Weather
And just when you thought hurricane season was over, it’s monsoon season in Colorado.
A potential monsoon is expected to land in Colorado this weekend, bringing in large amounts of moisture from the south. Chris Tomer, a Colorado-based meteorologist, wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday predicting this weekend’s weather:
“The monsoon could make its first appearance of the season this weekend and early next week in the Mountains of Colorado. It would mean a higher chance for afternoon t-storms with heavy rain and frequent lightning. I included the wind direction streamlines on the graphic below. Notice the southerly winds ushering in the moisture from the south.”
Contrary to popular belief, a monsoon isn’t a storm or even heavy rain — it’s a wind shift.
https://twitter.com/LasVegasLocally/status/1285423726205431810
In North America, the monsoon happens in the Desert Southwest near Arizona. 9 News reports that winds normally flow offshore there in the spring and winter months, but as the summer sun heats up the land, an area of low pressure develops. This reverses the wind pattern which allows moist air over the ocean to flow onto land, often bringing rain with it.
Warmer than usual conditions appear likely across much of the country in late July. https://t.co/OmuELOiqSU pic.twitter.com/Y8oEx8mju6
— NWS Climate Prediction Center (@NWSCPC) July 15, 2020
The monsoon usually shows up in mid-June, so it’s a little late this year, but it can last all the way until September.
