 0 4
MAY 597 460 282 250 139 123 171 43 14 3 0 6 10 4 1 0 2
JUN 394 289 152 128 120 316 188 7 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0
JUL 120 94 55 69 71 138 93 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
AUG 145 99 87 73 80 123 92 0 1 1 4 2 0 1 1 3 2
SEP 133 111 63 51 84 133 89 2 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1
OCT 28 21 115 87 76 18 60 0 5 0 0 2 0 3 0 1 1
NOV 20 - 7 7 42 150 66 2 0 10 28 13 2 0 3 5 3
DEC 50 - 22 19 40 26 33 0 1 2 0 1 0 1 2 0 1
---- --- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- --- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
SUM 2192 1621 1300 1093 1106 1264 1159 125 81 67 38 62 37 26 25 13 21
PREL = 2009 PRELIMINARY COUNT FROM NWS LOCAL STORM REPORTS.
ACT = ACTUAL COUNT BASED ON NWS STORM DATA SUBMISSIONS.
TORNADO-RELATED FATALITY NUMBERS ARE ENTERED WHEN CONFIRMED BY NWS
FORECAST OFFICES.
January 4th to the 10th - This week in Denver weather history.
High winds and arctic cold, the two primary weather conditions we expect to see this time of year, dominate our look back at this week in Denver weather history.
31-6
IN 1973…THE 31ST MARKED THE START OF A PROTRACTED COLD SPELL THAT EXTENDED INTO JANUARY OF 1974 WHEN TEMPERATURES DIPPED BELOW ZERO ON 7 CONSECUTIVE DAYS. RECORD DAILY MINIMUM READINGS OCCURRED ON THE 3RD AND 5TH WHEN THE TEMPERATURE PLUNGED TO 17 DEGREES BELOW ZERO ON BOTH DAYS. A RECORD LOW DAILY MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF ONLY 4 DEGREES OCCURRED ON THE 5TH.
31-7
IN 1941…A PROTRACTED COLD SPELL THROUGH JANUARY 7…1942… PRODUCED BELOW ZERO LOW TEMPERATURES ON 7 OF THE 8 DAYS. A LOW TEMPERATURE OF 2 DEGREES ON THE 3RD PREVENTED A STRING OF 8 DAYS BELOW ZERO. THE COLDEST DAYS DURING THE PERIOD WERE THE 1ST WITH A HIGH OF 2 DEGREES AND A LOW OF 9 DEGREES BELOW ZERO…THE 4TH WITH A HIGH OF 2 DEGREES AND A LOW OF 11 DEGREES BELOW ZERO…AND THE 5TH WITH A HIGH OF 26 DEGREES AND A LOW OF 12 DEGREES BELOW ZERO.
1-5
IN 1940…THE FIRST DAYS OF THE MONTH WERE CHARACTERIZED BY A MIXTURE OF DRIZZLE…LIGHT SNOW…AND FOG. FOG OCCURRED ON EACH DAY. ON THE 4TH AND 5TH CONSIDERABLE GLAZING RESULTED FROM FREEZING DRIZZLE. ALL OBJECTS WERE COATED WITH A GLAZE ON THE WINDWARD SIDE. THIS RESULTED IN VERY SLIPPERY STREETS…WHICH CAUSED SEVERAL MINOR TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS. THE GLAZE WAS NOT HEAVY ENOUGH TO DAMAGE WIRES AND CABLES.
This amazing image of the Windsor tornado was taken from a backyard webcam. Image courtesy MyWindsorWeather.com.
May 22, 2008 started like most other spring days in Colorado. That Thursday morning had dawned with relatively mild temperatures and a touch of humidity in the air. That moisture in the air was a warning sign as moist air from the Gulf of Mexico was entering the state and a signal of the potential for severe storms. No one knew though just what was in store for a small town in northeastern Colorado.
As temperatures rose in the morning, the moist air near the ground mixed with fast moving dry air aloft and created conditions ideal for supercell thunderstorms and tornadoes. Hail began to fall around 11:20am near Platteville, a harbinger of things to come. As the weather situation became much more excited and confused, reports of a twister on the ground near Gilcrest at 11:29 rolled in.
