Today’s Forecast:
A top ten weather day is ahead for us in southern Colorado Saturday, with high pressure bringing us mainly sunny skies this morning, and partly cloudy skies this afternoon. . It will be a bit breezy during the afternoon - with wind gusts of 15-25 mph out of the west, stronger in our gap flow regions (between mountain ranges). It will also be a very dry day, with low relative humidity around 10-15%, so bring the lip balm, the hand lotion, and the water bottle as you head out to enjoy the nice conditions. Spotty high fire danger will exist this afternoon along the eastern plains due to this low humidity so limit outdoor grilling and burning today. In Huerfano County, a Fire Weather Warning is in place from 11AM -6PM, where stronger winds will enable any fire that starts to spread rapidly. Avoid all outdoor burning if you're headed to the Spanish Peaks, Sangres, Wet Mountains, La Veta Pass, and nearby areas this afternoon!
If you're headed to the Ice Festival in Cripple Creek (or the Ice Castles), highs will be in the mid 40s with wind chills in the 30s. And if you're hitting a trail for a hike or bike ride, remember that higher elevation trails will still be muddy as snow continues to melt away. Lower trails and parks should be dry.
Colorado Springs forecast: High: 63; Low: 31.
Sunny and nice - with west winds at 10-15 mph.
Pueblo forecast: High: 68; Low: 32.
Sunny with a few high PM clouds. Mild and comfortable, wih west winds at 10-15 mph.
Canon City forecast: High: 65; Low: 34.
Sunny with a light breeze - winds from the southwest at 15-20 mph.
Woodland Park forecast: High: 51; Low: 27.
Sunny and breezy with west winds at 15-25 mph gusting to 40 mph.
Tri-Lakes forecast: High: 60s; Low: Low 30s.
Sunny and nice with a few high PM clouds. West winds at 10-15 mph.
Plains forecast: High: Upper 60s; Low: 20s.
Sunny and great - west winds at 10-15 mph.
Walsenburg and Trinidad forecast: High: 62/65; Low: 34.
FIRE WEATHER WARNING in effect from 11AM - 6PM for Huerfano County.
Sunny and nice with west winds a 15-25 mph.
Mountains forecast: High: 40s/50s; Low: 30s.
Sunny with west winds at 10-20 mph gusting to 35 mph.
Extended outlook forecast:
As our ridge of high pressure moves east on Sunday, winds strengthen, while we remain bone dry. Wind gusts during the afternoon will be in the 30-35 mph range from the southwest, with very low humidity of 10-15%. A Fire Weather Watch is in effect Sunday from 11AM-6PM for this reason. If you've got outdoor plans Sunday, keep outdoor burning and grilling out of them. This dry downslope gusty winds will further warm highs to the upper 60s to low 70s. Monday continues the pattern with even stronger wind gusts of 45-55 mph + along I-25, and above 60 mph on the eastern plains, which may lead to a damaging wind threat. We'll keep you posted through the weekend. Although our warm high pressure ridge shifts east on Monday, highs will only cool slightly due to the strong downslope winds.
Your next weather maker arrives Tuesday, as a cold front moves in associated with a system arriving from the Pacific Northwest. You'll see rain and snow showers during the afternoon and evening into Wednesday morning. Timing is still a bit of an issue here, with our two main "large scale" weather models - the "American" and the "European" disagreeing on how quickly the system reaches us. I lean EURO, which leads to the timing above. Ahead of that front, Tuesday looks very windy, which may lead to elevated fire concerns, however, the additional moisture from the approaching system should reduce risk relative to Sunday and Monday. Overall - Monday and Tuesday are both days you want to avoid big outdoor plans.
We'll be cooler but dry mid week, with a warmer trend by the end of the week.
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Curious about the First Alert 5 Weather Storm Impact Scale? Check out our cheatsheet explainer.
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