Mountain West Discussion

[Chinook]

some stormy conditions (again)

 

 

[Chinook]

hail/street floods reported in Parker

[mayjawintastawm]

Just got 0.42" rain in 16 minutes with rates peaking at 2.5"/hr. All done though. Parts of Parker got hammered. Saw some broad rotation in the cloud base on my way home from work in Aurora.

EDIT: round 2 developing from outflow. Quite an interesting afternoon, all of a sudden!

[smokeybandit]

0.4" so far, still more coming though we'll see if it stays far enough south to get me to a half inch.

That puts me over 3" for the month. Best month in a long time

[frontranger8]

Just got nailed by a storm, almost half an inch. Up to 2.6" on the month.

[frontranger8]

On 7/27/2026 at 10:21 PM, frontranger8 said:

That being said, there have been many times where August has been much wetter than July (2022 is the only real recent example, but quite a few further back). We are badly due for a very wet August for the region...the last one was 2008.

I am a prophet.

[Chinook]

what are these wet things coming from the sky?

[GaWx]

 Early afternoon in Vail I saw the strongest thunderstorm of my CO trip. It got so dark just before the start! I considered it to be severe with very strong winds at the start bringing down cold air into the 50s. The winds must have been 50++, which the aspens handled well. Soon after good drought helping heavy rain fell followed by lots of pea sized hail that lasted ~5 minutes. As a result of 3 periods of rain, it was in the 50s most of the afternoon! Sure beats GA summer heat and humidity!

It’s down to 48 with rain and wind. Feels like what typical winter day would be in Savannah! This is why I like coming here in summer.

[LoboLeader1]

 Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas — known as "Tornado Alley". Is this alley shifting east?

https://www.accuweather.com/en/severe-weather/illinois-sets-us-state-record-for-most-tornadoes-in-a-year/1927594

[mayjawintastawm]

14 hours ago, GaWx said:

 Early afternoon in Vail I saw the strongest thunderstorm of my CO trip. It got so dark just before the start! I considered it to be severe with very strong winds at the start bringing down cold air into the 50s. The winds must have been 50++, which the aspens handled well. Soon after good drought helping heavy rain fell followed by lots of pea sized hail that lasted ~5 minutes. As a result of 3 periods of rain, it was in the 50s most of the afternoon! Sure beats GA summer heat and humidity!

It’s down to 48 with rain and wind. Feels like what typical winter day would be in Savannah! This is why I like coming here in summer.

That's pretty typical for the mountains during monsoon season. Some years you can set your watch by them, right after lunch. I've been caught in more than one on my bike, grateful for the helmet.  One good thing is that the mountains very rarely have severe-size (1") hail.

[ValpoVike]

15 hours ago, GaWx said:

 Early afternoon in Vail I saw the strongest thunderstorm of my CO trip. It got so dark just before the start! I considered it to be severe with very strong winds at the start bringing down cold air into the 50s. The winds must have been 50++, which the aspens handled well. Soon after good drought helping heavy rain fell followed by lots of pea sized hail that lasted ~5 minutes. As a result of 3 periods of rain, it was in the 50s most of the afternoon! Sure beats GA summer heat and humidity!

It’s down to 48 with rain and wind. Feels like what typical winter day would be in Savannah! This is why I like coming here in summer.

Yesterday I took a trip up in RMNP to the Alpine visitor center at the top of Trail Ridge Road.  I took the "back way" via the Old Fall River Road route, and it rained nearly the entire way.  Once at the top, the temps plunged to the mid-30's with sleet and snow showers.  When I made it back down to Estes Park, it was around 70 and sunny.  I love this time of year  .