Denver Weather: Warming Trend Finally Underway!

DENVER (CBS4) - Temperatures in Denver and along most of the Front Range have been chilly for awhile. Nothing unusual for February in terms of the daily numbers but it is somewhat unusual to stay so cold for so long.

The chill fades a bit on Tuesday with high temperatures reaching near 50 degrees in the Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins areas. It will be the warmest day in over a week.

Then another 10 degrees of warming on Wednesday will push the Denver metro area close to 60 degrees. The combination of sunny skies and westerly downsloping winds will allow for the warm up.

Those same winds will make travel difficult along many roads in the foothills and mountains east of the Continental Divide. A High Wind Watch has already been posted from late Tuesday night through late Wednesday afternoon for the higher terrain of Larimer and Boulder Counties (above 6,000 feet) as well as most of Summit, Clear Creek, and Gilpin Counties.  The watch includes the I-70 corridor from Georgetown to Vail Pass. Gusts could reach at at least 75 mph in these areas on Wednesday.