Welcome To Northern Colorado Weather

May 15, 2012 - Quiet weather since last update.  A couple of tornadoes near North Platte, NE on April 14 and a couple in southeast Colorado on April 26-27.  Some funnels reported as well.  Finally received about .4" of rain last week as a strong cold front pushed through the area.  Another wildland fire broke out yesterday west of Ft. Collins.  The Hewlett Fire is 0% contained and has burned about 250 acres.  The smell of smoke was prevalent overnight.

Today and for the foreseeable future, temps warm up to the low 80's and aside from some high-based, gusty thunderstorms over the mountains, no significant weather is expected. 

April 1, 2012 - Getting to sound like a broken record with these updates.  Like last year at this time, there is little in the way of weather etc. to talk/blog about.  Since my last update, we have had several fires break out as a result of a couple of high wind events.  Most notably, the Lower North Fork fire southwest of Denver.  As of today, the fire has burned nearly 4,200 acres and is 90% contained.  Unfortunately, two lives were lost as were numerous structures.

Today, Red Flag Warnings go out for much of eastern, southeastern and mountains of Colorado.  This includes the Lower North Fork fire area.  We will top out at about 83 degrees before a strong cold front arrives and takes our temps down.  May see some rain/snow - mostly south and west of Denver.  The rest of the week and into the near future looks warm and dry.  

March 11, 2012 - It's been rather quiet around these parts for a while.  Hard to believe the Japanese tsunami was a year ago.  The annual move your clocks forward ritual took place early this morning.  Severe weather is affecting folks in southern Louisianna this evening.  There have been devastating (life and property) severe weather events over the last month or so.  Around here, it looks  to be a quiet week with temps in the high 60's and low 70's and little chance of precipitation or storms.  Pretty much like last year (sigh).

February 23, 2012 - a very strong cold front visited northern Colorado early this morning after marching its way through Wyoming on the heels of some very gusty (70+ mph) winds the last couple of days.  Although it wasn't supposed to be a big snow generator for us, it went convective and put down a lot of snow around the Denver metro area (much to forecasters dismay).  Around here, only a trace of snow fell.  Around 2am, the winds (gusting around 51 mph) shifted from west to north and rain began falling.  In a short time after the wind shift, blizzard-like conditions developed.  I posted a video of the conditions shortly after the wind shift/rain-snow changeover.  You can watch it here.

February 4, 2012 - storm report up on blog regarding the winter storm from last two days.  

Also, late this afternoon, I was informed by a fellow storm chaser that one of the best chasers in the world, Andy Gabrielson, was killed in a traffic crash south of Tulsa earlier today.  Andy was a friend and will be missed by all of us in the chasing community.  R.I.P. Andy. 

February 2, 2012 - significant winter storm due to impact eastern/northeastern Colorado over the next 2-3 days.

January 12, 2012 - added a brief write-up regarding yesterday's winter storm including a brief video and some radar grabs.

Happy New Year!

January 1, 2012 - 2011 went out with a bang as northern Colorado saw some serious wind hit the area throughout the last day of the year.  Gusts often reached 50+ mph, causing damage to roofs and trees.  By 8p MST, the wind calmed and we greeted the new year under clear and crisp skies.  

The past year was so-so chasing-wise.  Weddings and other commitments prevented me from making any significant road trips.  

Severe weather within my home area was lackluster with only a few severe weather events noted.  I chased when time allowed and since I don't focus solely on tornados, the chases I did make were fun; especially, the winter storm events.  

I continued to add content to my web site and making changes in formats etc.  

Like last year, 2012 is starting with a La Nina pattern.  Unlike last year, as of this post, the long range weather models show absolutely nothing of interest for the next 10 or more days.  I am hopeful the weather will be more active than last year.  Regardless, I plan to be out documenting the weather as often as possible.  

I am hoping to get more into still photography and sharpening my videography skills.  Purchasing some new equipment is also on my list of things to do this year.  As always, I will live stream my adventures.  

So, a toast to 2012 and what it has to bring.  Hope everyone has a happy and safe 2012!      

Merry Christmas!

December 24, 2011 - added a brief write-up regarding the most recent winter storm.  Long range models pretty benign for the foreseeable future.  I will be working on posting a summary of my 2011 chase year.  Until then, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

December 11, 2011 - included a brief write-up and pics from yesterday's lunar eclipse.

December 3, 2011 - added blogs regarding the last two winter storms to hit our area.

