Apparently it's wave-cloud chase season here in Denver! Enjoy.
We've had a slight change in the weather here. Yesterday, it actually snowed! We didn't get much ... but it was enough to take the edge off of the 77ºF earlier this week. It is only January after all.
We're definitely seeing a more active pattern now. The massive ridge has broken down in the west and shortwave after shortwave ought to bring some good snow to the west slope here in Colorado. Some of the longer model runs are hinting at the opening of the Gulf next weekend. Severe weather in the future?
In The Tropics:
No active systems. However, there are a few areas of note, especially 90S Invest which looks to be cyclonic already. I wouldn't be surprised to see it named before making landfall in Australia tomorrow.
Satellite imagery used with permission; courtesy of IPS Meteostar Inc. Click for larger images. Annotations are made by the author of this blog. Tropical cyclone tracking information from Navy/NRL Tropical Cyclone Page.
NOTE: If you've reached this page due to a search result, the most current tropical information can be found in the latest post and not necessarily the post you are reading. Visit http://blog.bigskyconvection.com/ for the most recent post.
Dann. Currently at Denver (Hampden Heights), Colorado: 27ºF, clear, winds N ~5kt.
It seems the last two winters in Denver could best be known only as "sunset season". We've been pretty dry this winter, same as last, and the setups have provided many wave cloud sunset opportunities. So, in this off-season for severe weather, there isn't much for a meteorologist like me to point my stick at.
This isn't the off-season everywhere, however. You just have to look south of the equator. If you've been frequenting this blog recently, you'll notice a lot of attention paid to the Southern Hemisphere Tropical Cyclone Season. I found a great map on Wikipedia that shows the distribution of tropical cyclones across the globe. You'll want to click on this image for a much larger version.
Current tropical activity.
09S Fanele - The JTWC has issued their final advisory for this storm as it continues to drift to the south and east, into cooler waters.
Satellite imagery used with permission; courtesy of IPS Meteostar Inc. Click for larger images. Annotations are made by the author of this blog. Tropical cyclone tracking information from Navy/NRL Tropical Cyclone Page.
NOTE: If you've reached this page due to a search result, the most current tropical information can be found in the latest post and not necessarily the post you are reading. Visit http://blog.bigskyconvection.com/ for the most recent post.
On the home front here in Denver, it didn't get quite as warm today. A few locales tipped 70ºF, but most hung around in the upper 60's. Driving into work this morning, I marveled at virga coming out of the standing wave cloud. A friend just told me he got a brief shower in Highlands Ranch today. There was considerably more moisture at the surface today, so I suppose that was possible.
Big changes are coming though ... snow and freezing rain wiped out the stagnant inversion in Salt Lake today. Parts of Montana are under winter storm warning. I see the possibility of snow here tomorrow and we, I almost can't believe this, may have enough moisture for some!
Dann. Currently at Denver (Hampden Heights), Colorado: 45ºF BKN (high), wind: S ~10kt
... okay, so maybe not that type of heat wave, but it was very, very warm here along the Front Range today. Temperatures had been slowly climbing day after day for the past few. The air mass, not moving much in that time period, had only a limited amount of moisture work with. With continued downsloping winds heating the air, the moisture mixed out until it was bone dry.
Well, this trend continued into today. It was easy to see from the sounding the sounding this morning that temperatures would easily climb above 20ºC. And, well, today didn't disappoint. Sounds like it's time for a ... temperature roundup!
Let's start with official reporting stations! 72º KBJC - Broomfield/Jeffco (now Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport) 71º KDEN - Denver International Airport (official records taken for Denver here) 70º KBKF - Buckley Air National Guard Base 69º KAPA - Centennial Airport
UDFCD Mesonet stations: 77º - Diamond Hill (Downtown Denver) 74º - Brighton 73º - Castle Rock 73º - Highlands Ranch 73º - Quincy Reservoir 72º - Urban Farm (Stapleton) 71º - Aurora Town Hall 70º - Aurora Reservoir 70º - Pump Station 3 (Aurora) 69º - Brighton North 68º - Louisville
The 71ºF at DIA marks a record high temperature for this day.
Did I say dry? Check out this METAR from KBJC earlier today:
Okay, so that's 22C/-38C which gives us a 108ºF dewpoint depression. I guess you take an atmosphere with 4% humidity and push 20kt downslope into it, and suddenly you're down to 1%RH. We spoke about a 96ºF Td depression a month or two ago. Even that was amazing. I really don't know what to say know. All I know is my skin itches, and my eyes and nostrils are on fire.
I've been pretty weatharoused all day long needless to say. And the sunset, oh! ... the sunset. I haven't even had time to look at my photos yet. No time tonight, I guess. Though dry, we did get some mid-level moisture late and a beautiful wave cloud set up. I'll try and include those soon.
Things have calmed down significantly in the tropics. I haven't been able to find any good reports from the impact of Fanele, but found this beautiful image of Fanele before she made landfall yesterday:
09S Fanele - The storm has emerged on the southeast coast of Madagascar and will continue to weaken as it moves to the south and east.
There are a couple other ares of interest at the moment, but really nothing too interesting.
Satellite imagery used with permission; courtesy of IPS Meteostar Inc. Click for larger images. Annotations are made by the author of this blog. Tropical cyclone tracking information from Navy/NRL Tropical Cyclone Page.
NOTE: If you've reached this page due to a search result, the most current tropical information can be found in the latest post and not necessarily the post you are reading. Visit http://blog.bigskyconvection.com/ for the most recent post.
