Full Moon dancing in the clouds as Thunder & Lightning ricocheted all around. Picture taken 19 June 24, 9:00pm (Click on title of post to see image)
Thursday – 20 June 2024 – 12:45pm
Alberto is in northern Mexico with his moisture streaming our way!
Our dewpoint at the airfield increased from 29 degrees yesterday morning to 50 degrees this morning! The moisture is in place to kick off thunderstorms this afternoon into the early morning hours! The deep tropical moisture that is the remnants of Tropical Storm Alberto, will advect into our area later tonight.
Alberto’s two day rain event of Thursday and Friday is sponsored by The Springs Resort!
The past…
At Stevens Field the high temperature yesterday afternoon was 81. The low this morning was 57. Some cool spots dipped to 50.
The peak wind at Stevens Field around 9pm associated with thunderstorms was 35mph.
| Average High | Record High / Year | Average Low | Record Low / Year |
| 80 | 92/1989 | 38 | 28 / 1973 |
Precipitation summary… A band of rainshowers and thunderstorms moved through the area last night from 6:00pm to around 10:00pm. The east side of the county saw a few heavy showers. Leo was the rain lottery winner (again) with .22″.
Forecast discussion…
Satellite
An area of high pressure is in place from the southern plains into the northeast. At the same time an upper level trough is draped across central California and is moving southeast. That is making a squeeze play with Alberto and we’re in the middle.
Tropical Storm Alberto is now in northern Mexico and his moisture is moving clockwise around the area of high pressure and moving to the northwest and towards southwest Colorado. It has to cross New Mexico yet. But moist air has been advecting in for the last 24 hours.
Radar:
Forecast highlights…
*** Good soaking today till early Saturday. ***
*** Chance of localized flooding in low lying areas or areas prone to flooding today and tomorrow***
*** Drier Saturday through Tuesday with Afternoon Thunderstorms.
Today through Saturday morning… All the players are in place for a decent soaking! This is a lot of moisture for this time of year and is a system more like what we could expect at the end of July!
Tropical Storm Alberto is in northern Mexico and his moisture is moving clockwise around the area of high pressure and moving to the northwest and towards southwest Colorado.
Today will be Mostly Cloudy to Cloudy. Moisture will continue to pack in and Friday will be Cloudy with lower clouds. Expect isolated thunderstorms in the early afternoon hours and increasing in coverage throughout the afternoon today. We’ll see more of a steady rain event on Friday with isolated thunderstorms. With the thunderstorms over the two day period expect heavy rain at times, small hail, and very gusty winds associated with outflow from the storms.
With this much expected rain, chance of localized flooding in low lying areas or areas prone to flooding is a real concern. WPC has highlighted areas of possible flooding in our area for today and tomorrow.
Cooler air associated with an upper level trough is moving in from the northwest. This is helping to destabilize the atmosphere. Cape, a measure of instability, will be well above what we need for showers and thunderstorms. The Cape values for thunderstorms are the highest around 7pm today.
Winds… Afternoon gusts will mostly be 15-20mph. Isolated stronger gusts are possible near showers and thunderstorms.
Temps… Highs will be in the lo-70s to mid-70s on Thursday and only upper 60s to low-70s on Friday and lows will be in the mid-40s to low 50s.
Saturday through Tuesday
The upper level trough will move through our area late Friday night and very early Saturday morning. High pressure and drier air will move in. Skies will be Partly Cloudy. However, there will still be enough residual moisture left to kick off isolated thunderstorms each afternoon. Expect Mostly Cloudy skies in the afternoon with those thunderstorms.
Winds… Afternoon gusts will mostly be 15-20mph. Isolated stronger gusts are possible near showers and thunderstorms.
Temps… Will increase each day. Saturday will in the upper 70s to lo 80s. By Tueday it will be in the lo 80s to near 90. Lows will be in the upper 40s to lo 50s.
Huge thanks, again, to The Springs Resort for sponsoring our two day storm!
If we see something significant, we’ll make a quick post. Otherwise, I’ll have another post out tomorrow morning.
– Arleen
2 Responses
What an incredibly beautiful photo of the dancing moon. Absolutely love it.
Thank you!
Thank you for your kind words, Bonnie! It was a beautiful evening!