November 20, 2011 - renamed Photo page to Gallery and changed plug-in used for it

November 4, 2011 - updated blog regarding the latest winter storm that hit our area a couple of days ago.

October 29, 2011 - added a blog regarding the latest winter storm impacting my area.

October 25, 2011 - added a quick blog regarding the potential snow event for later today and tomorrow.

October 1. 2011 - added a quick blog reviewing weather events last month and what to expect for this month.

September 3, 2011 -  revamped Live Chase Cam page to make it easier to see stream, chat and location on one screen. 

August 22, 2011 - chase report from August 20, 2011 added to blog with additional photos and some video.

August 16, 2011 - added a quick blog about today's monsoon chase as well as updated the photographs page with some additional photos.

August 2, 2011 - added chat capability to the Live Chase Cam page and updated blog with a monsoon chase I did a couple of days ago.

July 13, 2011 - wrote a couple quick little blogs about the local monsoon chases the past couple of days.  Posted some video as well.

July 4, 2011 - Trolled around the area looking at various fireworks show.  Unlike last year, the rains stayed away although it was cloudy and windy.  The next few days look to be a little more stormier with monsoon-like conditions visiting the area.  Posted a short video on my video page of some of the fireworks I saw this evening. 

June 15, 2011 - Managed to get my blog ported to the web site using WordPress.  Will work on getting the layout smoothed out for all the blogs as time permits.  Added a couple of pics to the slideshow of an early morning hail/rain storm that struck Greeley yesterday as a result of a cold front passing through.  Some storms expected in se WY/NE panhandle and extreme ne CO tomorrow.  Right now they appear to be more hail/rain and wind than anything else.

June 13, 2011 - Updated blog to reflect my garden shower chase from yesterday.

June 10, 2011 - Updated blog to reflect my local garden shower chase from two days ago.  Looking ahead, tomorrow may hold some promise for more "extreme" weather to include rotating storms.  Keeping a watchful (hopeful) eye...

June 7, 2011 - Updated blog to reflect my tour of area flooding today.  Made some cosmetic changes to the web site as well over the past week.  Cooling down for the next three days with increasing chances of rain.  Flood threat continues.

June 3, 2011 - Loveland made it to 90F yesterday at 1:35p according to the local METAR sight.  The Cache La Poudre river entering Ft. Collins is at 6.64' as of 8:30 this morning.  Record is at 10.5' and flood stage is at 12'.  Some minor flooding near the trails has been observed.  The Big Thompson River in Loveland is at 2.69' as of 7:30a this morning and its flood stage is 6'.  More seasonal weather today before another warm up this weekend into early next week.  Dry conditions expected throughout the week.

May 31, 2011 - Updated blog to reflect the backyard jaunt to storms that fired yesterday along a convergence boundary.  Looks like May will end quietly as we now enter a period of very warm weather with little storm activity.  Attention needs to turn to the possible record flooding we may see as the warm temperatures heat the record snowpack that is still in the mountains.  Hopefully, we will also see a lot more severe weather in the weeks ahead as this season so far has been, well, a bust!

May 17, 2011  - Finally had a chase day but nothing to brag about.  Updated blog and added a couple of pics to the photo gallery. 

 May 2, 2011 - Not a lot to review since last post over a month ago (sad).  We were plagued by several wildfires and continuing dry conditions as La Nina continued to influence our weather.  On the other side of the state, record snowfall continued and at least the majority of the watersheds look to be in good shape as we continue.  The first severe warning in my area went up in the northeast part of the state on April 21 - mostly due to the high straight line winds.  A landspout was reported earlier today near Pueblo, CO.   Probably the biggest weather event was the massive outbreak of severe weather in the south and southeast during the last week of April.  The biggest non-weather event will undoubtedly be the death of Osama Bin Laden by a US Navy Seal Team yesterday.

The upcoming weather pattern looks dismal in terms of severe weather for the area as an Omega Block (aka "Death Ridge") appears to be on its way.  However, it does appear that La Nina is weakening so there may be hope yet.

March 28, 2011 - Not a whole lot to review from the past week.  Several wildfires popped up as a result of our continued dry and windy weather.  The most notable, the Burning Tree Fire, affected a populated area east of Castle Rock, CO.  Fortunately, it was a grass fire and was quickly contained.  I received my "official" HAM license from the FCC - my call sign is KD0NZM.  Not going to get big into the amateur radio scene - staying with the 2M and 70cm stuff for now.  Severe weather last week - mostly big hail.

