Today’s Forecast:
It will be very nice this weekend - for most of us, the nicest weekend so far Today starts out with clear skies and mild temperatures. We'll have plenty of sunshine through noon today with high pressure and stable air in place. Temperatures at noon will have risen to the 70s across the Front Range and plains. Pacific moisture and energy will flow over the mountains, kicking off thunderstorm development by noon as well. Through the afternoon, these storms and energy will flow east toward I-25. Meanwhile, high pressure will move southeast through Wyoming - with our local wind flow turning increasingly upslope through the day around the clockwise flow of the high. This will pull in some modest moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, but this will occur later in the afternoon.
Combined, this will result in showers working through from west to east this afternoon into the early evening. The first batch of storms is likely to produce modestly gusty winds and light rain. Any additional batches may produce heavier rain rates. Severe weather is not expected, and these storms won't be long lasting - typical May showers and thunderstorms...they'll roll in and out over a period of 30 minutes or so. Therefore most of your day will be dry - you'll just want a place to hop inside...your car, or a building, if the skies do darken and you start hearing rumbles of thunder. For all of today's events - including Walk MS and the Art Festival at Garden of the God's Highs today will reach the mid to upper 70s...only a few degrees cooler than yesterday's high of 81, our first 80 degree or warmer day of the year.
Colorado Springs forecast: High: 77; Low: 47.
Mostly sunny to sunny skies and beautiful conditions for most of today. Between 3PM-8PM, clouds and showers push off the mountains. A 30 minute shower or thunderstorm is likely during this period - have an idea of where to briefly pop inside if needed. Winds will shift to a southeasterly direction this afternoon as moisture increases modestly, at 10-15 mph. Sunset tonight - 8:07PM. Get out and enjoy it if you can (if you can't, tomorrow and Monday are good too).
Pueblo forecast: High: 83; Low: 50.
Sunny and A-grade conditions for most of the day. By 3:00PM, partly to mostly cloudy skies with a chance for a shower or thunderstorm. Low level dry air may make it hard initially for rain to reach the ground if you get a storm, producing some modest gusty breezes instead...but later in the afternoon, additional moisture should help showers reach the ground. Regardless, any storm you see will be brief and low impact. Just be ready to duck instead if you hear some rumbles.
Canon City forecast: High: 80; Low: 50.
Mostly sunny - with clouds building around noon. After 12:00PM, arriving energy will spark thunderstorms. You'll have a good chance of one or two of them rolling through between 12 and 7PM. As in other areas, they'll be short lasting, but could produce briefly heavy rainfall. South winds at 10-15 mph.
Woodland Park forecast: High: 68; Low: 41.
Mostly sunny this morning. After 12:00PM, a chance of showers and thunderstorms. These storms could produce briefly heavy rainfall and modestly gusty winds - but they're your typical May thunderstorms...quick (less than a half hour), and isolated. You may get a couple of rounds through the afternoon. The day on the whole though, is still nice.
Tri-Lakes forecast: High: 70s; Low: 40s.
Mostly sunny and nice through 1:00PM. After that, a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms (30%) through 8PM. Still - it's a nice, generally dry, and warm comfortable day. Winds shift from northeast to south through the day but remain light at 10-15 mph.
Plains forecast: High: 70s/80s; Low: 50s.
Warm and sunny. This evening, storms approach from the west - you'll have a 20% chance for an evening thunderstorm. The day itself is very nice.
Walsenburg and Trinidad forecast: High: 76/79; Low: 47/51.
Sunny through 3:00PM, then partly cloudy with a slight chance for a shower or thunderstorm. South winds at 10-15 mph.
Mountains forecast: High: 60s; Low: 40s.
Sunny early, with increasing puffy clouds through noon. After noon, showers and thunderstorms are likely - in a typical summer-like pattern. Severe storms are not expected, and they'll last less than 30 minutes.
Extended outlook forecast:
A broad ridge of high pressure will be in place Sunday and Monday. Generally clear skies, and downslope warm winds, will push the mercury to the 80s across the entire Front Range corridor...with upper 80s in the Arkansas River Valley, and low 90s in spots on the southeastern plains. It's a nice period - but it will be breezy both days with southwest winds as a piece of the jet stream nudges north into the state and mixes down. On Sunday, expect southwest winds, with gusts from 20-30 mph. On Monday, those winds will be slightly more noticeable with sustained speeds of 15-25 mph and gusts to 35 mph. It'll also be dry, with low relative humidity values in the teens.
By Tuesday, an upper-level low will be arriving in the state from the northwest. A stray shower is possible late Monday, but better chances will be on Tuesday with more moisture to work with. This will also cool our temperatures to the upper 60s to lower 70s. Some of this moisture will likely stick around into Wednesday morning before we return to a quieter pattern late next week.
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Curious about the First Alert 5 Weather Storm Impact Scale? Check out our cheatsheet explainer.
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