We are returning home from Colorado Springs today.
This morning, the weather in Rio Rancho, NM, has been mostly cloudy, and my weather station says:
The NWS in Pueblo, CO, forecasts (for Colorado Springs, CO) a partly sunny day, with a 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms and a high temperature of 85 F. The winds will be from the south at 10-20 mph.
The NWS in Albuquerque, NM, forecasts (for Raton, NM) a partly sunny day, with a 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms and a high temperature of 82 F. The winds will be from the southwest at 15-25 mph, gusting to 35 mph.
The NWS in Albuquerque, NM, forecasts (for Rio Rancho, NM) a mostly cloudy evening, with a 60% chance of showers and thunderstorms, decreasing to a 30% chance overnight, and a low temperature of 601 F. The winds will be from the south at 5-15 mph, becoming northeasterly after midnight.
The SPC Mesoscale Analysis Surface Map shows mild temperatures and high humidity. The skies are mixed sunny and cloudy along our route (according to the sensors). The winds are breezy and southwesterly.
The SPC Mesoscale Analysis Pressure Map shows that we will drive from lower pressure into higher pressure as we approach New Mexico. The RAP shows the pressure will drop everywhere with diurnal heating.
Visible satellite imagery shows clouds just along the edge of the Front Range. We will drive just east of the front range, so we will travel under sunny skies until the cloud cover expands.
The Nested NAM simulated reflectivity shows we will be driving in and out of thunderstorms all day.
The Nested NAM predicts temperatures will rise into the mid 80s F along our route, and then decrease to the mid 60s F overnight in Rio Rancho. Along the route, the temperature will vary, based on the exact location of the showers and their rain cooled air.
The Nested NAM shows that the dewpoints will remain in the 50s F, keeping things quite humid by “out west” standards.
The Nested NAM shows breezy conditions along our route.
The Nested NAM predicts mostly cloudy skies along our route.
It should be a good trip, though we will drive through a few non-severe thunderstorms along the way. I just hope there is a lull in the rain when we get home, as it is easier to unload a car (including two kittens) if it is not raining!
Thank you for reading my post.
Sources:
The forecasts from the National Weather Service are from The NWS Homepage
The upper air soundings and mesoscale analysis plots are from the Storm Prediction Center website.
The satellite data, model data, and forecasted soundings are from College of DuPage – SATRAD
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