Denver Weather: The Next Storm Is Different, The Metro Area Could Actually Get Moisture
DENVER (CBS4) - It's now been more than three weeks since Denver has seen significant moisture. A shift in the weather pattern should soon break that streak.
Colorado's northern mountains received some light snow from a cold front Tuesday night but as expected, the front brought zero moisture to Denver and the Front Range. The only change in the metro area will be slightly cooler temperatures on Wednesday. After officially reaching 80 degrees on Tuesday, it will be 5-10 degrees cooler which is still 5-10 degrees above normal.
Fire danger will continue to be elevated virtually everywhere but the highest concern is in the southern Colorado and in the far northeast corner of the state. Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Cañon City, Walsenburg, Sterling, and Julesburg are all under a Red Flag Warning through 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Wind gusts will reach up to 40 mph in the warned areas while northwesterly gusts in the Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins areas should get no stronger than 25 mph.
Looking ahead to Thursday, fire danger will increase along the Front Range but wind gusts will be only slightly stronger. The much bigger concerns is Friday when extremely low relative humidity, very warm afternoon temperatures near 80 degrees, and southerly winds gusting up to 45 mph will create very dangerous conditions. Any spark Friday afternoon could quickly carry fire.
Because of the fire danger on Friday, the CBS4 Weather Team has already declared a First Alert Weather Day.
The dry and windy weather will be ahead of a strong cold front that will arrive Friday night. And unlike almost every other storm that has moved across the Rocky Mountain region this month, the Friday night storm will track far enough south to hopefully bring moisture to the Denver metro area over the weekend. There is a 40% chance for rain showers on Saturday and a 30% chance on Sunday. There is also a chance for light snow to be mixed in Saturday night but no accumulation is expected.
