Denver Snowstorm 11/7/24

In case you haven’t been following what has been going on in the Denver/Colorado area in the last 24-36 hours let me catch you up. A system has been stalled out over the Denver area producing a lot of accumulating snow. The snowy image shows near whiteout conditions on I-70 which is a major E/W highway which portions have been closed due to this storm. The other images show the storm on radar hanging out over the Denver area. Yes, you can also see Hurricane Rafael in the radar but let’s focus on the snow. In some areas snowfall amounts have been over 30 inches of snow! I know I missed how much snow they would get in my weekly forecast, but I’m going to explain how they are getting this much snow.

The Denver metro area is no stranger to snow and snow storms. Predicting snow for the area gets pretty tricky when the Rockies play a major factor into the forecasts. The Denver metro had high dew point temperatures, which helped draw moisture into the storm. The La Junta Low also played a factor into this storm. “La Junta Low” is sometimes used to describe a low-pressure system that forms in this area or nearby parts of the Great Plains. This low-pressure system can influence weather patterns, such as temperature drops, wind shifts, and potentially snow or rain, depending on the time of year. This phenomenon is typically associated with the interaction of different air masses—cold, dry air from the north and warmer, moister air from the south—which can lead to dynamic weather changes. These two factors along with up-sloping moisture, where moist air is forced to rise along the Eastern slope of the Rockies are helping this snow storm. The Rockies act like a ramp to lift the air upwards which cools due to the decrease in temperature with altitude. The cooling causes moisture in the air to condense into clouds. If the process is strong enough and there is enough moisture in the air, condensation can result in precipitation, snow in this case. We see this more pronounced in colder months along the Front Range. All these factors, along with a very slow moving storm over the course of 24-36 hours, is helping increase the snow totals to the Denver Metro area.