Colorado Burning

Colorado is on fire.  Little rain, high winds and hot temperatures have turned the largely wooded state into kindling for some tremendous blazes.  Fires happen every year in the west.  This season is leaving a mark in a big and disastrous way.

There are not a lot of weather related pictures anymore that shock me.  However, I believe my exact words aloud after seeing this one was holy shit.

While we moan and make a big deal out of potentially three straight days of 90's, people in Colorado are dealing with this.  We aren't talking about a few homes in remote areas succumbing to the fire.  Now we are hitting neighborhoods.  Ones that were not prepared either for how quickly the fire moved over the mountain and down towards the valley of Colorado Springs.  And all this started because of lightning.

The area will continue to deal with hot temperatures and little if any needed rain.  Of course like all weather, this pattern will eventually change giving firefighters some need relief in their efforts to contain the fires.  Until then we continue to get images like the ones below all of the same fire creeping towards residential areas.

View of the hills from Colorado Springs

Don't see or care to see that everyday

View from the Air Force Academy which has been evacuated

 
One common misconception about a place like Colorado is many people tend to think about places like Denver (mile high) and Aspen or the Rocky mountains and think cold and snowy.  Certainly the ski resorts see their share of powder and cool temps, but many of the major cities sit at lower altitudes directly east of the mountains heading towards the heart of the plains.  In other words, little rainfall due to the shield from the mountains and temps often above what many would expect due to a southern flow.

Here is a little comparison. 

Average Precip:

City 1:  15 inches
City 2:  17 inches
City 3:  45 inches

Average January High:

City 1:  45 degrees
City 2:  49 degrees
City 3:  36 degrees

Average July High:

City 1:  89 degrees
City 2:  88 degrees
City 3:  84 degrees

Average High:

City 1:  65
City 2:  66
City 3:  61


The first city on the list is Denver.  The second city is Madrid, Spain.  The third city is Allentown.  Obviously these are a few examples only to illustrate a point that besides a snowier winter, Denver resembles a climate of cities you would not expect.  And with Madrid's elevation being a few thousand feet as well, it became a good comparison.  Denver is like the Seattle of the Rocky Mountains.  Let everybody think the weather is bad, that way less people will be inclined to move to town.

Unfortunately the weather in Denver is playing out like the averages listed above.  Not including today, Denver has been at least 95 8 of the last 10 days with four being over 100.  They've received .26 inches of rain for the entire month.  The 10 day forecast shows two days below 90 (88 and 89) and virtually no shot of rain.

Who knows what these areas of Colorado will look like tomorrow morning.  Nobody expected to see pictures like the ones that have come out today from neighborhoods west of Colorado Springs.  You can't predict fire.

There are far more details and pictures over at the Denver Post if you are interested in seeing what the people of these communities are battling.  Hopefully it will end shortly.

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Storm Tracking

Tracking summer time storms can be as exciting as tracking a snowstorm.  Only difference is these pop up showers tend to catch people off guard at the last minute as also judge by the continuous forecast of a 30% chance of rain. 

Yesterday was another prime example.  As storms fired up across the northern sections of the area, flood warnings popped up in minutes.  As interested as I was to see what was going on, I followed the radar.  Slowly the storms got closer to our area as other places such as Hazelton were caught in the deluge.  Then the skies opened and the rain poured down.  Shortly after the worse of it had passed, I headed home.  Water was gushing out of everything.  Sirens were blaring.  One car even pulled over on a well-traveled road to put the manhole cover back on as it had been moved 15 feet down the street.  If you can avoid damage, these little events can be a blast to watch.

