Today’s Forecast:
Another monster ridge of high pressure will bring us hot temperatures in the mid-week period. Daily highs will soar into the 80s and 90s on the Plains through Thursday. Temperatures today will be more than 15-20 degrees warmer than yesterday, and hot enough to threaten daily heat records in Colorado Springs, Pueblo and Alamosa.
Periods of heavy smoke will continue to impact air quality this morning nearby the fire, with an Air Quality Alert in effect in Fremont County until 9 am. Smoke should not be as thick this afternoon in El Paso County and the Pikes Peak Region.
Region-wide, we're expecting increasing northwest wind to develop this afternoon, with peak gusts in the 20-30 mph range. Red Flag Warnings have not been issued on Tuesday, but are expected to return on Wednesday.
Colorado Springs forecast: High: 80; Low: 51. After warming into the lower 60s the past two days, hot weather is expected to stage a comeback this afternoon. Our high of 80 degrees today in Colorado Springs is likely to smash the current record of 74 degrees from 2012.
Pueblo forecast: High: 87; Low: 46. Unbelievable heat looks to return on Tuesday, with our high today soaring into the upper 80s. Tomorrow will be even hotter, with records likely to fall each afternoon from today through Thursday.
Canon City forecast: High: 85; Low: 53. After last week's record shattering temperatures, we'll do it all over again this week, with another significant heat wave expected to kick off today. Highs in eastern Fremont County will soar into the middle 80s this afternoon.
Woodland Park forecast: High: 73; Low: 44. Unreal March warmth will return after a couple of cooler days. Highs in Teller County will warm into the 60s and 70s, with temperatures expected to warm by another 3-5 degrees on Wednesday.
Tri-Lakes forecast: High: 70s; Low: 40s/50s. The mercury will soar back into the 70s on Tuesday, under the influence of a strengthening ridge of high pressure. Highs Wednesday will be even hotter in northern El Paso County.
Plains forecast: High: 80s; Low: 40s. Hot and dry on Tuesday, with temperatures expected to soar into the 80s on the Plains this afternoon. Winds will be light and variable today, with gusts under 20 mph this afternoon.
Walsenburg and Trinidad forecast: High: 70s/80s; Low: 40s/50s. With lighter wind in today's forecast, we'll see a small break from the high fire danger that we saw back on Monday. It won't last long however as fire danger is expected to ramp back on Wednesday. NW winds will be breezy this afternoon, gusting to around 25 mph.
Mountains forecast: High: 60s/70s; Low: 30s/40s. Breezy and and warm on Tuesday, with another unseasonably strong ridge of high pressure building in for our south. Moderate westerly breezes can be expected this afternoon, with peak gusts to 35 mph.
Extended outlook forecast:
This week's heat wave will peak on Wednesday, with highs soaring into the middle to upper 80s in Colorado Springs. Our current record for tomorrow sits at 75 degrees, and was last set in 2012.
We could beat this by more than 10 degrees! The wind will be gustier on Wednesday, with Fire Weather Watches being issued for western El Paso County, Teller and Fremont counties, as well as the SE mountains and adjacent mountain valleys. This includes the area where the 24 Fire is burning.
Temperatures will cool by a few degrees on Thursday, back down to the lower 80s. The current record sits at 81 degrees at COS. It's possible that we could still tie or break Thursday's record.
Thursday's warm temperatures will depend on the timing of an incoming cold front, which we think will come late enough in the day that we will still heat up into the 80s.
Friday's highs will cool down to the 50s, but the cool down will be brief as highs return to the 70s in Colorado Springs this weekend.
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Curious about the First Alert 5 Weather Storm Impact Scale? Check out our cheatsheet explainer.
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