Denver weather is all over the place as pattern realignment unfolds

We begin a transition into a new pattern across the country over the next few days, one which will probably support an uptick in many types of weather risk for the rest of April.

Weather Watch

Weather whiplash. Denver is seesawing between record warm and snow. It was as toasty as a record 86 degrees in the city over recent days, with highs still near 80 Wednesday. Fire weather erupts Thursday as low pressure begins to form in the Plains. Snow should fall Thursday night through Friday. It’s a little unclear how much will accumulate in the city but quite a good deal could fall in the mountains nearby.

Severe weather returns. With the jet stream digging in over the western United States., odds of powerful thunderstorms are rising in the heartland. The first notable day ahead is Thursday in and around Iowa. A larger event could come along this weekend into early next week, and the pattern seems to want to stay ripe thereafter.

Lightning link

Millions of trees snapped in half, over 10,000 without power weeks after Michigan ice storm.

Here we go again…

The hazards map is filling up.

The image above, issued by the Climate Prediction Center, shows major weather concerns from day 3-7. In this case, you can get a pretty good idea of where low pressure is expected to set up given hazards focused southeast of its center.

For now, it seems like once we move back into a pattern supporting severe weather in the central states, it will tend to stick around. Given what we’ve already seen this season — an above-average tornado year — that isn’t too crazy an idea.

Everything becomes mushier with time, but analog dates for the final week or so of April have been highlighting some memorable events of the past. Since we are approaching the peak of the peak for historical severe weather odds, a well-placed climatological threat can do some serious things.

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Weekday morning newsletter by a journalist/forecaster. Connecting weather and climate change dots while occasionally stirring the pot.

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