After a terrible morning commute we are in for a break tonight and Thursday as the cold, ice and snow will ease off to the east of the I-25 Corridor. By mid afternoon, skies had already cleared over Denver and temperatures had bounced back into the 40s over the southern suburbs. The shallow layer of Arctic air swept back into Colorado last night and this morning and we are now once again on the western shore of this ocean of very cold air that grips the eastern half of the nation. Here on the high plains, the dense, cold air is sloshing to the east and then back to the west almost like an ocean tide on a beach! The cold air will ebb away from our area tonight and Thursday and then return Thursday night and Friday. Temperatures will actually hold steady or slowly rise tonight through early tomorrow, so there will not be a repeat of the traffic nightmare of this past morning. Tomorrow will feature more sunshine, with highs in the upper 40s to low 50s across the Metro Area. Temperatures will be about 5 to 10 degrees cooler across the northeastern plains. The next wave of chilly air will arrive tomorrow night and early Friday for Denver and the eastern plains, another wintry mix of fog, freezing drizzle and light snow will develop late Thursday and will bring another icy and dicey commute for Friday morning. These surges of cold air do not have a lot of moisture with them, so snow amounts stay light, but the mix of freezing drizzle and the timing of the precipitation sure does mess up a morning drive, so be ready for slick and slow conditions again early Friday. The cold air does not impact the mountains or western Colorado very much because the Arctic air is dense and has trouble flowing very far up into the foothills. Most of the state west of the Front Range foothills will continue to enjoy rather quiet and mild weather for the next few days. There may be a little fresh snow moving back into the mountains on Sunday and Monday, but not a major storm. One thing that these temperature fluctuations do cause is potholes! The thawing allows melt water to flow into any crack in the pavement. When temperatures drop again, that water freezes and the ice expands, forcing the cracks to get bigger and eventually loosen chunks of asphalt or concrete. Be careful on the roads as these potholes develop fast and often look like just an innocent puddle of water. The weather roller coaster will continue over the weekend. Saturday and most of Sunday will be dry and a bit milder, followed by a chance for light snow Sunday night and Monday. It looks like the weather will be cool, but dry for the Bronco Game with temperatures in the mid 30s to near 40 degrees. The Arctic air mass across the eastern half of the nation will moderate next week and shift a little farther to the east. That should bring an end to the current Roller Coaster ride of temperatures next week as our weather will begin to flow into Colorado from the Pacific. This should bring some snow back into the mountains next week to help freshen up the powder at the ski resorts!
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 22:29:42 +0000
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