This week we started out cloudy and gloomy.  Some very light snow fell briefly this morning.  Some disturbances will be blowing through early into the period but we begin to warm up nicely by end of the week.

March 21, 2011 - This past week saw little change in the weather around our area.  Two more wildfires popped up - Grey Rock (west of Ft. Collins, CO) and Indian Gulch (near Golden, CO).  As of this writing, Grey Rock is 100% contained while Indian Gulch is at 700+ acres.

This week we start out with a Red Flag Warning for much of the eastern half of Colorado as gusty winds and low humidities continue to be the norm for us.  Temps start out in the low-70's and drop off to the upper-50's by weeks end as a cold front comes through tomorrow.

Off to the east, in the central part of the country, severe weather is likely although if the CAP doesn't break, it will not be much of an event.

March 13, 2011 - At 2am this morning, the annual 'move your clocks forward one hour" ritual took place.  Must mean spring is around the corner. Clouds were behaving oddly this afternoon - put some of the pics up in FB and on the photo page.

Not much local stuff to talk about this past week.  The earthquake, tsunami and reactor issues in Japan are taking center stage in all the media.  Wild fires broke out in TX and OK causing some damage but are calming down.  A few little fires and most notably, the Lefthand Canyon OHV area fire near Boulder, made the news as well. Put a couple of pics on FB and the photo page of the fire as it got going.  Finally, good friend and fellow chaser, Will Wilkens, got a little video of the tsunami as hit southern California.

We had a  little rain over night.  This next week appears to have a weather pattern about like we have had all year - with the exception of warmer temps by mid-week before dropping off to more seasonal temps by week end.

Finally, I upgraded to a 4G air card (VL600) and passed the exam to become a HAM operator as well. Should have my call sign in the next week or two.  My bucket list is slowly getting whittled down.  Enjoy the week!

February 28, 2011 - Updated blog to include a post about the 2011 National Storm Chasers Convention and added a couple of pics to the photo page.

Weather this past week was uneventful except for a little snow storm that rolled through the evening of the 24th.  Total accumulation was about 3".

Weather for this week will be mild with a chance of rain or snow later in the period.  Highs will go from the upper-50's to the upper-40's.  

GFS shows rain for 0Z Saturday (5pm MST Friday).  Too early to tell.

February 16, 2011 - Updated blog to include a quick post about the flooding in my former home town of Meeker, CO. 

It is ChaserCon week and folks are taking planes, trains and automobiles to Denver.  The weather will be a little cool but no storms to impact travel except maybe for the folks coming from California.  Red flag warnings are up for se CO and blizzard warnings for sw CO and central Utah.  Fly, ride and/or drive safe! 

February 9, 2011 - Updated blog to reflect my winter storm chase over the last couple of days.  Also added some more still pics on the photo page and posted a new video that can be seen on my recent blog.

As for the remainder of this week, temps will moderate to the mid-50's by this weekend and no significant weather expected.

A reminder that ChaserCon 2011 is coming up and registration closes this Friday.  You can also watch it live from the comfort of your home by signing up at SevereStudios.com. 

January 11, 2011 - Updated blog to reflect my snow storm chase from a couple of days ago.  Also added some video from that chase to my video page.

As for upcoming weather, after a low of -9 this morning, should see temps moderate to the upper 40's for highs and lows around 20 by Saturday.  Next chance for snow appears to be Saturday night.

January 3, 2011 - Updated blog to a different theme and to include b-roll footage of a snow event I covered on December 30, 2010.

As far as the weather for the upcoming week, it looks to be dry and sunny through friday.  High's should be heading toward the mid 40's with lows in the upper teens.

Happy New Year!

January 1,  2011 - I finally got a website set up thanks to my good friends at Seaside Design, Ink.  I will populate with content over time so check back often.

The last two days have been brutal for the folks in the south.  A tornado outbreak left a reported 6 dead as of this writing.  Storms continue to fire tonight and I am sure the beginning of the New Year will be quite rough, weather-wise, for a lot of folks.

Here in northern Colorado, the snow has ended.  We finally received our first really measurable snowfall this season.  Here at the house, we ended up with about 3.5" on the ground.  Not a lot, but considering how dry we have been, it was a welcome site.  Now, we have to brave the bitter cold (well, cold for Loveland anyway) before a slow warm up over the next few days.  Looks to be dry for the next week or so and should get to the mid 40's by next friday.

So, I hope everyone has a great and safe 2011!