Tonight's Forecast:
Thunderstorms will continue to move southeast tonight off the mountains, through the I-25 corridor, and then into the eastern plains, slowly losing intensity after sunset. Storms this afternoon formed from a weak southwestward moving boundary that provided additional lift and focus for storms over the Front Range, which then tapped into plentiful moisture and lift to produce the storms across the area despite fairly weak winds. The slow movement of these storms will lead to isolated ponding on roadways and will lead to muddy trails on Saturday.
As storms clear out, clouds remain through the early evening before fully clearing overnight.
Colorado Springs forecast: Low: 50; High: 78;
Leftover cloud cover from the afternoon storms and decaying mountain storms keep skies mainly cloudy early tonight. Skies will clear out, generally after midnight. Northwest winds at 10-15 mph.
Pueblo forecast: Low: 51; High: 84;
Mostly cloudy until midnight/1AM then slow clearing overnight. Northwesterly downslope winds at 10-15 mph keep lows mild despite the clear skies - in sum being quite close to average. The normal low tonight in Pueblo is 50 degrees.
Canon City forecast: Low: 52; High: 83;
Mostly cloudy before 11 PM, then clearing skies. Northwest winds at 5-10 mph.
Woodland Park forecast: Low: 41; High: 72;
A couple more showers tonight, separated by peeks of partly clear sky. But, on average mostly cloudy until 2:00 AM then clearing. Northwest winds at 10-15 mph.
Tri-Lakes forecast: Low: 40s; High: 70s;
Mostly cloudy until midnight, then clearing skies. Northwest winds at 10-15 mph.
Plains forecast: Low: 50s; High: 80s;
Mostly clear skies with northwest winds at 5-10 mph.
Walsenburg and Trinidad forecast: Low: 50/51; High: 79/82;
A round of showers and thunderstorms before 10:00 PM with gusty winds out ahead of the storms. Otherwise mostly cloudy until midnight then clearing. North winds at 10-15 mph shifting west at 10-15 mph after midnight.
Mountains forecast: Low: 40s; High: 60s;
Mostly cloudy until midnight with isolated showers and a weak storm or two, then partly cloudy overnight. Northwest winds at 5-15 mph.
Extended outlook forecast:
Warmer and drier conditions are in store for the weekend - though there will still be afternoon thunderstorms, as is typical in late May. Rainfall is well above average for May in both Colorado Springs and Pueblo.
Skies will be hazy due to wildfire smoke on Saturday and Sunday. This may lead to air quality impacts, particularly on Sunday morning.
Otherwise, high pressure builds in through the weekend and a lack of upper-level energy in the flow will make storms more patchy than what we've seen this week. Still - mountain summits will get storms in the afternoon and you should be off exposed summits before then. A few storms will roll off the mountains and into the Front Range Corridor each afternoon. The timing will be between 4-6 PM for any storms that do manage to make it off the mountains. Temperatures will warm up and be above average both Saturday and Sunday in the 80s to in some cases the lower 90s.
Also: the weather team received a report of trail flooding this week in Cheyenne Canon, and I have hiked in the Sawatch and Sangre de Cristo ranges this week. There is still snow above 12,500 feet - so if you're heading into the back country, muddy trails and campsites down low, and still some snow up high.
An unsettled, cool, and wet pattern returns next week. First, what is currently Tropical Storm Alvin in the eastern Pacific will move north and interact with a non-tropical low in southern California late in the weekend. That system eventually moves into Colorado on Monday and Tuesday and interacts with an incoming cold front and moisture from the Gulf. Overall - Monday afternoon into Tuesday morning look wet. Another incoming wave leads to chances for storms late on Tuesday and again on Wednesday afternoon for most of the area. Temperatures nose dive - well below average on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Storms will become more isolated and confined to the mountains Thursday and Friday, highs trend toward seasonal averages.
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Curious about the First Alert 5 Weather Storm Impact Scale? Check out our cheatsheet explainer.
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