When you see this number, it probably means storms are on the way (Denver: neighborhood)

[Vision67]

https://www.denverpost.com/2019/08/0...w-point-storm/

"If you see a dew point of 60 or above in the morning, it could be a good signal that high impact weather might be on the way later that day.


Through Thursday, 10 days so far this year have featured a dew point of 60 or above in Denver. Among those 10 days, nine of those have featured “thunder”, according to hourly weather observations at Denver International Airport – including two notable high impact weather days in July. High impact weather could include anything from large hail to damaging winds to flash flooding.

Denver averages about 14 days a year with a dew point of 60 degrees or higher, based on historical data from 1996 through 2018.

A dew point, in short, is a measure of the amount of available moisture. Technically, it’s the temperature that the air needs to cool to in order for condensation to form. If, for example, the air temperature is 85 and there’s a 60 degree dew point, it’s probably not raining, because the atmosphere can still hold a good chunk of the moisture as a gas. If there’s a 60-degree dew point and the air temperature is 60, however, it’s probably raining (or, like Friday morning, creating fog and/or dew), because the atmosphere can’t hold any of that moisture as a gas, and it’s forced to condense into either dew or precipitation.

If you just moved to the area and know a thing or two about weather, you might know that a 60-degree dew point would actually be considered to be pretty dry in say, New York, Chicago or Atlanta, at least in the summer months. For the eastern two-thirds of the country, a 60-degree dew point in the middle of the summer is considered a relatively comfortable air mass. But in Denver, we only see a 60-degree dew point a handful of times a year, simply because Colorado is located in a far drier part of the country.

So why does all of this matter?

The limited number of times we’ve wound up with a 60 dew point or higher, it’s generally led to strong to severe storms for the metro area. In essence, it comes down to this: moisture is one of the main bits of fuel a thunderstorm needs to grow and sustain itself. There are other key factors as well, specifically wind shear, lift and upper-level winds, but a high dew point means there’s lots of low-level moisture in place to develop strong storms.

“(A 60 degree dew point) is pretty wet for this area. With those higher dew points, that’s adding higher moisture to the atmosphere, that’s adding more energy,” said Lisa Kriederman, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Boulder. “That’s a more buoyant air mass, and that’s due to the molecular weight of a wet air mass versus a dry one. There’s definitely a correlation.”

In case you’re unaware, the Front Range has a somewhat volatile climate. It’s hard to apply a single number or metric and apply it in a sure-fire way; there are and will be times where a 60-degree dew point will produce tranquil weather in the afternoon. Sometimes, the air can dry out in the afternoon, or the hit-or-miss nature of summer storms bypasses your backyard, or there’s not enough shear in place to sustain those storms. There are lots of factors that have to come together for severe thunderstorms to erupt, and sometimes they don’t all come together.

But as a general rule of thumb, if you see a 60-degree dew point in the morning, that should be a cue that the afternoon could be particularly active. In the 10 days of 60 or above dew points in Denver so far this year, eight have featured measurable rainfall, including the deadly flash flood in Lakewood last month and the fireworks-dousing Fourth of July storms.

“Anytime you add moisture to the atmosphere, especially in the low in the mid levels, you’re going to get more juicy storms,” said Dr. Sam Ng, a professor of meteorology at Metro State University. “It doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll see more severe weather, but you’ll get more high impact weather.”

So if you’re looking for a quick cheat code on your afternoon forecast, ditch your weather app and the computer-generated rain percentage it spits out. Take a look at the dew point in the morning – at least during the summer months – and if it’s 60 or above, that’ll give you a good hint that we’re probably in for some active weather in the afternoon."

find current dew point here: https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/de...weather/347810

[DougStark]

^^^^^^ Hey, that was a great informative post. I like getting educated on meteorology and climates.

I didn't know Denver had that few days with dew points over 60. As a Phoenix visitor here this summer, I'm very familiar with tv weather anchors mentioning dew points. In Phoenix, three consecutive days of DPs at or above 55 degrees in the summer mean the arrival of our monsoon season. Your Denver anchors don't use the term monsoon that frequently that I can tell.

[Vision67]

The current dew point is 61 deg.

This afternoon may get interesting.

[Westerner92]

I’m glad there’s data to back up my anecdotal observations. The air has seemed way thicker this summer than usual to me, and I’ve attributed the five hail events my neighborhood has had this year so far to that.

Dew point records have been broken all over North America east of the Rockies this summer. My friends and family in various states have all remarked that the storms are way wetter. Flash floods have occurred even in famously wet places, with more intense dry periods between. This is just a taste of the intensifying water cycle.

[kgottwald]

Anyone know what the record high dewpoint in Denver is?


Here in DC it's usually over 70 for most of the summer, and it's been known to hit 82 (!)

[Moonwalkr]

Originally Posted by kgottwald

Anyone know what the record high dewpoint in Denver is?


Here in DC it's usually over 70 for most of the summer, and it's been known to hit 82 (!)

No idea but usually when it's hot and sunny outside the humidity is really low so dew point drops during the day. It's most humid in the morning so maybe dew point starts off at 50 degrees and goes down to 40 during the day.

[DougStark]

Originally Posted by kgottwald

Anyone know what the record high dewpoint in Denver is?


Here in DC it's usually over 70 for most of the summer, and it's been known to hit 82 (!)

Ouch!! That only thing that loves those dew points are the trees and plants outside.

[blindside]

Originally Posted by DougStark

Ouch!! That only thing that loves those dew points are the trees and plants outside.

Mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, and a whole assortment of biting insects. I’m glad I left them behind.