Record snow and cold may follow record heat for Loveland - Loveland Reporter-Herald

poloong.blogspot.com

A storm that is predicted to drop up to 9 inches of snow in Loveland could set weather records for the area.

“We’ll have to see what happens, but we might go from the record hottest for so late in the season to possibly the coldest ever for so early in the season,” Joe Grim, a Loveland-based research meteorologist, said in an email. “Colorado weather can be extreme, but that would be particularly extreme!”

Loveland hit 100-degrees on Saturday, which set a record for the latest ever triple-digit day, while Fort Collins also set a record for its hottest day so late in the season with 99 degrees the same day, Grim reported.

“If it weren’t for the shroud of smoke that blocked the sunlight in the afternoon, it likely would have gotten at least a couple of degrees warmer than that on Saturday,” Grim reported, explaining that Loveland’s average high temperature for Sept. 7 is 79 degrees.

The National Weather Service is calling for those hot temperatures to drop on Monday night with snow. Grim, who works for the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, said the forecast is for 2-4 inches on the east side of town and 5-9 inches on the northwest section of Loveland.

This will set a record, said Grim, who is basing records on Fort Collins data, which goes as far back as 1893 instead of Loveland data, which dates back to just 1989.

“Measurable snow this early in the season has never happened in the history of the Fort Collins (or Loveland) weather stations,” Grim said in an email. “The current record for earliest snow is on Sept. 12, when 3.7 inches of snow fell back in 1989.  So, assuming we even get 0.1 inch of accumulation, this will set a record for earliest measurable snow ever … despite still being summer!”

Loveland could also set other records. Currently the coldest temperature recorded on Sept. 8, which is Tuesday, is 33 and the lowest maximum temperature the same day in 45, Grim said. Current predictions for this year are a high of 35 and a low of 28 — both which would break those records.

And this is following the second driest July and August combined for Fort Collins and the third hottest August on record, according to Grim.

Sam Brown picks green tomatoes Monday morning in the front-yard garden of her home in the 300 block of North Washington Avenue.

The storm is predicted to drop at least 12 inches of snow on the site of the Cameron Peak Fire, which is raging west of Fort Collins and doubled in size over just two days. That and the cooler temperatures are considered to be a godsend for firefighters working the blaze.

In Loveland, the northwest side of town could get up to 9 inches of snow with less accumulation on the eastern portions of town, according to the National Weather Service website. Grim said most of the snow is not expected to stick to the pavement or ground “but will likely accumulate on anything elevated: trees, cars, houses and even tufts of grass.”

The National Weather Service website notes that this could cause tree branches to break, and that the snow and cold temperatures could affect gardens and crops. Some people prepared for the storm by harvesting their gardens and covering flowers and vegetable plants.

Loveland residents Sam and Lee Brown cleared out their garden on Monday in advance of the storm, picking produce that was nearly ripe, and planned to cover their garden in hopes of saving it from freezing. They plan to loosely wrap their green tomatoes in newspaper and store them in a cool, dark place to help them ripen.

Craig Young / Loveland Reporter-Herald

Freshly harvested eggplants and heirloom tomatoes lie on the path at the downtown Loveland home of Lee and Sam Brown on Monday.

“I feel bad for the people for whom this is their livelihood,” Sam said, and Lee added, “Or if this was our food supply for the winter.”

The storm started with rain, which was expected to transition into snow early Tuesday morning with more snow on the west side than out east, Grim said. In fact, he reported that the difference in elevation, ranging from 4,850 feet to 5,200 feet across Loveland, could mean a difference of a degree or two, which could affect how much the snow melts versus accumulates.

“Normally such a small temperature difference makes little effect, but when the temperature is just above freezing, it can make the difference between accumulating snow, and snow that melts as quickly as it falls,” Grim wrote in an email. “It should snow most of the day on Tuesday, though it may switch over to rain at times if the precipitation rate is light enough, especially on the east side of town.  Most of the snow that falls will melt as it touches the ground, but if it falls fast enough, it may accumulate.”

Following high temperatures in the 90s, and 100 degrees one recent day, temperatures will drop up to 60 degrees into the 30s, according forecasts. Grim described that “the incoming batch of cold and wet weather is going to seem extremely harsh, though it comes with a silver lining that it should make a major impact in suppressing the wildfire, as we go from record highs to potential record lows.”

Assistant editor Craig Young contributed to this report.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

"follow" - Google News
September 08, 2020 at 06:50AM
https://ift.tt/2ZhVthP

Record snow and cold may follow record heat for Loveland - Loveland Reporter-Herald
"follow" - Google News
https://ift.tt/35pbZ1k
https://ift.tt/35rGyU8

Bagikan Berita Ini