Good chances for thunderstorms along the foothills and Plains today, with some possibly becoming severe thunderstorms, mostly east of I-25. A severe thunderstorm watch area has been issued by the Storm Prediction Center for much of northeast CO from the base of the foothills east to near the KS/NE border through 9 pm tonight. Driving home from the airport around noon I saw some interesting formations below clouds, so with ample moisture, instability and some vertical wind shear, severe storms definitely possible this afternoon and evening. Precip with storms a better chance today, although there still could be areas that only see dry lightning and gusty outflow winds, so not terribly good news for fire fighters. Hopefully some precip will fall over the High Park fire area, as well as other very thirsty areas.
A weak cold front will move south over CO tonight which cools temps slightly for Saturday, but more showers and thunderstorms possible Saturday afternoon and evening across the foothills and adjacent Plains. Best chance for severe storms will be over southeast CO on Saturday. Precip chances are possible with storms, but not as likely as Friday.
Then a drier and more windy pattern looks to be on tap for Sunday and Monday, so pretty bad fire weather conditions with westerly winds of 15-30 mph possible Sunday afternoon into Monday with warm temps and low RH values. The remainder of next week looks mostly dry and breezy, with cooler temps later next week closer to seasonal norms, but no significant precip expected through next weekend.
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"Climatology is what you expect, Weather is what you get".
"It is better to be roughly right than precisely wrong".
Too bad future generations aren't here to see all the great things we are spending their $$ on!!
