Marty’s Sunday Morning Forecast – Tracking A Storm – 3/18/18

Today: P artly cloudy & cool with a light wind this morning. The wind will increase during the day as the next storm approaches the area, and eventually conditions will again become favorable for the spread of wildfires over parts of southeastern Colorado. A Red Flag Warning is in expect this afternoon mainly for areas along and south of the Arkansas River. High temperatures will end up slightly cooler than Saturday, but lower elevations will still reach the 50s and 60s. By late in the day the wind could be gusting over 30 mph, and the clouds will be increasing. Over the plains spotty showers and thunderstorms will be possible late in the afternoon. Near the mountains scattered rain and snow showers may also develop late in the day. High temperatures will reach the 50s and 60s for the plains today, mainly 40s to lower 50s over the mountains by mid-afternoon, but the air will turn sharply colder late, especially along and west of I-25.

Tonight: A strong storm will spin up near the Colorado/Kansas state line this evening. Thunderstorms will be possible this evening for the far eastern plains. All areas will be windy overnight with gusts over 40 mph likely at times, and the air will get cold. Scattered rain and snow showers will change over to snow for more areas during the evening, and an area of accumulating, wind driven snow will develop on the back side of the storm. Although it appears that the heaviest snow will fall just northeast of our area, it’s possible that the Palmer Divide will experience a period of wind driven snow that could lead to several hours of difficult winter driving conditions. This morning it appears about 2″ to 4″ of snow will fall over Monument, but possibly heavier amounts just to the north and east. Snow may also accumulate for a few hours this evening over Teller County, but drifting snow would be less problematic, and right now it looks like snowfall accumulations will remain pretty light with an inch or 2″ for most areas, but a few spots could receive a little more. Should this storm spin up just a bit farther west than currently expected it is possible we’ll receive more snow than currently expected, Katie will update the forecast as necessary this evening. We don’t expect widespread, significant snowfall over Colorado Springs or Pueblo proper, but some scattered rain and snow showers are possible. We’ll be cold by morning with temperatures in the 20s to lower 30s for the plains, teens and 20s over the mountains, and the wind will still be strong, especially over the plains.

Extended: The main upper level storm system will be pulling away from the area on Monday, but we’re likely to remain windy and chilly. Cold air aloft will drift over the area Monday afternoon causing some spotty snow showers to develop over and near the mountains, but we don’t expect any widespread, significant snowfall Monday afternoon. After Monday the air should begin to warm with 50s and 60s returning. Thursday will likely the warmest day of the week, but we also expect the wind to be strong so fire weather will likely be a concern for some areas. Slightly cooler air should move over the area starting Friday with some snow developing over the high country through the weekend. Lower elevations should remain dry with the late week cold front, but we will likely have strong wind at times.