A classic wedge tornado had formed and was moving to the north-northwest at a leisurely 30 mph wreaking havoc and destruction all along its path. Examiner.com soon posted a special report at 11:30 warning of the twister and showing its expected path. It narrowly missed the town of Milliken, dumping baseball sized hail on it instead. The twister was now a full mile wide with winds in excess of 136 mph and at 11:57am, the storm struck Windsor, home to 16,000 Coloradoans. By the time it was done with the town, it had claimed one life, destroyed 80 homes and damaged nearly 770 others.
For a total of nearly 45 minutes the storm carved a 35 mile long path of devastation and all along its path it left the evidence – houses with nothing but a foundation left, power poles snapped like matchsticks, semi-trailers overturned like toy cars, mangled pieces of metal and shards of wood.
Tornadoes in Colorado are not uncommon with an average of 60 per year, although most do occur on the eastern plains in more rural areas. The storm was only the second deadly tornado in Colorado in the last 10 years (the Holly tornado in 2007 being the other) but it served to highlight that the Front Range is on the western edge of Tornado Alley. Weld County is in fact Colorado’s own tornado capital having had more twisters than any other county since 1950.
When it was over, Coloradoans showed their sense of community in helping the affected areas. The Red Cross immediately went into action as did the state government in calling out the National Guard to help. Donations poured in and other relief agencies provided food and shelter to those left homeless. While the Windsor Tornado was an example of the worst of Mother Nature, the storm also showed us the best of mankind. No other weather event comes close to being Colorado’s biggest weather story of 2008.
Below is some amazing raw video from 9News of the tornado as it moved north.
High winds have hit the Front Range with gusts exceeding 80mph in some areas. These winds are extremely gusty and have the potential to cause damage and can make driving conditions difficult.
A High Wind Warning remains in effect for much of the Front Range and foothills until 8:00am (see area map below). While Thornton is not in the warning area, we have received our fair share as ThorntonWeather.com recorded a 51mph gust earlier this morning. In the near term, west winds of 15 to 30 mph gusting to 45 mph are expected all along the I-25 corridor. Gusts as high as 75 mph will occur near the base of the foothills and areas in northern Jefferson County, Boulder County and Larimer County in particular will receive the highest winds.
These winds will cause blowing dust and drivers on north-south roads need to be wary as the cross winds could cause a loss of control. It would not be surprising to hear of accidents with light weight or high profile vehicles this morning. Power outages are of course a possibility as well.
From the National Weather Service, here are some of the recorded gusts across the Front Range:
05:48 AM 12/30/2008 REPORTED BY: ASOS
BROOMFIELD COUNTY, CO – 2 MILES WEST-NORTHWEST OF BROOMFIELD
December 28 to January 3 - This week in Denver weather history.
This week in Denver weather history is very interesting for a couple of reasons. First is the two year anniversary of the holiday snow storms of 2006 as it was from December 27th to the 28th that the second major storm in a week buried the city even further in a blanket of snow. Second, we see many occurrences of high winds, some damaging, which reminds us that the winds we have been experiencing and will continued to experience this week aren’t all that unusual.
25-31
IN 1980…TEMPERATURES WERE UNUSUALLY WARM DURING THE WEEK BETWEEN CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR`S. HIGH TEMPERATURES FOR THE WEEK RANGED FROM THE MID-50`S TO THE MID-70`S. FOUR TEMPERATURE RECORDS WERE SET. RECORD HIGHS OCCURRED ON THE 26TH WITH 68 DEGREES…THE 27TH WITH 75 DEGREES…AND THE 30TH WITH 71 DEGREES. A RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 41 DEGREES OCCURRED ON THE 27TH.
26-28
IN 1979 A HEAVY SNOW STORM DUMPED 6 TO 10 INCHES OF SNOW OVER THE METRO AREA AND 15 TO 20 INCHES AT BOULDER WITH UP TO 2 FEET IN THE FOOTHILLS WEST OF BOULDER. HEAVY SNOWFALL TOTALED 6.0 INCHES AT STAPLETON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT WHERE NORTH WINDS GUSTED TO 21 MPH. MOST OF THE SNOW… 4.8 INCHES…FELL ON THE 27TH.
