All set for the beginning of December

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The large-scale pattern across the country this week will consist of a deep trough in the Great Lakes/Northeast, while a strong ridge settles in along the West Coast, extending as far north as the Arctic at times. While Colorado will remain between these two larger rock formations, we will be closer to and more influenced by the ridge than the valley.

The storm’s main track will remain east of our area for most of the week, with temporary disturbances extending from Canada’s Yukon to the Great Lakes. Some of these distant systems could send a faint boundary or two to Colorado, but nothing significant and temperatures would only fluctuate up and down a few degrees, if at all. It may not be until very late in the week that a system in this northwesterly flow approaches our area (see end of animation below), but models remain torn on this aspect of the extended forecast.

The result of this pattern will be a long stretch of calm weather across the Front Range with tame northwesterly flow, with mild, sunny conditions and generally light winds through at least Friday, but likely longer. Unsurprisingly, ensembles will be completely dry throughout the week, with a non-zero but still extremely low chance of a few snow showers late Friday or Saturday. Weather at the end of the week will likely bring only light snow to the mountains, with dry conditions heavily favored in the Denver metro area and possible slight cooling.

Enjoy the week and hope that the second week of December is a little more exciting weather-wise – some ensemble members seem to be hinting at slightly more active conditions, but only time will tell…

Special features of the forecast:

Monday: Sunny and mild with temperatures in the low 50s on the plains and low 40s in the foothills.

Tuesday: Sunny and warm with highs up to 60 degrees in the plains and higher 40s in the foothills.

Wednesday: Stay sunny and mild with highs in the mid 50s on the plains and lower 40s in the foothills.

Thursday and Friday: Mostly sunny and mild, with high temperatures remaining above normal in the lower to mid 50s.

weekend: It’s likely to stay mild, dry and sunny with temperatures in the 50s. North of I-70, light snow may occur in the mountains with minor accumulations Friday night or Saturday.

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DISCLAIMER: This weekly forecast is made on Monday morning and covers the entire coming week. Accuracy decreases throughout the week as this post is NOT updated. Subscribe to BoulderCAST to receive daily updated forecasts from our team, among many other benefits premium.

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Ben Castellani

Ben grew up in southwestern Pennsylvania and holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in meteorology, the latter from CU Boulder. His hometown received nearly three feet of snow from the Storm of the Century in March 1993, which sparked his initial interest in influential weather. Ben currently works on remote sensing and data analysis software at L3Harris Technologies in Boulder.

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