I went out during lunch today to measure our snowfall total so far from our ongoing storm system. So far totals are not too impressive out on the Plains and we have about 4″ to 5″ here in Greeley (as of about noon on October 28th). The heaviest snow has been confined to the foothills as one would expect with northeasterly upslope conditions. As the low pressure system slowly moves into our area, I expect the snowfall rates to pick up quite a bit later today into tonight. Forecasts are still calling for up to 18″ of snow… we’ll see. The Storm Prediction Center has put out a mesoscale discussion that covers an area from Greeley northward into Wyoming. They say that snow should pick up in intensity here shortly.
14″ here in south FoCo. Supposedly 17″ measured @ CSU. Can you explain Isentropic lift for me? Seems a bit confusing from what I’ve found online.
We have 9″ in Greeley as of 11pm and it’s snowing moderately.
A good example of isentropic lift is flow riding up and over a warm front. Trace an air parcel that originates in the warm sector within southerly flow as it rides up and over a warm front (and cold air at the surface). The surface cold air pool gradually deepens as you go north and the air parcel is slowly forced upward. Adiabatic processes cause the air to cool and condense out moisture with increasing altitude resulting in clouds and rain/snow.