Winter Ecology - Current Conditions & Forecasts

Winter Ecology - Current Conditions & Forecasts

Current Conditions & Forecasts -
Local, Regional, National, Tropospheric Circulation, Weather Briefing Archive

Links in Bold are common sources for class weather briefings: MRS, Avi, US Surface, Troposphere

Local -

NWS Forecasts:

MRS

Niwot treeline (11,000')

Nederland
Northern Mountains

Current MRS weather:

Niwot wx stations
Niwot Ridge Saddle Stn TundraCam - currently not operational (1/11)
Monthly snow reports for Niwot Ridge C1: 31 Dec 10, 31 Jan 11

CDOT

Road Conditions
Cameras (select CO 72 for Ward, CO 7 for Lily Lake)

Regional -

NWS Graphical Forecast: Central Rockies
NWS Radar N Rockies

Mesonet observations for N Colorado Rockies - Mesowest - zoom into Front Range area

Personal wx stns - http://www.wunderground.com/wundermap/
Regional snow forecast: Colorado & SW U.S. ; (Colorado powder forecast),

Colorado Avalanche Forecast -

Front Range Avi Weather Analysis & Forecast

Interactive Map.
Link to other regions from these pages.

Weather obs links

National Context -

~North American Snow Cover: & Snow Depth [Northern Hemisphere Snow Depth]
Current surface weather conditions

--> Refer to Legend of map symbols: see table "Surface Station Model", and scroll down to "Map Symbols"

Current Surface Map w/ radar - American Meteorolical Society (AMS)

Other mapping options (select region, or select variable)
Links to other resources

Current US surface maps - Unisys

Simplier map combined with satellite clouds and radar precip: US loop
Central Interior (including Colorado)

Current US surface maps - UCAR

4 panel - easier to read by component maps: sfc T, moisture: dew point T, sfc pressure/wind, sfc pressure trend

Satellite - GOES Image Browser

Visible -- Denver centered, Western US: still, animation
IR -- Western US: still, animation
Accuweather version - US, (hit Play)
Unisys Satellite IR: US loop
AMS

General Atmospheric Circulation -

Mid-Troposphere (500mb) wind and heights, showing position and strength of the mid-latitude jet - Unisys:

Current and forecast panel
Corresponding Surface forecast panel

"Winter panel" - TopLeft: sfc temp, TRight: wind chill temp, LowerL: cloud cover/precip/freeze line, LR: snowfall rate (in/3hrs) - (Guide to panels)

Jet Stream simple graphics - AccuWeather
AMS

Course Weather Briefing Archive -
Daily 500mb, Surface (sea level pressure, surface temperataure, precipitation), & Avi forecasts:

2012 - Week I: 21 Jan 12 - 500mb(Upper Air) & Surface Maps, Avalanche & Mountain Weather Forecast

Week II: 28 Jan 12 - 500mb & Sfc Maps, Avi & Mtn Wx
Week III: 4 Feb 12 - 500mb & Sfc Maps,

2011 - Week I: 15 Jan 11 - 500mb & Sfc Maps, CAIC Avi Forecast

16 Jan 11 - 500mb & Sfc Maps, CAIC Avi Forecast

- Week II: 22 Jan 11 - 500mb & Sfc Maps, CAIC Avi Forecast
- Week III: 29 Jan 11 - 1000mb temperatures=arrival of Arctic air

2010 - Week I: 23 Jan 10: 500mb, Sfc - Week II: 29 Jan 10: 500mb, Sfc, CAIC
2009 - Week I: 8 Feb 09: 500mb, Sfc, CAIC, Week II: 14 Feb 09: 500mb, Sfc, CAIC, Week III: 21 Feb 09: 500mb, Sfc, CAIC, Week IV: 28 Feb 09: 500mb, Sfc, CAIC

Weather Guides -

Windchill Chart: up to 60 mph - pdf (200k), up to 150 (from Mt Washington link)
Weekly weather news - Global events (AMS)
See also Winter Climate and Snow "Other Resources"

Course website including all internal links © 2012 T. Kittel. All rights reserved. All copyrighted material on this website is made available for limited educational use only (commerical use strictly prohibited).
rev. 3 Feb 12