We’re not staying in Connecticut long, as we have a forecast back to the west. This trip to Colorado will be shorter than our most recent trip, covering 1934 miles, over the course of 3/12 days. That works out to an average speed of 66.7mph, and a daily mileage of 533.5 miles.
DAY ONE (Saturday)
There is this band of orphaned moisture riding the back of a broad ridge of high pressure in the Atlantic, and it is leading to chances for showers up and down the coast to about the Appalachians. On the other side of Appalachia, a cold front is meekly trying to move through, further drawing moist air further to the north. This will mean a mostly cloudy day, driving through New York, with some coastal showers in Connecticut at the outset, and then, as that front approaches Appalachia, we could see a few showers for the concluding bit of our driver, between Buffalo and Erie, where we stop for the night.
DAY TWO (Sunday)
The cold front will be beyond us by the time we depart Erie on Sunday morning, giving us a fairly unperturbed drive through Ohio and Indiana. The next little vorticity maximum will be rotating through the western Great Lakes by the end of our day on Sunday, which may lead to a few showers and an isolated embedded thunderstorm over northern Illinois. I would call it west of Joliet, which would get us through Chicago, but showers and storms would be possible all the way to Langley, Illinois, which is about 30 miles west of La Salle, and our destination for Sunday night.
DAY THREE (Monday)
This time of year, especially after a bit of rain overnight, I wouldn’t be surprised by “corn sweat” in the morning. That would be fog that arises thanks to the latent moisture provided by crops, mostly corn, that are approaching their harvest time. High pressure will be in place, and we should see the sun through western Iowa and into Nebraska. It will be getting warm as we arrive in Kearney for the night, as low pressure in the high Plains is developing a warm front. This may also serve as a guide for some overnight convection, but that should hold off until after we have arrived .
DAY FOUR (Tuesday)
Surface high pressure will be all the rage again as we get going on Tuesday morning. The unbroken horizon of Nebraska will lay ahead of us, and it will be a race to see the mountains. We’ll arrive in Fort Collins without much concern, though by afternoon showers and storms will be popping up in along the dry line of eastern Colorado.
