Marty’s Saturday Morning Forecast – Cool Start to the Weekend – 3/23/19
Today: The little storm that brought some rain and snow to the area late yesterday and last night will slowly pull away from the area today. The early morning hours will be blustery for some, and although the wind will decrease through the day we do expect it may remain breezy at times during the afternoon, especially over the mountains and/or to the north and east of Colorado Springs and Pueblo. Expect decreasing clouds early this morning followed by a mostly sunny sky around mid-day, and then a few clouds may develop again this afternoon mainly over and near the mountains. Although the morning will start out a bit cool and blustery we do expect to eventually warm into the 50s and 60s for the plains with mainly 40s over the mountains. Just keep a coat handy as the wind may keep the air feeling cool at times even as it begins to warm.
Tonight: We should have less wind and become mostly clear with low temperatures in the 20s and 30s.
Sunday: While we expect less wind on Sunday we will have increasing clouds with scattered rain and snow showers developing over and near the mountains early in the afternoon and then drifting east through the evening. We don’t expect heavy precipitation to last terribly long over any one area, but where showers do develop they could produce bursts of heavy, wet snow over and near the mountains and may briefly whiten primarily cooler surfaces. As showers move away from the mountains they’re more likely to produce rain and maybe a little graupel/small hail and/or lightning over the plains. Showers should end Sunday night for all areas. High temperatures should reach the 40s for the mountains, mainly 50s along the I-25 corridor with some lower 60s for lower elevations along the Arkansas River, but the afternoon showers will cool the air as they develop and pass overhead.
Extended: We expect a dry start to the work week with a significant warming trend and increasing wind. Spotty showers moving through New Mexico may sneak across the border into extreme southern Colorado Tuesday night, but otherwise we look to remain dry for much of the week. By Wednesday, if the clouds aren’t too thick, many parts of eastern Colorado should expect temperatures to reach the 70s with lower elevations along the Arkansas River possibly reaching the 80s. We’ve had enough precipitation to limit the threat for wildfires some, but by Wednesday and Thursday the wind will be getting pretty strong, and the air will be warm and quite dry so we’ll need to track fire weather conditions for areas that haven’t received as much precipitation. The air should become noticeably cooler again starting Friday with a chance for some rain and snow to start moving over the area from late Friday into next weekend.
