Backdoor Frontal Passage Tonight

Surface low in Kansas and strong high pressure moving south along Front Range brought snows and winds to eastern Colorado and western Kansas this morning - above is midmorning view along I-70 at Limon, Colorado. The associated cold front is strongest along the Front Range, but there is also cooler air moving southwestward across Arizona. The southeast corner of state has warmest temperatures at present time ~ 2 pm MST on November 2nd. The current surface plot (below, from NCAR) shows that the backdoor portion of the front has advanced southward across the texas Big Bend country and pushed westward through Deming, New Mexico.

This morning's run of the WRF-NAM at Atmo forecasts strong easterly winds through the night and morning hours. Surface forecast below is valid at 6 am MST on Thursday morning, the 3rd of November. Note that the model forecasts strongest east winds along the I-10 corridor, including the airport. Depending on the local details, temperatures may be all over the place by sunrise. Low here this morning was 39F, and how cold it is by tomorrow morning will depend upon whether or not it goes calm during the night. The backdoor front is short-lived as the short-wave trough mentioned in an earlier post digs down the west coast.