Marty’s Saturday Morning Forecast – Very Windy, Scattered Thunderstorms – 6/6/2020
Overview: We're tracking an upper-level wave that will bring very windy conditions, fire weather and thunderstorms to many areas on Saturday. A strong cold front will move over the area late Monday & Monday night briefly bringing some unusually cool air to the area.
Today: A Red Flag Warning will be in effect for most areas starting late in the morning and lasting into early evening. A High Wind Warning will ALSO be in effect for most areas east of the mountains for the afternoon and early evening hours where a south/southwest wind will increase to between 20 to 40 mph and occasionally gust over 60 mph.
Partly cloudy with a few sprinkles or brief, light showers possible over and near the mountains early in the morning. The wind will increase quickly as the morning wears on and many areas will, at least briefly, get very warm to hot before showers and thunderstorms arrive. Scattered showers and thunderstorms will likely become increasingly numerous over and near the mountains by about lunchtime with a broken line of storms making gradual progress to the east through the afternoon. The lower levels of the atmosphere should remain very dry over the plains of eastern Colorado suggesting that stronger thunderstorms will be likely to produce strong, cooling, and potentially damaging wind gusts that at times could exceed 60 mph, and again, even away from thunderstorms some areas could receive similar gusts through early evening. Although not typically the case, severe weather due to thunderstorms on Saturday will be most likely over and near the mountains where the strongest cells could produce hail to near 1" in diameter along with potentially damaging wind gusts. Many thunderstorms, even those that do not produce severe weather, will produce frequent lightning, gusty, cooling wind, and at least brief downpours. High temperatures will reach the 90s to near 100 again for the far eastern plains, 80s and 90s along the I-25 corridor, and 70s for our local mountain areas prior to thunderstorms cooling the air significantly.
Tonight: A line of thunderstorms will march away from the I-25 corridor this evening, gradually weakening as they continue to fight with the dry air near the surface. Storms may continue to produce gusty wind, lightning and generally brief rainfall over the far eastern plains before ending. The wind will still be strong for many areas early this evening, but it will gradually weaken with time. Once the storms end and the wind subsides, the air should cool nicely with most areas in eastern Colorado falling into the 50s to near 60; many mountain communities will cool into the 40s.
Sunday: Mostly sunny, becoming windy and very warm to hot with high temperatures in the 80s and 90s along the I-25 corridor, 90s to near 100 for the far eastern plains, and 70s over our local mountain communities. The combination of very dry air, wind and heat will cause conditions to again become favorable for the spread of wildfires over much of southern Colorado, so the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Pueblo has already issued a Red Flag Warning for most areas.
Extended: Somewhat cooler air will settle over Colorado on Monday with a stronger push of colder air racing over the area Monday evening into Tuesday. As the reinforcing shot of colder air arrives Monday evening we should expect strong wind gusts, and possibly brief showers and thunderstorms over primarily northern parts of our coverage area. The mountains along the Continental Divide in northern Colorado might even receive some snow Monday night! Temperatures Monday night will be chilly for this time of year, likely falling into the 30s and 40s around the Pikes Peak Region.
After a crisp morning temperatures should rebound into the 60s and 70s Tuesday afternoon, but the cold front will have swept any moisture out of the area so we should all remain dry Tuesday & Wednesday. Starting Thursday, some low-level moisture should begin working back towards the mountains so it is possible that isolated showers may develop over and near them. Isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms will be more common for more areas starting Friday.