Dann. Currently at Denver (Hampden Heights), Colorado: 41ºF BKN (high)
Tropical Cyclone Fanele experienced rapid intensification in the Mozambique Channel over the past 24 hours, looping and striking the Madagascar Coast a little after 1Z on the 21st. While the area impacted isn't densely populated, two cities did bear the brunt of this storm's left front quadrant. The communities of Belo-Sur-Mer and the more densely populated Morandava to the north endured 100kt (115mph) winds as it came on shore. Unfortunately, it should be noted that most of the housing exits at an elevation below 20ft above-sea-level.
09S Fanele
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08S Eric - Now no longer sideswiping the east coast of Madagascar, Eric is heading off to the south and losing steam. The JTWC is issued its final advisory on the storm.
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Only two other areas being watched at the moment, one in the southern Indian Ocean and the other in the Southwest Pacific. 97S is remarkably close to the equator. (Due to Coriolis, it is hard to find tropical cyclone development in close proximity to the equator).
Satellite imagery used with permission; courtesy of IPS Meteostar Inc. Click for larger images. Annotations are made by the author of this blog. Tropical cyclone tracking information from Navy/NRL Tropical Cyclone Page. *Additional satellite imagery from JTWC
NOTE: If you've reached this page due to a search result, the most current tropical information can be found in the latest post and not necessarily the post you are reading. Visit http://blog.bigskyconvection.com/ for the most recent post.
Finally, what a day we had here in Denver! While official reporting stations only topped out in the upper 60's, several UDFDC mesonet stations eclipsed the 70ºF mark ... in January! We should expect to see this again tomorrow ... and maybe Thursday as well. Sounds like a good day to be outside.
Yesterday (January 19th), intense north-northeasterly winds scoured dust off the plains as seen in the satellite photo below. This dust storm caused a multi-vehicle pileup that claimed the lives of two.
It's been pretty warm here in Denver for the last couple of days. Downtown has touched 70ºF today which is pretty impressive for January. As I type, the northwesterly winds are gusting occasionally to 35kts with valleys of calm in between. It isn't often windy at my apartment, so it's been interesting.
On to more exciting things ... twin cyclones in the Southern Indian Ocean!
As we saw yesterday, 08S formed just east of Madagascar. Now named Eric, the storm is sideswiping the coast and moving to the south.
The more impressive story is Tropical Cyclone 09S Fanele. It has rapidly strengthened in the Mozambique Channel and is now at hurricane strength. Forecasts on this storm have been a little strange, but the Joint Typhoon Warning Center now has the storm looping and impacting the west coast of Madagascar. Right now, a pin-hole eye can be seen on the storm and it could still strengthen considerably before landfall.
The flare-up of convection in the West Pacific has calmed down and the area is no longer being watched for cyclone development.
Satellite imagery used with permission; courtesy of IPS Meteostar Inc. Click for larger images. Annotations are made by the author of this blog. Tropical cyclone tracking information from Navy/NRL Tropical Cyclone Page.
NOTE: If you've reached this page due to a search result, the most current tropical information can be found in the latest post and not necessarily the post you are reading. Visit http://blog.bigskyconvection.com/ for the most recent post.
Dann. Currently at Denver (Hampden Heights), Colorado: 60ºF CLR, breezy.
Madagascar is the place to be if you like tropical weather. East coast, west coast, it doesn't matter! If you saw the update yesterday, you'll know that the storm on the east coast has been upgraded to a tropical cyclone. If it increases at all in intensity, it should be given the name Eric. On the other side of Madagascar, what is currently known as 95S Invest should be upgraded this afternoon. Not to be out done, there has been an impressive flareup of convection in the West Pacific with one area being watched for development.
Satellite imagery used with permission; courtesy of IPS Meteostar Inc. Click for larger images. Annotations are made by the author of this blog. Tropical cyclone tracking information from Navy/NRL Tropical Cyclone Page.
Currently at Denver (Hampden Heights), Colorado: 59ºF CLR Dann.
With the "death ridge" still in place over the west, the Gulf of Mexico has been closed off for the last week or so. Fortunately for most, unfortunately for some, that means no severe weather in the south. The weather has been far from boring, however, with the very cold air that moved through the Midwest earlier this week. The temperature dropped down to -48ºF in Babbit, MN on the 14th. That would equal the coldest temperature that I have experience since I have been alive and two degrees colder than any temperature I have experienced outdoors.
This pattern looks like it might start to break down midweek next week. The GFS has been pretty consistent in bringing a trough into the west Wednesday or Thursday. While later runs have kept this immediate area increasingly dry, it might make for a nice change in pace anyway.
In the tropics, there are no active storms, but an area north and east of Madagascar begs watching.
Satellite imagery used with permission; courtesy of IPS Meteostar Inc. Click for larger images. Annotations are made by the author of this blog.
Dann. Currently in Denver (Hampden Heights), Colorado: 56ºF CLR
UPDATE: As I expected, 93S Invest is expected to organize into a tropical cyclone (if named, will likely be Eric)
"Always Chasing" describes my desire to never stop pursuing my goals and dreams (pardon the cliché). There are always storms to chase and trails to explore. This blog is a repository of those adventures... pursuing severe/adverse weather, visiting new places and exploring the natural topography of my surroundings. It is an outlet for my amateur pursuit of photography with my point-and-shoot camera as well as a forum for discussing meteorological events. The name "Big Sky Convection" will remain, but I feel that "Always Chasing" more accurately describes my direction.
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