Rain

Forecast Discussion Saturday, August 16, 2008

SHORT TERM...UNUSUALLY STRONG UPPER LOW FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR OVERNORTHWEST COLORADO AT THIS HOUR WILL MAKE SLOW SOUTHEASTWARDPROGRESS ACROSS THE STATE OVERNIGHT. MODELS SHOW THE CENTER OF THE500MB LOW OVER THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF THE STATE BY THIS TIMETOMORROW. HAVE ALREADY SEEN A STEADY DECREASE IN PRECIPITATION INTHE MTNS AND ALONG THE FRONT RANGE IN THE PAST FEW HOURS. CLEARINGHAS ALSO OCCURRED IN THE DENVER METRO AREA PARTLY BECAUSE OF A SHIFTTO DRIER SWLY FLOW OFF THE FOOTHILLS. WITH A STRONG WESTERLY JETSITTING OVER SOUTHERN COLORADO...QG VERTICAL VELOCITY FIELDS SHOWFAIRLY STRONG DEEP LAYER ASCENT OVER EAST-CENTRAL AND NERN COLORADOAT THIS HOUR. AS THE UPPER LOW SHIFTS SOUTHEAST SO WILL THIS REGIONOF SYNOPTIC SCALE LIFT. BEFORE THAT HAPPENS...SHOULD SEE NUMEROUSSHOWERS AND SCATTERED T-STORMS LINGERING ON THE PLAINS OF NERN ANDEAST-CENTRAL COLORADO THROUGH THIS EVENING. A FEW STORMS EAST OF ACHEYENNE-LIMON LINE MAY BECOME SEVERE DURING THE NEXT FEW HOURS INRESPONSE TO RELATIVELY STRONG LOW/MID-LEVEL SHEAR DEVELOPING ON THENERN QUAD OF THE ADVANCING UPPER LOW. SHORT-LIVED WEAK TORNADOES ANDLARGE HAIL THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER THREAT. NEXT...THE THREAT FORFLOODING HAS DECREASED...PARTICULARLY IN THE FOOTHILLS AND I-25URBAN CORRIDOR. COULD STILL SEE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL FROMCONVECTION GENERATED BY LATE AFTERNOON SOLAR HEATING...BUT THECHANCE FOR FLOODING NOW APPEARS QUITE LOW IN THIS AREA. THEREFOREWILL CANCEL THE FLOOD WATCH FOR THE FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS AND THEI-25 URBAN CORRIDOR WITH THIS AFTERNOON/S FORECAST ISSUANCE. HOWEVERWILL CONTINUE THE WATCH UNTIL 12Z/SUNDAY FOR POINTS EAST OF THE I-25URBAN CORRIDOR WHERE SHOWERS/T-STORMS TRAINING OVER ALREADY VERY WETSOILS COULD DUMP 1-3 INCHES OF RAIN. IN THE HIGH COUNTRY...COULDSTILL SEE LATE AFTERNOON/EVENING SHOWERS-TSTORMS PRODUCING A MIX OFRAIN AND SNOW GENERALLY ABOVE TIMBERLINE. HOWEVER ANY ACCUMULATIONSHOULD BE LOCALIZED AND LIGHT.

Summarized: COLD and RAIN, lots of it!

In Colorado we get spoiled by endless days of sunny skies. It's been raining for the past 18 hours and I'm already depressed. After getting only one ride in last week I was overwhelmed by the need to sweat today and headed out during a break in the clouds. That break turned out to be nothing more than a sucker hole. I managed to get about 4 miles in before the skies opened up and I was engulfed by a wall of water. On that theme I thought I'd post some shots I took took from the parking lot of the hotel in Laramie the night before the Laramie Enduro. HDR was my format of choice so I could capture the foreground without bleaching out the sky and clouds. I didn't have a tripod, so they aren't super crisp, but I think it gives a nice effect. Who says you can't find beauty in a parking lot?







In Laramie the Rainbow ends at Applebee's!