{"id":216,"date":"2015-05-04T11:15:37","date_gmt":"2015-05-04T17:15:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.coloradofloodthreat.com\/?p=216"},"modified":"2015-05-04T11:15:42","modified_gmt":"2015-05-04T17:15:42","slug":"ftb-05-04-2015-scattered-showers-and-thunderstorms-continue-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive-coftb.dewberryanalytics.com\/?p=216","title":{"rendered":"FTB 05-04-2015: Scattered Showers and Thunderstorms Continue Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

Issue Date: 5\/04\/2015
\nIssue Time: 11:08 AM<\/p>\n

LOW FLOOD THREAT IS FORECAST FOR TODAY FOR PORTIONS OF THE URBAN CORRIDOR, FRONT RANGE, PALMER RIDGE, NORTHEAST PLAINS, RATON RIDGE, SOUTHEAST MOUNTAINS, SAN JUAN MUONTAINS, CENTRAL MOUNTAINS AND NORTHERN MOUNTAINS. BE SURE TO CHECK THE MAP BELOW FOR SPECIFIC LOCATIONS.<\/em><\/p>\n

Moisture has been on the increase since yesterday, with IPW values (shown below) climbing to between 0.6-0.85 inches at the normal reporting stations (Boulder – DSRC, Grand Junction – MC01, Pueblo – PUB5, and Shriever AFB – AMC2). This is due to the moisture plume being pulled across the Desert SW and into Colorado by an upper-level low currently centered over southern CA. This places Colorado under a moist, southwesterly flow, which will contribute to the increased coverage of showers\/thunderstorms today and tonight. Precipitable Water<\/span> values, as measured by atmospheric soundings from Grand Junction and Denver at 6 AM, are in the 90th percentile for this date, showing just how “juicy” the atmosphere is today. With that said, though, we still haven’t reached the 1 inch IPW mark this season, which is the benchmark for a typical, summertime heavy rain\/flood potential day.<\/p>\n

\"IPW_05042015\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Limiting today’s potential for heavy rain to cause flash flooding<\/span> is relatively insufficient instability for the most flood prone areas along the Front Range and Urban Corridor. Cloud cover from this morning’s showers is still stuffed into much of northeast Colorado, though it is starting to thin out across the Palmer Ridge and southern Front Range\/Urban Corridor regions. This cloud cover will minimize the work that the sun can do to warm up the surface, lessening the amount of instability that it can create in those areas. On the flip side of that same coin, the upper-level low will provide vertical motion to compensate for that lack of instability, and so moderate-to-heavy rain cannot be ruled out.<\/p>\n

West of the Divide<\/span>, much of the cloud cover from last night has thinned, leaving mostly sunny skies to heat the surface and increase instability. Additionally, support from the upper-level low will aid in thunderstorm development. Widespread<\/span> heavy rain is not likely, but a few isolated<\/span> thunderstorms producing rain in the 0.8-1.4 inches\/hour range is not out of the question.<\/p>\n

Today’s Flood Threat Map<\/strong><\/h3>\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