Monsoon returns after another cool front Saturday
Thursday, August 20, 2015
The fall-like cool fronts that pushed through our area Tuesday and Wednesday will be followed by another two similar fronts Saturday and Sunday mornings before the western ridge rebuilds. Temperatures will rebound and monsoonal moisture will return early in the next work week.
Meanwhile, our hazy smoke-filled skies will likely continue today and tomorrow before a storm currently off the Pacific Northwest coast drags a cool front over our area early in the day Saturday as it moves eastward. This will be followed by a trailing wave early Sunday morning that will reinforce the cool conditions.
Wildfires were reported around Maybell and Craig earlier in the week, and it seems likely at least some of the smoke in the Yampa Valley could be attributed to those now-contained fires. But our current northwest flow is passing over the active wildfire regions in the Pacific Northwest, and that is likely contributing to the haze as well.
The smoke should be cleared from the area by the first front Saturday morning. After the second front passes through the area on Sunday, the persistent western ridge rebuilds, bringing seasonably warm temperatures by Monday and allowing monsoonal moisture from the south to move over the area by later in the day Tuesday. This pattern will bring the chance of storms each day under warm temperatures through the following week, as has been typical for most of our summer.
Longer term, the battle between summer and fall continues as additional energy forms strong storms near the Gulf of Alaska. These storms will interact with the still-strong western ridge, with the stronger storms able to penetrate the ridge enough to interrupt the summer weather with fall-like weather.
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