Welcome back to the 2015 edition of the Colorado Flood Threat Bulletin. Mother Nature decided not to allow us a few dry days to get back into the swing of things, and instead has provided Colorado with a bit of moisture to provide some early-season action. Precipitable water<\/span> (IPW), shown in the image below, tells a story of increasing moisture during, and after, the cool frontal passage yesterday evening. This left-behind moisture will provide the fuel for today’s showers and thunderstorms, as sunshine and a weak mid-level disturbance provide an ignition mechanism.<\/p>\n A closer look at other observations reveals that most of the moisture west of the Continental Divide<\/span> is confined to the mid-levels, which means that most showers and thunderstorms on that side of the state will struggle to produce moderate rainfall, resulting in mainly gusty winds and light rain at the surface. East of the Continental Divide<\/span>, however, moisture is spread between the low- and mid-levels of the atmosphere, and will allow for a better chance at stronger storms and moderate-to-heavy rainfall.<\/p>\n The forcing mechanism for today’s showers and thunderstorms will be a combination of daytime heating and a 700-mb shortwave<\/span>. These will combine to kick off isolated<\/span> showers and thunderstorms over the higher terrain between 10 am and Noon. As the shortwave<\/span> progresses east, and daytime heating take place, coverage and intensity will increase as storms develop over the Front Range between Noon and 2 PM. Storm motions today will take storms in a southeasterly direction at about 15-20 mph, across the plains through the afternoon and evening hours. The strongest storms will impact the Front Range, Urban Corridor, Palmer Ridge, and Northeast\/Southeast Plains region (forecast zones<\/a>). Stronger storms will hold the risk for 1-inch diameter hail.<\/p>\n For more information on today’s flood threat, see the map below (hover over threat areas for more details). For Zone-Specific forecasts, jump below the map.<\/p>\n![\"IPW_05012015\"](\"https:\/\/archive-coftb.dewberryanalytics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/IPW_05012015.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nToday’s Flood Threat Map<\/strong><\/h3>\n