Marty’s Saturday Morning Forecast – Cool & Breezy Today – 4/27/19
Today: A cold front will kick up the wind today with the strongest gusts over the plains east of I-25 this morning where northerly wind speeds could exceed 30 mph at times. The wind over the eastern plains will subside some this afternoon, but a south/southeasterly breezy gusting over 20 mph should develop along the I-25 corridor later in the day. It’s possible that some low clouds will blanket parts of the Palmer Divide and possibly briefly develop in pockets against the mountains for a short time this morning, but much of the day should be spent partly cloudy for most areas. There is also a slight chance for a few sprinkles or light showers this afternoon and evening over the mountains primarily south of the Arkansas River. Cooler today with high temperatures in the 70s for some areas along and south of the Arkansas River but mainly 60s over the plains farther to the north and east. Our local mountain areas should hover in the 50s to lower 60s this afternoon.
Tonight: Evening sprinkles or showers are possible over and near the mountains this evening with some pockets of low cloud cover probably developing over the plains late. A couple of showers or some sprinkles are also possible late tonight although we’re not expecting any widespread, heavy precipitation. We expect low temperatures to fall into the 40s for the plains, mainly 30s over the mountains.
Sunday: The wind should swing around off of the mountains during the day so any low clouds should break up very quickly after sunrise. We expect a breezy, warmer afternoon with high temperatures back into the 70s and 80s for the plains, mainly 60s over our local mountain areas.
Extended: A stronger cold front will move over the area Sunday night increasing the clouds and bringing a chance for some scattered rain and snow showers to the area through Monday morning. Monday will be a mostly cloudy and much colder day with high temperatures likely in the 40s to near 50 for the plains with 30s to near 40 for the mountains. As an upper level system approaches from the southwest Monday afternoon a more widespread area of precipitation should develop with a mixture of rain and snow falling over the area late Monday into Tuesday morning. It does seem possible that the higher terrain along and west of the I-25 corridor could receive significant accumulations of heavy, wet snow especially on cooler surfaces. Should the snow fall heavily enough it could overcome roadways creating snow packed and/or slushy conditions for the area as well. Right now it is difficult to know if the snow will result in significant travel impacts over lower elevations, but this time of year this is certainly more likely to occur over the mountains and Palmer Divide. Until it becomes more clear how heavy and long lasting the precipitation will be it’s hard to know for sure what drivers will face Monday night into Tuesday morning, but we”ll be tracking this potential closely.
Although the heavier precipitation should wind down Tuesday morning we do expect scattered rain and snow showers to remain possible into the afternoon. Expect mostly cloudy and cold conditions for much of the day on Tuesday for many areas. Wednesday may start cloudy, but we do expect some clearing and warming during the day with temperatures back into the 50s and 60s for all but the southern and eastern most areas where the air may be a bit warmer. We expect spotty showers may develop during the afternoon and evening hours on Wednesday. Scattered showers may develop again Thursday afternoon, but Friday looks breezy, warmer and drier for most areas.
