Summer 2013 Colorado Weather, Rain, Monsoon, Thunderstorms, Hail, El Nino, La Nina, etc (Pueblo: neighborhood, where to live)

[Mike from back east]

Now that the winter of 2012-2013 is finally over, let's move our weather conversation to a new seasonal thread for mid-year climate and weather.

On the topic of El Nino, here's the main page from the NOAA website.

Here's the current status of El Nino and La Nina from NOAA. Lots of spiffy charts but not much in the way of predictions, other than these three summary statements:
- ENSO-neutral conditions continue.
- Equatorial sea surface temperatures (SST) are near average across most of the Pacific Ocean.
- ENSO-neutral is favored into the late Northern Hemisphere summer 2013.

The Wikipedia explanation of El Nino is pretty good .

Originally Posted by 1AngryTaxPayer

How do El Nino years usually hit CO? I thought you all got hammered with moisture. If so you guys may be in for a wet one All the signs of one are here on the coast.

Anyone want to take a stab at answering this question? I really didn't find much on the NOAA page that was of help.

[Josseppie]

For my first post in the summer thread I thought I would talk about the switch from the cold start to spring to the hot summer like weather. The tree's are still getting their leafs and my lawn is still getting green thanks to the late snow storms and cold nights yet this week Pueblo is going to get over 90 four times and unofficially downtown is usually about 5 degrees warmer then the official high at the airport.

This is from my I Phone:

[denverian]

Originally Posted by Josseppie

For my first post in the summer thread I thought I would talk about the switch from the cold start to spring to the hot summer like weather. The tree's are still getting their leafs and my lawn is still getting green thanks to the late snow storms and cold nights yet this week Pueblo is going to get over 90 four times and unofficially downtown is usually about 5 degrees warmer then the official high at the airport.

This is from my I Phone:

Yeah, this is just weird. Last week felt like spring, and that's all we got. Now it's summer! So many trees still don't even have buds opening up. It feels like summer, but where's the shade? I think this is the latest I recall the trees opening up. Last spring was the earliest.

[Idunn]

Per the trees in the mountains, yes, many have not begun to leaf out. Given the warmer weather now, this seems somewhat odd.

Although perhaps they are leery and not sure exactly what to do. In April, the aspen began to wake, issuing their caterpillar-like flowers. And about as soon got heavily snowed on. Probably used to that type of thing; their flowing has continued. But without any leafs in evidence yet. And then on May 1st we received some 14 inches of heavy snow, which they sure were not expecting. Several aspen lost a number of smaller yet significant branches.

So who knows? And the trees perhaps wondering as well.

[Josseppie]

I am not sure what the official high was but unofficially it hit 91 today in Pueblo. I have a feeling this is going to be another hot summer.

[Ruth4Truth]

The report in the OP sounds like we're inbetween ocillations, everything is normal/average. So there won't be an unusual rain pattern. Now as to the drought, which has been going on several years now, and is independent of the Nino/Nina ocillation, we can probably expect that to continue, since it's part of the overall global warming trend.

As far as the NOAA site linked above offering predictions, here it is:

Climate Prediction Center - Seasonal Color Maps

Depicts the whole southwest as a hot spot. No surprise there.

[lurtsman]

Thank goodness I moved to the Springs instead of Phoenix. The summer weather here is beautiful. Of course, I don't much mind the winter here either, and both summer and winter were bad in the awful midwest.

High in the low 80s today, and I've already greeted the morning with a nice walk around the neighborhood. Windows are open and there is a cool breeze.

When I was deciding where to live, I thought I wanted a low change in temperature from day to night. I was SO wrong. Once I realized that the small change usually came with humidity and bugs (and often traffic), I decided I'd just accept the big change. Now, I absolutely love it. If the days are fairly hot, I can still enjoy a cold night to provide a break from the heat.

Colorado weather in general is excellent.

[highplainsrus]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

The report in the OP sounds like we're inbetween ocillations, everything is normal/average. So there won't be an unusual rain pattern. Now as to the drought, which has been going on several years now, and is independent of the Nino/Nina ocillation, we can probably expect that to continue, since it's part of the overall global warming trend.

As far as the NOAA site linked above offering predictions, here it is:

Climate Prediction Center - Seasonal Color Maps

Depicts the whole southwest as a hot spot. No surprise there.

Even if the drought is independent of Nino/Nina (i disagree), the annual southwest monsoon is certainly influenced by the Pacific patterns. If, however, we are in the midst of a thousand year drought, which includes monsoon drought, then the Pacific patterns may not be as much of an influence on the monsoon. The trees are probably wiser than we are. Of course, we know the old maxim, "it looks darkest before the dawn".

In Parched Southwest, Anxious Wait for Summer Rains | Climate Central

[proveick]

Crossing my fingers the monsoons are back. Looks like it here in COS.

[JMM64]

Hopefully above average rain this summer (probably not though). I can't wait for the snow up high to start melting fast, this rafting season should be great! Fires are unavoidable for the most part (lightning), but I sure hope this year is not like the last one.