We’ve been in a little state of getting really hot and seeing cold downs and short rains come through only to be followed by more heat. Well, that will continue to be the case over the next 7 days.
Southern Colorado was getting some action on Thursday but that slight chance of rain will drift north on Friday followed by some pretty widespread chances of rain over the weekend statewide.
First, the drought map got updated and there was some notable changes.
The image on the top left is the current state of drought across Colorado. The image on the top right is where we saw changes in the drought. The light green shade means that that areas drought has improved in the last week. Areas like Pagosa Springs, Alamosa, La Junta and up towards Red Feather Lakes have seen drought improvement. In grey areas, there has been no change.
Meteorological summer runs from June through August. Since the start of June, the summer months have delivered some great rains and moisture to some areas of the state…but not so much to others. Looking at how drought conditions have changed since early June really helps to tell this story.
Areas of southern Colorado and SE Colorado have seen dramatic improvements in drought conditions. Alamosa has went from Extreme drought conditions to just abnormally dry now. Areas near Springfield and Lamar have done similarly.
Inversely, from Denver to Ft. Collins, the drought has expanded. That area started June abnormally dry and are now in Severe drought. Incoming rains, should they deliver the goods, may help out around Denver and FoCo this weekend.
Thursday was a hot day in the Denver metro. Friday will be equally or a few degrees hotter hotter as a ridge of high pressures centers itself nearby.
We have a nice cooldown expected this weekend as a surge of moisture brings clouds and storm chances Saturday. It’ll still be hot, but not like Friday. A summer cool front will move through Saturday evening, create upslope flow and widespread shower chances for the Front Range. This will also drop temps some more for Sunday.
Hotter and drier weather moves int by the middle of next week.
Here’s a look at rain chances over the next several afternoons.
Friday’s rain chances will largely be confined to the mountainous terrain of Colorado. We see the chance of rain spread onto the I-25 corridor by Saturday. Thanks to the cold front Saturday night, there a chance of showers Sunday morning and pretty decent chances for rain into the afternoon as well. We start to see moisture shift south Monday with a drying trend into Tuesday and Wednesday.
In total, there’s looking to be decent rain totals possible. Though, the trend in the models has been going towards lesser rain totals.
There are many areas that should see near to over an inch of rain. This would be great news for areas around Denver if over an inch of rain falls. The metro area has been slack greatly in terms of moisture this summer.
As mentioned, hotter weather is expected midweek next week with a possible other round of wet weather as we head towards the next weekend.
~ Andy
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