7:00 AM | "Cosmic coincidence"; Big warmup for the weekend after a cold end to the week
Paul Dorian
6-Day Forecast
Today
Mostly cloudy, cold, maybe a couple of snow showers, upper 30’s
Tonight
Mostly clear, very cold, lows in the middle teens
Saturday
Partly sunny, much milder, mid-to-upper 50’s
Saturday Night
Mostly cloudy, cold, near 30
Sunday
Partly sunny, mild, mid-to-upper 50’s
Monday
Partly sunny, colder, chance for some snow, upper 30’s
Tuesday
Partly sunny, cold, mid 40’s
Wednesday
Partly sunny, chilly, mid 40’s
Discussion
A very mild weekend is shaping up for the southern Rockies, but before we talk about that let's give an update on a "cosmic coincidence". First, later today an asteroid will pass by the Earth at a relatively close distance in terms of the cosmos, some 17,150 miles away. This distance is actually closer than geosynchronous satellites which orbit at about 22,500 miles and they provide data for GPS, communications, and weather predictions. Apparently, there is no chance that the asteroid, which is about 50 meters in size, will damage any of these spacecraft. The closest approach of the asteroid will be at about 2:24pm (ET) and this is the closest that any tracked object this size has ever come to the Earth. It is not expected to be visible around here with this closest approach coming during daytime hours. Coincidentally, in an unrelated event, a meteorite exploded early today over the Ural Mountains in Russia damaging many buildings and injuring hundreds of people due to such things as broken glass. The town that took the brunt of this damage, Chelyabinsk, is located about 900 miles east of Moscow.
Back to Earth, it’ll remain on the cold side today, but a big warming trend will take place this weekend as an upper level ridge moves across the area. Temperatures should climb into the 50’s on both weekend days before more cold air returns to the southern Rockies early next week.
Video
httpv://youtu.be/VP6RGN2n_t4