WINTER WEATHER Updated Feb. 4, 2020 1:39 PM
On Tuesday morning, temperatures in Denver plunged all the way down to 7 degrees F. This came two days after the city saw temperatures soar into the mid-70s on Sunday, and the Mile High City could still experience one of the largest two-day temperature swings in its history after a jarring cold front blew through the region.
The cold front also brought nearly 3 inches of snow to Denver and anywhere from 3 two 12 inches in the Denver and Boulder areas, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). And more snow is on the way, forecasters say, as temperatures continue to fall.
Sunday was an unseasonably warm day across parts of the western United States. In Denver, temperatures rose to 30 degrees above average, tying an 86-year-old record for the warmest Feb. 2 on record. With temperatures hitting 74 degrees, the Mile High City was also warmer than Miami on Sunday, which topped out at 68 degrees.
"These warm temperatures were thanks to a dry, Pacific air mass that downsloped off the Front Range and through compressional heating, giving off those incredible temperatures," AccuWeather Meteorologist Matt Benz said.
Mail carrier Tina Fisher uses an umbrella attached to her hat while delivering to her route as a winter storm drifts over the Intermountain West, Monday, Feb. 3, 2020, in Denver. Just two days ago, temperatures were in the mid-70s there. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
However, a shift in the weather pattern pushed the warm weather out and brought in snow and wind to the Rocky Mountain region before temperatures took a tumble.
"Denver is notorious for having drastic temperature swings, especially as we approach the spring months," AccuWeather Meteorologist Brett Rossio said. "It can be in the 70s one day and then rapidly fall into the 30s in a six-hour period and sometimes an even shorter temporal period."
By Tuesday night, the temperature in Denver could plunge to a low near zero, a 70-plus-degree temperature swing that would rank as one of the highest two-day temperature swing in recorded history for the Mile High City, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
"The reason for this is partially due to location. A phenomenon, known as a Blue Norther, frequently occurs in the High Plains and southern Plains," Rossio said. "Sometimes, very cold, dense air masses spill into the northern High Plains and Upper Midwest associated with a Canadian high-pressure area. This cold, dense air then 'piles up' east of the Front Range and begins to accelerate southward, like a tidal wave. These are sometimes referred to as Blue Northers.”
Benz said that the 48-hour total drop may not be record-breaking, but the 60-hour total fall will be prodigious.
"Daytime highs on Monday were over 50 degrees colder than Sunday and we have a forecast low of 1 F for Tuesday night," Benz said. "That means we will have experienced a temperature departure of over 70 degrees over the past 60 hours by Wednesday."
According to the record-keeping by the NWS, this would mark the second drop of more than 70 degrees in the span of four months. On October 10, 2019, the city saw its fourth-largest drop in history when temperatures plummeted from 83 F to 13 F.
Currently, the record two-day temperature swing for Denver is 76 degrees, which was set between Dec. 12 and Dec. 14, 2008.
The snow that hit Denver was part of a storm system that dumped double-digit snowfall totals farther west in Utah, along with 50-mph wind gusts in some places. In fact, according to the NWS, Salt Lake City International Airport picked up 8.6 inches of snow on Monday, shattering the Feb. 3 record of 7 inches, which had stood since 1936.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
No comments:
Post a Comment