Editor’s Note: This is a weekly column written by Meteorologist Joel Gratz that will take you “behind the scenes” of the typical weather forecast. Joel is the founder of ColoradoPowderForecast.com, where you can sign up for his email alerts.

Boulder, CO – Springtime in the Rockies is about as stable as a middle school kid. It can go from cold to hot to cold in pretty short order. That was exactly the case with the storm that took place last weekend.nAfter a few cold powder days earlier last week, temperatures soared to the 50’s on Friday and Saturday (shown on the graphic’s left panel below). About 24 hours later, a cold front came through and temperatures plummeted, as shown with the blue colors over Colorado on Monday morning. High temperatures on Saturday were around 55, and on Monday they were around 15 or 20.

This might seem like a wild swing, but in reality it’s about right for spring. With a high sun angle (about equal to the middle of September), any time the cool air retreats, the sun’s power really warms things up and can make you forget that there’s still plenty of good snow left out there.

Expect at least a few more spring swings over the next few weeks. It’s the atmosphere’s way of saying “Hey winter, we’re not done quite yet!”