Weather Alert Day: Large hail and strong winds likely later today

Today’s Forecast:
The main two changes from the morning forecast are these: the timing is delayed about an hour and storms are now also looking likely south of El Paso county. We’re still expecting storms to start developing in the afternoon but now the timing looks closer to 3pm or just after. The bulk of our storm activity is still expected up around the Pikes Peak region but scattered storms now look to also form around the southern I-25 corridor from Las Animas up to Pueblo counties. Storms south of El Paso county could spark closer to 2 to 3pm. Storms will move east through the end of the afternoon and early this evening with large hail, damaging winds all possible. An isolated tornado cannot be ruled out east of Crowley county for areas like Kiowa, Cheyenne and far eastern Lincoln counties later today. We should dry up by 9 to 10pm tonight with windy and cold conditions expected by Saturday morning.

COLORADO SPRINGS: High – 67; Low – 33. Storms are expected to fire across Colorado Springs around 3 to 4pm this afternoon. Heavy rain and lightning will be present in these storms, but large hail and strong winds are also a big concern. Storms will move east and northeast through the afternoon with mainly dry skies expected by around 7pm to 8pm.

PUEBLO: High – 67; Low – 33. Storms now look more likely for Pueblo around 3pm today. They will be scattered across the county so there still is no guarantee the city will see any action, but storms that do form over Pueblo could easily have large hail and strong winds with heavy rain. Pueblo should be mainly dry by 6 to 7pm if storms do form earlier.

CANON CITY: High – 67; Low – 33. An isolated storm is possible for Canon City this afternoon but most model guidance supports the best areas for storms are to the north and east of Canon City. Keep in mind any storms that do generate could have large hail and strong winds.

WOODLAND PARK: High – 67; Low – 33. Rain and thunderstorms are still likely for Woodland Park later this afternoon through the evening. Storms look to fire up around 3pm with rain, lightning and small hail. Any large, damaging hail is more likely to be east of Woodland Park. Woodland Park should be mostly dry by 6pm but a few wrap around showers are possibly up through 10pm tonight.

TRI-LAKES: High – 67; Low – 33. Much like Colorado Springs,storms are expected to develop around 3 to 4pm this afternoon. Heavy rain and lightning will be present in these storms, but large hail and strong winds are also a big concern. Storms will move east and northeast through the afternoon with mainly dry skies expected by around 8pm to 9pm.

PLAINS: High – 67; Low – 33. Storms now look more likely and possible for the plains, especially counties such as Crowley, Kiowa and up north. Large damaging hail and strong winds remain the primary threat for those areas. Storms would likely be in those areas from 4 to 8 or even 9pm tonight. An isolated tornado is possible but also fairly unlikely, regardless keep a close eye on the radar and any issued warnings.

WALSENBURG/TRINIDAD: High – 67; Low – 33. Scattered storms now look possible along the southern I-25 corridor from Walsenburg to Trinidad. Storms would likely not hit the severe criteria but heavy rain, lightning and some small hail would be possible. Storms will likely start showing up around 2 to 3pm and move out of the area fairly quickly.

WEEKEND OUTLOOK OR NEXT WEATHER MAKER: The weekend will be much colder and rainy with temperatures dropping into 50s and 60s across the lower elevations and 40s in the mountains. Rain will be possible on Saturday, especially across the higher terrain with cooler and stable air across the low elevations quickly trying to make the rain die out. Sunday we’ll see a better chance for afternoon rain and a few thunderstorms but we’ll continue seeing cool temperatures. Next week there are a few storms possible early in the week with big heat returning by Wednesday and Thursday.

RELATED LINKS: