Mountain West Discussion

[Front Ranger]

Rare early morning tornado out on the plains today: https://denver.cbslocal.com/2018/08/08/colorado-rare-early-morning-tornado-weld-county/

 

The convection east of here has socked us in with stratus near the mountains. Was supposed to get up near 90 today, but still only 63 as of 11 am.

[Scott]

Winter forecast (emphasis on skiing) from Wasatch Weather Weenies:

 

 

[Kayla]

Hot hot hot is the name of the game here today and tomorrow. Likely the hottest temps of the year and even approaching record high levels. Will likely top 90F IMBY for the first time this year.

 

Looks like a bit of a reprieve here Sunday and Monday before the heat possibly builds back in later next week. 90's get pretty tough to achieve this time of year here so what the models show (mid to upper 90's) later next week would be pretty unheard of with record highs only in the low 90's.

[Jesse]

Hot hot hot is the name of the game here today and tomorrow. Likely the hottest temps of the year and even approaching record high levels. Will likely top 90F IMBY for the first time this year.

 

Looks like a bit of a reprieve here Sunday and Monday before the heat possibly builds back in later next week. 90's get pretty tough to achieve this time of year here so what the models show (mid to upper 90's) later next week would be pretty unheard of with record highs only in the low 90's.

Sounds like you might finally get a chance to share in the fun most of the West has been enjoying!

[Kayla]

Sounds like you might finally get a chance to share in the fun most of the West has been enjoying!

 

We've really lucked out this summer. Definitely due for the heat to finally edge out here and still nothing compared to the rest of the West in terms of duration.

[Front Ranger]

Heat has been quite tolerable here for about the past month.

 

Mid June to early July was mostly miserable.

[Kayla]

90!!

[Black Hole]

Continues to be quite hot and smoky here. Entire wasatch Front is mired with it. 

[Kayla]

Well, that escalated quickly! Bozeman hit 100 yesterday for the first time since 2007. The 100 also looks to now be the hottest August day on record since record keeping began in 1892. Real sneaker of a heatwave! Even hit 95F here.

 

Been a bizarre summer with Bozeman being mostly spared from all heat in the West up until the last couple of days when suddenly records started falling left and right. Thankfully it is brief heatwave with cooler temps today and back into the 80's this upcoming week. 

[Scott]

98 today at Craig Airport.  This was the hottest August reading ever recorded at any of the weather stations in the area.  

 

Also interesting, we went camping in a meadow at Gold Creek east of here and at 9840 feet elevation.  It was 29 degrees this morning due to cold air pooling. 

[Front Ranger]

Heavy t-storms with the smoke here. May clear the air temporarily.

[Black Hole]

Small chance of a storm this weekend, otherwise continued hot and dry.

[Kayla]

Really nice weather here the past couple of days. Highs in the 70's, lows in the 40's and no smoke!  

 

Looks like beginning Friday night through the weekend we'll see our first taste of fall! All the models are showing a pretty good soaking of rain and storms with dropping temps. Could see 0.5"+ of rain which would be great to see!

[TT-SEA]

Really nice weather here the past couple of days. Highs in the 70's, lows in the 40's and no smoke!  

 

Looks like beginning Friday night through the weekend we'll see our first taste of fall! All the models are showing a pretty good soaking of rain and storms with dropping temps. Could see 0.5"+ of rain which would be great to see!

 

Summer just started there a couple weeks ago!  

 

I don't think I would do well there.   I would rather have a longer growing season and rain most of the winter over snow for 9 months and the possibility of snow in June and fall beginning in August.   Summer is way too short for me even here.    I assume you can't really have a productive vegetable garden there?

 

[Front Ranger]

A friend of mine has a big backpacking trip planned for Glacier National Park next weekend, but may have to cancel due to nearby forest fires.

[Black Hole]

At least my garden has loved all of the warm nights. I've had a pretty productive year.

A little circulation is spinning in central utah and moving north. Maybe some unexpected showers today. 

[Kayla]

[Kayla]

A friend of mine has a big backpacking trip planned for Glacier National Park next weekend, but may have to cancel due to nearby forest fires.

Yeah NW Montana is once again getting the worst of fire conditions with dry conditions. Lots of closures up there in Glacier right now due to the Ridge Fire. And once again the wet conditions forecasted for this weekend looks to stay focused east of the divide. Story of the past year now.

[wx_statman]

Really impressive readings from the heat wave last week in ID/western MT. Some COOP numbers: 

 

110 @ Saint Maries, ID (prev. all-time 109 in 1961)

108 @ Libby Dam Base, MT (prev. all-time 106 in 2001)

107 @ Thompson Falls Power House, MT (tied all-time, 107 in 1961)

106 @ Swan Lake, MT (prev. all-time 103 in 1969)

106 @ Eureka Ranger Station, MT (prev. all-time 105 in 1994 & 2006)

105 @ Bonners Ferry, ID (tied all-time 105, just set in June 2015)

 

Great Falls Airport also hit 105, just missing the all-time record of 106 from August 1961 & August 1969. 

[Front Ranger]

Getting pounded with a heavy thunderstorm now. Third period of rain today, with sunshine and pleasant temps in the 70s in between.

 

DEN is running a negative anomaly for the month, and that will be dropping over the next few days. Since early July, this has been a very nice summer here.

[Kayla]

Definitely feels like we've made the turn into fall now. Spent most of the afternoon yesterday with temps in the 50's with non convective rain. 

 

Woke up this morning to cool temps in the mid 40's and wet conditions but very smokey skies. Definitely the worst yet from the Canadian fires.

 

Tomorrow brings another round of storms and rain with highs only in the 60's. Locally, it looks like the fire season window is closing quickly now. Just wish we could see some more moisture over those Canadian fires. 

[Jesse]

Definitely feels like we've made the turn into fall now. Spent most of the afternoon yesterday with temps in the 50's with non convective rain.

 

Woke up this morning to cool temps in the mid 40's and wet conditions but very smokey skies. Definitely the worst yet from the Canadian fires.

 

Tomorrow brings another round of storms and rain with highs only in the 60's. Locally, it looks like the fire season window is closing quickly now. Just wish we could see some more moisture over those Canadian fires.

Looks like you guys will be close to 80 today. Then 60s the next few days before another warming trend.

[Kayla]

Looks like you guys will be close to 80 today. Then 60s the next few days before another warming trend.

 

It's currently 60 here and 63 in town at 10am, we're not going to be anywhere close to 80 today likely because of the smoke. 

 

The non convective rain and cool moist nights gives it an early fall feel, even if we still have a few more 80 degree days left.

[Jesse]

It's currently 60 here and 63 in town at 10am, we're not going to be anywhere close to 80 today likely because of the smoke.

 

The non convective rain and cool moist nights gives it an early fall feel, even if we still have a few more 80 degree days left.

Things are definitely taking on that late summer/early fall transition feel. Even will be here soon if we actually get some sort of cool down next week.

 

I was just expecting a much colder forecast when I checked, based on your description.

[Kayla]

[Black Hole]

I got .05" from some thundershowers the other day, first rain in a bit. Looks like more thunderstorms Monday-Wednesday or so this week. Even with hot weather generally continuing the edge of summer is already lessening and the longer nights are helping.

[Front Ranger]

Smoke is back here. Visibility is the lowest it's been all summer.

[Kayla]

Looking like a chilly, wet and raw day here today. Rain could get quite heavy later today. Definite fall feel out there today, sweater weather no doubt!

 

Quite overcast with a current temp of only 52F.

[Kayla]

53F with a steady 20mph wind at 3pm. Honestly feels like winter all of a sudden compared to last week!

[Kayla]

Smoke is gone replaced by low clouds and rain! Still an hour to sunset and already down to 46F with moderate rainfall. Brisk!

 

Will be fun to see our first "fall" snow in the mountains tomorrow morning!

 

http://i65.tinypic.com/1zd945f.jpg

[Kayla]

Ended up with about 0.5" of rainfall yesterday and the coolest day since early July with a 58/45 temp spread. The high was also a midnight high before the front moved through so a chilly August day.

 

Currently 47F under cloudy skies. Will likely be another sub 60 degree day here.

[Scott]

Some snow fell in the Colorado mountains, but not that much:

 

[Front Ranger]

Very cool day here for this time of year with a high of just 65 and showers at times.

[Kayla]

High of 56F here today under a low stratus deck all day. Looks like Bozeman was very close to a record low, high on the day.

 

We’re warming up into the 70’s for the next few days with some storms tomorrow before another cool down by the weekend.

[Black Hole]

Got ripped by some storms at 230 am, but I will take it. Ended up with just over 1/2" of rain. Even had some hail.

Several supercells moving through far northern utah this morning, with a risk of big storms for my area this afternoon. 

[Black Hole]

Got pounded this afternoon with another inch of rain, so 1.50" on the day now.

 

I did some chasing too and saw 1.5" hail a bit north of my place. 

[Front Ranger]

After a week of below normal weather, DEN is down to -1.7 for the month. And they had warmer highs than much of the area recently.

 

Warming up to more normal weather the next few days, though. Hopefully a storm or two Sunday/Monday.

[Black Hole]

Some photos of the fun yesterday.

 

 

[Front Ranger]

After a clearer day yesterday, it's starting to get pretty hazy again. Looks like tomorrow will be smokier still.

[Front Ranger]

Very hazy today. Couldn't even see the Flatirons driving in to Boulder, until I was actually within a couple miles.