Tonight's Forecast:
Clouds associated with upper level energy decrease tonight, with snow showers possible in the high country through 10 PM. A few rain showers will persist between the Springs and Denver making for a wet, but low-weather-impact evening commute and dinnertime in southern Colorado. Overnight, lows drop to the 20s for most of us with clear to mainly clear skies and light winds. Elevated fire danger is ahead Wednesday ahead of a significant snowstorm Thursday and Friday - the details are at the bottom of this article.
Colorado Springs forecast: Low: 26; High: 57;
Mostly cloudy until 10PM then partly cloudy. Winds will be southeast at 10-15 mph with a chance for a passing snow shower overnight. Some of our high-resolution weather models like the idea of a narrow "training" snow shower overnight in the southern part of the region - which might lead to some of us waking up to a coating of snow (but not all of us). We'll monitor this potential through the rest of the evening. For now, we'll call it a "20% chance".
Pueblo forecast: Low: 23; High: 62;
Mostly cloudy before 9PM then partly cloudy, with nice cold lows close to seasonable (the average low tonight would be 24 degrees). East winds early, becoming north overnight at 10-15 mph.
Canon City forecast: Low: 27; High: 61;
You'll be on the mostly cloudy train tonight too - but skies become partly cloudy by 10PM, and clear by 2AM (if you happen to be up late/early and want to stargaze). Northwest winds at 10 mph.
Woodland Park forecast: Low: 22; High: 49;
Mostly cloudy until 9PM then partly cloudy until 11PM then clear - and cold. Southwest winds at 10 - 15 mph.
Tri-Lakes forecast: Low: 20s; High: 50s;
Partly cloudy before 9PM then mostly clear.
Plains forecast: Low: 20s; High: 60s;
Partly cloudy with a stray shower through 11PM. After that you'll have partly cloudy skies through around 2AM, then mainly clear and cool with winds from the southeast at 10-15 mph.
Walsenburg and Trinidad forecast: Low: 22; High: 58/62;
Mostly cloudy early with clearing skies after 11PM. Winds out of the southwest at 5-10 mph - calm and tranquil.
Mountains forecast: Low: 20s; High: 50;
Clearing skies with winds out of the southwest at 10-15 mph. A few snow flurries are possible in the southern mountains.
Extended outlook forecast:
A few morning snow showers are possible in the southern portion of El Paso county early on Wednesday morning. If you're headed down to Pueblo, don't be surprised if you run into a few slick spots in the morning, and a few of us may even wake up to an inch of snow on the ground with the potential for a narrow band of snow to develop overnight. But, for the rest of us, Wednesday starts off clear and cool with temperatures in the 20s, warming to the upper 50s during the afternoon. Humidity will be low Wednesday afternoon - in the teens. You'll want a water bottle with you if you're going to be outside for awhile - you'll lose water fast. This will also lead to elevated fire concerns on Wednesday. Winds will be breezy, but below fire weather warning criteria. In general, it will be easy for a fire to start Wednesday, but it will be unlikely for any fire to grow rapidly. Avoid outdoor burning Wednesday.
A big-deal snowmaker is on the way to southern Colorado following our nice Wednesday. Snow and rain showers will begin as early as late Wednesday night in the Pikes Peak Region with more showers on Thursday. Expect a mix of rain and snow showers on Thursday morning with some thunder possible as well. The rain/snow line will start out at 7,000 feet with this storm. On Thursday afternoon, I expect rain showers in our area with the best thunder chance in the afternoon. There's still a bit of uncertainty on this part of the storm - we Toward evening, cooling temperatures, aided by a cold front, will result in a change to all snow. Any heavier snow showers we get along with snow banding will enhance totals, and will make totals vary widely across the region. Snow continues Friday, with the biggest impact looking to be the Friday morning commute - snow will be ongoing, with below freezing temperatures. Snow currently looks to end during the evening on Friday but will depend on the timing of an arriving drier air mass. I expect a wet 4-6 inches of snow right now in the Pikes Peak Region, with significantly more to the west in Teller County, which will see more than 8 inches. The big winners will be the southern mountains - the Sangre De Cristos, Wet Mountains, and the adjacent plains in Walsenburg and Trinidad - which could see well over a foot of heavy wet snow.
Behind this system, Saturday will start cold with temperatures in the low 20s and wind chills in the teens - it'll be a good morning for sledding, but cold. We'll warm up to the upper 30s for our highs through the day with some snow melt sunshine.
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Curious about the First Alert 5 Weather Storm Impact Scale? Check out our cheatsheet explainer.
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