Active weather day – 04/13/18

Today: Get ready for an extremely active weather day. An area of low pressure will be swinging through the state from the east to the west. Winds wrapping counterclockwise around this low will push powerful northerly gusts across southern Colorado. Gusts could reach the 50 and 60 mph range! There could be some property damage. Make sure to secure any patio furniture or bring them into the garage! Lightweight and high-profile vehicles on east-west roads will notice the strong cross winds as well. We have High Wind Warnings in effect today and into Saturday evening. Temperatures today will also drop by 30-40 degrees; we’ll be down to the 30s and 40s for the Interstate. We’ll additionally be tracking some rain and snow this afternoon and tonight. Thankfully, increasing humidity levels will lower fire danger somewhat, but it will still be high in areas where we don’t see showers! Where snow occurs, there could be minor accumulations on grassy areas in northern El Paso, Teller and Las Animas Counties (along the Raton Mesa).

Tonight: Strong gusts continue overnight. Lows drop to the teens and 20s under mostly cloudy skies. Isolated snow showers should wind down.

Extended: Powerful gusts last into Saturday, but will be primarily taking place in the eastern plains. Winds settle down late in the evening. The weather is expected to be quiet Sunday in the wake of that low pressure that is impacting us today. Then, ahead of our next active weather system, we’ll be tracking strong gusts again *next week. This could be increasing fire danger. We’ll watch it carefully!