Marty’s Sunday Morning Forecast – Crisp Start, Warmer Finish – 12/19/2021

Overview:  We’re tracking warmer air and wind.

Today:  Mostly sunny and warmer with high temperatures reaching the 40s and 50s. Becoming breezy for more areas this afternoon with the stronger gusts occurring mainly over the southeastern corner of the state and the typically windy locations over and near the mountains.

Tonight:  Mostly clear and not as cold with low temperatures in the 20s for most areas, but low lying areas in eastern Colorado may be a bit colder and the high mountain valleys will fall well below zero again. The air may begin warming slowly prior to dawn over and near the mountains.

Extended:  Next week looks mostly sunny, dry, and generally warmer for the plains, although we’ll need to track the western extent of a shallow layer of cold air sliding over the Great Plains late Monday into early Tuesday as it could cool our eastern most areas briefly. Another shallow layer of colder air may affect more parts of eastern Colorado on Wednesday at the very least resulting in a cooler start to the day, but the afternoon still looks pretty warm.  After Wednesday, some snow may begin to fall over the mountains along and west of the Continental Divide, possibly bringing the ski resorts a little fresh snow for a couple of days. There will be periods of wind locally later in the week which could lead to conditions becoming favorable for the spread of wildfires over parts of the area as well.