Author: Ben Castellani (Page 274 of 358)

Ben grew up in southwestern Pennsylvania and holds both a bachelor's and a master's degree in Meteorology, the latter being from CU Boulder. His hometown received nearly three feet of snow from the Storm of the Century back in March of 1993, sparking his initial interest in impactful weather. Ben currently works on remote sensing and data analysis software at NV5 Geospatial Software in Boulder.

“First Snow” Contest is closed. Now let it snow!

September 19, 2017 / Ben Castellani

Thanks to everyone who entered our “First Snow” contest. We briefly review the entries, which surprisingly follow closely with Boulder’s climatology of late October.

DayCAST: Tue 09/19/17

September 19, 2017 / Ben Castellani

It has been dry across the Metro area! Measurable precipitation has not been recorded at BoulderCAST Station since August 18th....33 days ago. The graph below shows a conglomeration of weather in Boulder sine January 1, 2016. Circled in red...note that monsoon season was much more brief this year compared to last summer. Though, the overall accumulated rainfall was more-or-less the same. With …

DayCAST: Thu 09/14/17

September 14, 2017 / Ben Castellani

Today will bring the best chance of precipitation for the week to the Front Range as a small but potent wave treks across western Colorado.

The 500 mb vorticity map below shows a autumn-like trough digging into the Pacific Northwest (big “L”), and also the small wave moving through Utah and western Colorado tonight (little “L”). Moisture in eastern Colorado, especially at the lower levels, will be fairly low today and tonight. The bulk of the precipitation will remain in western Colorado and Wyoming. However, there will be a decent chance of storms today across the Metro area…maybe 20% between 3PM and midnight this evening as the disturbance approaches. Highs will be cooler today in the low to middle 80’s with mostly cloudy skies developing by afternoon.

This big trough across the Northwest is actually cold enough for snow in the higher elevations of western Wyoming and Montana! Those wondering when snowfall may return to our Mountains should keep an eye on the middle of next week as ensembles are coming into agreement for an even colder and deeper trough developing across the West…

LEFT: 500 mb height anomaly for the middle of next week from the ECMWF. RIGHT: GFS ensemble 850 mb temperature anomaly

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DayCAST: Wed 09/13/17

September 13, 2017 / Ben Castellani

Our mid-level winds turn westerly for today as opposed to northerly like they were yesterday. There is no upper-level forcing around, but we still think a few isolated afternoon showers will develop across the higher terrain and drift eastward onto the Plains, providing spotty raindrops or rumbles of thunder. Expect lots of sunshine this morning, with increasing clouds through the afternoon. Temperatures …

DayCAST: Tue 09/12/17

September 12, 2017 / Ben Castellani

The 500 mb map below for today shows a decent ridge axis in place across Colorado and Utah, while Irma continues to dump heavy rainfall across the Mississippi River Valley. We'll have a rather pleasant day in northeast Colorado. Look for mostly sunny skies this afternoon. Storm chances are very low, and should be confined to areas south and west of …

This week in weather: September 11, 2017

September 11, 2017 / Ben Castellani

A warm and fairly dry week is expected across the Front Range. However, we’re once again watching the tropics this weekend for another East Coast landfall and one storm which could impact Colorado. Read on for details.

DayCAST: Thu 09/07/17

September 7, 2017 / Ben Castellani

Rain returns to our forecast in limited quantities today. The 500 mb forecast map below shows northwest flow in place across Colorado. It's hard to pick up the pulses of embedded energy in the northwest flow from this perspective, but trust us...they are there! This energy will fuel a isolated afternoon thunderstorms between 3PM and 9PM. Storms will be high-based, …