Colorado Weather: Severe Storms Possible Saturday From Foothills To Plains

DENVER (CBS4) - Happy Saturday! The weekend will start off with some busy weather by this afternoon, especially along and east of the Front Range foothills. That's because there is the potential to see strong to severe thunderstorms during the afternoon and early evening.

Areas in yellow on the map below have the best chance to see storms reach severe limits. A thunderstorm is classified as severe if it produces hail with a diameter of 1- inch or larger, wind gusts of 58 mph or stronger, or a tornado.

Today's storms will be moving from the south/southwest to the north/northeast at a relatively fast speed. Outside of area forest fire burn scars the flash flooding threat is low since the storms will be moving at a decent pace.

Large hail is probably our biggest concern today as far as the severe criteria being met. But there is about a 5% chance to see a few tornadoes east of Interstate 25.

One complication in the thunderstorm forecast this afternoon is from Denver to Fort Collins and Greeley, where a cool front moved in from Wyoming overnight. You can see that on the map below which showed temperatures at 8 a.m. Saturday morning.

This cooler air mass could limit storm chances in the northern part of the urban corridor. But at the same time daytime mixing of the lower atmosphere could erase the front altogether. It's a situation we'll just have to watch unfold as we move deeper into the day.

High temperatures around Colorado should be comfortable this weekend with widespread 70s across the lower elevations. Mountain communities will see 50s and 60s by Saturday afternoon.

It will be windy at times over the next few days, especially on Sunday. We could still see some afternoon storms Sunday but the greatest threat will shift out onto the northeast plains.

In:
• Tornado Warning