{"id":557,"date":"2015-05-24T10:16:47","date_gmt":"2015-05-24T16:16:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.coloradofloodthreat.com\/?p=557"},"modified":"2015-05-24T10:16:47","modified_gmt":"2015-05-24T16:16:47","slug":"ftb-05-24-2015-storms-on-tap-again-but-fewer-and-farther-apart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive-coftb.dewberryanalytics.com\/?p=557","title":{"rendered":"FTB 05-24-2015: Storms On Tap Again, But Fewer and Farther Apart"},"content":{"rendered":"

ISSUE DATE: May 24, 2015
\nISSUE TIME: 10:10AM<\/p>\n

— LOW flood threat for parts of Northeast Plains, Palmer Ridge and Southeast Plains
\n— LOW flood threat for South Platte River from Greeley through the Nebraska state line
\n— LOW flood threat for Arkansas River from Pueblo through La Junta
<\/em><\/p>\n

After three days of drifting, the upper-level disturbance has finally reached Colorado, as shown by the water vapor image below. However, this system has already seen its best days and will continue to slowly weaken. Nonetheless, there are many smaller disturbances embedded within the main system (black dashed lines on water vapor image) that will continue to generate precipitation across the state.<\/p>\n

\"watervapor_20150524\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Overall, we anticipate a decrease in rain intensity today. There are several reasons for this. First of all, the upper-level system has weakened. One way to measure this is the temperatures in the upper-levels, say 15,000-20,000 feet above the ground. Yesterday, those temperatures were a chilly -20 Celsius, but today, they have warmed to -15 to -17 C. This implies less overall instability. Second, precipitable water<\/span> values, measuring total water vapor in the overhead atmosphere, have declined into the 0.4 to 0.6 inch range. They are expected to stay in this range, except for the far eastern portions of the state. Finally, there will be more downsloping<\/span> flow today, especially in the in the Urban Corridor and down through the Southeast Mountains. This will tend to disrupt thunderstorm formation.<\/p>\n

For today, we anticipate early thunderstorm formation across almost all areas of the state. Thunderstorm rainfall will be quite light, generally in the 0.25 to 0.5 inch range. Once again, the only exception to this will be in the eastern portions of Colorado, where instability will be higher. There, one-hour rainfall up to 1.6 inches will be possible, warranting a Low flood threat.<\/p>\n

Finally, the South Platte and Arkansas continue to run high. We have downgraded the South Platte into a Low flood threat, putting it in the same category as the Arkansas. We do not anticipate today’s rainfall being a serious impact to either river.<\/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