After the rain had passed the air cooled a bit.  Not much, but enough.  Even saw a rainbow.  Without the day light heating I figured our little dance with rain was over like in many instances during the summer where the rain stabilizes the atmosphere.  I opened my bedroom window like I do every night (for now).  And on this humid night I even upped it a notch.  I opened the living room window and patio door.  First time I had ever kept anything other then my bedroom window opened throughout the night.  Then it came.  Had this been a few decades ago in a different part of the world I would have thought the German blitz had shown up above my town.  A thunderous crack awoke me.  In a daze I made my way to all the open windows and quickly shut them.  I dove back in bed trying to figure out what the hell was going on.  I grabbed my ipod and pulled up the radar to see a dandy of a storm rolling through.  So much for no storm after the sun goes down.  I had to put my headphones back in at 3 in the morning just to get away from how loud the thunder was. 

Nobody knows what today will bring.  Chances are looking good for rain.  There was already some tracking going on and I've seen estimates of up to four inches of rain in some areas.  I haven't seen any totals come out but between the past two days and the next two, some areas are going to have high totals.

Meanwhile...

Tropical system Beryl looks to come in along the Florida/Georgia before spinning back out from the direction it just came.  In other words, we won't see anything out of this system.  Tropics go pretty quiet for awhile after this one.

It is snowing in Montana.  Go figure.  I would make a bigger deal out of this if I did not have first hand experience of being stuck in a June snowstorm.

For those of us who are not into warm weather, take some relief in the long range.  Cool air is going to invade from Canada Friday and will swing into the northeast by Saturday.  However, another shot of warmth comes back from the 5th-8th.    

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Out With A Bang

It would only make sense that winter would make one final stand only one week before May.  After all our biggest snow storm occurred in October.  Even though we missed out on this one, others not too far away dealt with heavy amounts.  Like the October storm, it won't stick around long. 

I'm always up for a classic Nor'easter.  It wasn't a big story for our area.  Some heavy rain with some gusty winds.  It really didn't even live up to that.  Neither Allentown, Reading or Philadelphia hit two inches and the highest amount I could find from our area covered by the National Weather Service was 3.5 inches along the New Jersey coast.  But as the storm cranked inland it also pulled down cold air.  Really cold air.  Like 30 degrees below normal kind of cold.  Combine that with a wall of moisture and somebody was in for a treat.

That somebody went to Laurel Summit who reported 23 inches of snow.  Others got hosed.  Last I saw Pittsburgh was in for 4-6 inches.  I believe they got nothing.  And when I last looked at the water vapor and saw a dry pocket moving through central PA and NY, it was looking accurate that the predictions of very little snow for these places would be right.  Seven inches of snow later in Elmira, and I think the moisture filled back in. 

ANOTHER MAP FOR THE COLLECTION, CHECK OUT THAT DATE

Anybody remember the Monday prior to the 23rd hit 90 degrees?  Seems like an awfully long time ago now doesn't it?  Especially considering the 48 degree high yesterday.  If the long range is any indication I don't see any above normal warming trends.  If anything the next two to four weeks could be below normal temperature wise.  Makes me wonder what summer brings.

By they way, some minor news in the winter that never was.  Unless something bizarre happens which at this point I guess is possible, after having one of the snowiest seasons ever recorded last winter, Syracuse will set the mark for least snowiest (since 1950) if they can't get another six inches.  Truly a very sub-par season for many places this year.  I'm still holding out for a couple snow storms throughout the country before I hang up my winter cap in June.

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Wild Spring

Nothing surprises me in spring.  It's the ultimate battle between warm and cold as warm tries to invade and cold tries to hang on.  Friday's low for Reading was 31.  The predicted high for tomorrow is 90, then 75, then 65.  And our weather compared to many other parts of the country is extremely tame.

Like how about Amarillo.



Highways were closed and close to four feet of hail fell on some spots.  In our area that would be extreme but in the central part of the United States especially areas directly east of the Rockies, it's not uncommon.

Aspen is under a winter storm warning.  Shouldn't be much of a surprise for a ski town sitting around 8,000 feet.  Except the town has hit 60 degrees seven times already this month and skiing has pretty much ended.  Until tomorrow I suppose.  Better get out while you can.  The next seven days after that are all predicted to be warmer than their 56 degree average.





Thunderstorms in San Francisco?  Sure.  I don't know the numbers but I can say that this doesn't happen very often.

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