How Hurricane Ian in Florida will soon influence Colorado's weather

The destructive hurricane slamming Florida on Wednesday will cause a different storm system to stall near Colorado.

Hurricane Ian was a dangerous Category 4 hurricane Wednesday morning and was expected to maintain that strength at landfall just south of the Tampa Bay area on Florida's west coast.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami was warning of catastrophic storm surge, winds, and flooding across a large portion of the Florida peninsula starting Wednesday afternoon.

With the storm about 1,500 miles away from Denver, there will no direct impacts in Colorado. But the hurricane will still have have an influence on weather in the Rocky Mountain region through at least early next week.

After Ian moves over central Florida on Wednesday and Thursday, it's forecast to turn northwest and make another landfall as a tropical storm in Georgia and South Carolina. It will then weaken as it moves north but will still cause a considerable amount of rain for states as far north as Kentucky and West Virginia.

While no longer a hurricane by the weekend, the large storm will essentially block other storms from making a quick journey from west to east across the country. For Colorado, that means a storm system near Seattle on Wednesday will stall out over the Rocky Mountain region from Saturday through at least Monday.

For Denver and the Front Range, there is a chance for showers from late Friday into Saturday. Then a lingering chance for daily showers will continue for Sunday and Monday with the stalled storm system. That storm should finally move east by Wednesday night next week which means additional showers will still be possible in Colorado on Tuesday and Wednesday.