27-28
IN 1997…HIGH WINDS COMBINED WITH FRESH SNOW FROM A PREVIOUS STORM CAUSED HIGHWAYS TO BECOME SLICK FROM DRIFTING SNOW AND NEAR WHITEOUT CONDITIONS IN LOCALIZED GROUND BLIZZARDS. STRONG WINDS BLEW SNOW ACROSS THE RUNWAYS AT CENTENNIAL AIRPORT…WHICH GLAZED OVER AND FORMED AREAS OF ICE. TWO PLANES WERE DAMAGED WHEN THEY SLID OFF THE RUNWAY WHILE LANDING. NO INJURIES WERE REPORTED. NUMEROUS ACCIDENTS ALSO OCCURRED ON I-25 AND I-70 AS ICE FORMED UNDER THE SAME CONDITIONS. A ROLLOVER ACCIDENT WHICH INJURED 4 PEOPLE ON STATE HIGHWAY 93 NEAR THE ROCKY FLATS ENVIRONMENTAL TEST FACILITY WAS ALSO ATTRIBUTED TO THE HIGH WINDS. THE HIGH WINDS CAUSED AN OFFICE BUILDING AND SHOWROOM UNDER CONSTRUCTION IN GOLDEN TO COLLAPSE. THE LARGEST WALL WAS 180 FEET LONG AND 28 FEET HIGH. SOME HIGH WIND REPORTS INCLUDED: 86 MPH AT GOLDEN GATE CANYON…72 MPH NEAR CONIFER…AND 70 MPH AT JEFFERSON COUNTY AIRPORT AND THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH ON THE MESA NEAR BOULDER. WEST-NORTHWEST WINDS GUSTED TO 53 MPH AT DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ON THE 27TH.
As we continue on what has been a relatively dry season thus far, cold and dry are the key words to remember when it comes to January. The month is the coldest of the year and the second driest as well. Just how cold can January get? The record low temperature for each day of the month is at least 10 degrees below zero.
Old Man Winter brought a white Christmas to much of the northern half of the United States which may be a blessing or a curse depending on your point of view. Images released by the National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center show that many areas that wouldn’t normally expect snow are covered in a blanket of white this Christmas.
Much of the country west of the Continental Divide will have snow or rain Christmas Day. Areas of the Sierra Nevada and southwestern Colorado will be measuring the snow in feet. Salt Lake City is expecting 4 to 8 inches while here in Denver we remain dry and will actually have a pretty mild day.
In the northeast they will have a cold and blustery holiday. Lake Erie and Lake Ontario will generate some lake-effect snows from Pennsylvania through New York and into northern New England.
The latest cold blast to hit the nation has caused travel woes across much of it. In Chicago, 500 flights were canceled on Tuesday stranding many travelers, some of whom won’t be able to reach their destination until today. 100 flights were canceled at O’Hare Wednesday but delays improved as the day went on. Sadly the weather did have a more serious toll as between Tuesday and Wednesday at least 30 people were killed in crashes on rain- and ice-slickened roads across the nation’s midsection.
Out west in Washington and Oregon, residents and government officials were wishing for a return to their normal rainy weather as they were unprepared for the snow that has fallen in recent days. In Portland, Oregon many side streets were impassable without chains or four wheel drive. Wednesday more snow fell followed by rain which most likely will add to the problems when it freezes tonight.
Washington Governor Chris Gregoire declared a statewide winter storm emergency saying, “A number of counties and cities are struggling to meet the problems posed by this month’s onslaught of snow and winter weather. Snowfall has reached record or near-record level in 30 of the state’s 39 counties.” Her proclamation will allow state agencies to support local operations including the activation of the National Guard.
Here in Colorado, much of the western slope is under various types of winter weather advisories. A Winter Storm Warning covers the western half of the state and Blizzard and Avalanche Warnings cover some areas south of I-70. Needless to say, Christmas Day travel in the high country will be greatly impeded by these storms.
Good weather along the eastern part of Colorado has allowed Denver International Airport to operate normally for the most part. However, some delays were experienced for flights heading to other parts of the nation affected by the winter weather.
Weather, natural disasters & climate news and information.
Here in Colorado, much of the western slope is under