Today’s Forecast:
Another nice Saturday is ahead for us in the southern Colorado. High pressure will lead to dry and modest downslope northwest winds for much of the day, shifting west during the late afternoon. A few upper level clouds will come and go from time to time but they'll be thin. Overall, the day is mostly sunny. Highs will be similar to Friday's in the upper 50s due to the downslope winds as we remain around 15 degrees above average for this time of year. Today is the winter solstice. Officially, it was at 2:20 AM this morning. At that time, the north pole of the Earth, which is tilted on its axis 23.5 degrees from vertical, was tiled the most away from the sun that it is during its entire orbit. This gives us our least direct sunlight (lowest sun angle), and shortest day of the year. Today, you'll get 9 hours 26 minutes of daylight.
Colorado Springs forecast: High: 57; Low: 29.
Sunny and mild. Southwest winds at 10-15 mph. Last minute shopping will be just fine.
Pueblo forecast: High: 60; Low: 24.
Sunny. West winds at 5-10 mph.
Canon City forecast: High: 61; Low: 38.
Sunny. West winds at 5-10 mph.
Woodland Park forecast: High: 53; Low: 29.
Sunny. Southwest winds at 10-15 mph.
Tri-Lakes forecast: High: 50s; Low: 30s.
Sunny. Southwest winds at 10-15 mph.
Plains forecast: High: 50s/60s; Low: 20s.
Sunny and mild. Southwest winds at 5-10 mph.
Walsenburg and Trinidad forecast: High: 60/62; Low: 36/35.
Sunny. West winds at 10-15 mph.
Mountains forecast: High: 40s/50s; Low: 30s.
Unusually warm. Sunny. Southwest winds at 5-10 mph.
Extended outlook forecast:
Sunday starts sunny with clouds increasing through the afternoon and evening. It's an impressively mild day for late December (50s in the hills, 60s on the plains). Lows will be rather mild as well (30s). A solid day and evening to head to the Ice Castles in Cripple Creek, or the Electric Safari at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Clouds will increase through the day: the morning is sunny, the late afternoon will be mostly cloudy. A cold front will move in during the evening with quick temperature drops following the front.
Monday's highs drop closer to seasonable but remain above average. It remains a more clouds than sun kind of day but mostly dry, except for Woodland Park which could see a daytime sprinkle.
Monday night is the inflection point that flips us from a generally quiet, to a generally active pattern. Upper level energy will bring a shower chance to the region Monday night to Tuesday morning, particularly over the eastern plains. Tuesday itself is quiet.
Christmas day will bring a notable storm to Colorado. A four corners low will track southeast into New Mexico during the afternoon. Clouds will increase across the region ahead of an evening cold front. The front brings the chance of rain and snow showers region wide Wednesday night. For now, the data continue to indicate low snow totals under an inch with much higher totals in the mountains, partly due to warm temperatures and partly due to questionable moisture and upslope. However, the track of the low is decent for a notable storm system as is its organization. Stay tuned.
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Curious about the First Alert 5 Weather Storm Impact Scale? Check out our cheatsheet explainer.
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