tacoman25

Looks like DEN hit 75 today, tying their all-time December high from 1980. The December record for Denver comes from the old city station in 1939, with an absurd temp of 79. So sick of this pattern we're stuck in, and it's awful for the mountains/ski season/tourism/etc. And still no sign of meaningful change 10-14 days down the road.

Yeah, I saw a big dust cloud towards Boulder driving up to Thornton on 25 yesterday, but winds throughout most the metro area were pretty weak.

Very persistent pattern. Something similar has happened before...1917 had an insanely warm and persistent pattern for the PNW/West. This one just looks a bit warmer and more persistent. Don't tell the residents of Juneau, Fairbanks, or Whitehorse that this is what future Decembers will look like. All three are on track for one of their coldest Decembers on record.

I agree that wind events are more common in La Ninas. But the current pattern we've been stuck in for the past 10 days or so is atypical, with a parade of super-juiced, subtropical atmospheric rivers hitting the PNW, which is what's leading to this crazy westerly flow across the continent. It's leading to record warmth across the West, meanwhile up north they're in the deep freeze. Places like Juneau, AK are having one of the coldest Decembers in many years.

Yep, raging Chinooks thanks to the Pacific firehouse that's been hitting the PNW. Hopefully this pattern doesn't persist too much longer.

Meh, from watching those maps over the years, seems like we're in D1 or higher most the time. Nothing to really be concerned about until you get to D3.

How can we forget the hundreds of millions of lives that were lost...

Up to 6" here, still coming down.

4.5" here so far.

The author admitted he was frustrated that his climate posts weren't getting enough attention...

Models all seem to be in agreement on a 3-6" storm on Wed for the metro area. Let's see how we can screw this one up.

.4" here!

They do exist: https://www.caranddriver.com/kia/ev4

Looks like they're starting to come into general agreement for a quick 1-3" for much of the Front Range with the cold front Friday overnight.

I don't think the point was that there is no alternative, just that we are hooked on oil in so many ways that there simply is no way to fully transition away from it at this point. And as far as energy/power goes, we are a long ways from being able to fully rely on electric. Not to mention the challenges that the current AI race is adding to the mix, with the enormous need for power there.

Latest Euro gives us a couple shots of snow. And yeah, pretty chilly.

He says a lot more than that in that scene...not that I buy all of it, just thought there was some interesting points brought up.

Sure, anyone who points this out is a denier...it's the same dogma that leads to "everything about climate change is CATASTROPHIC and EVIL!"

What could go wrong?

Picked up .03"!! At least a precip-less month is off the table.

I think the pattern finally starts to turn significantly colder/stormier towards the end of the month into early December. Model ensembles are pretty strongly hinting at this. You're definitely right that a lot of heat/dry records have been set in recent years, but...let's not be too prisoner of the moment. - Denver's driest year was way back in 1954 - Hottest temp of 105 was first recorded in the late 1800s and was tied in 2005 and 2012 but has not been touched since - Boulder's snowiest winter on record was 2019-20 - Denver's warmest year on record was 1981 So it could be worse. Also, there have been some impressive winter cold waves in the past decade or so. - two separate very cold waves in Feb 2025, the second which delivered a 12/-7 day on 2/19, about as cold as it gets that late in the season (though topped by an even more impressive event below) - DEN fell to -19 in the Jan 2024 cold wave. That was the coldest Jan temp since 1984. - Dec 2022 featured a -6/-24 day. That was the coldest max temp since 1990, the third coldest on record (-9 is coldest), and the low was one degree off the coldest temp recorded in the airport era (-25) - That was followed by a top tier blast in late Feb 2023, featuring a 7/-11 day at DEN on 2/23. The -11 broke the daily record by 11 degrees, and was the second latest a temp that cold had ever occurred - Feb 2021, another record-breaking cold wave. On Valentine's Day, DEN was 1/-14. That was followed by a low of -16 the next morning. The high was the coldest that late since 1962, and same for the low of -16.

Sadly, the trend today in models has been to dry it out for most of the area, with the precip focused further east. We'll get a little rain it appears, which is better than nothing, but still disappointing given the potential.

Models are now showing the storm Friday to be mainly rain for the urban corridor. Except for the GEM, which still think there will be a heavy, wet snowstorm in Denver.

Yes, both things can be true.