The National Weather Service predicts that all of Colorado will have below-average precipitation during the next two weeks, with Denver receiving less than an inch of snow Saturday. But mountain ski resorts could see up to 16 inches of new snow.
Although temperatures will turn colder after several days of 70-degree warmth this week, the highs Saturday and Sunday will be relatively mild for early March.
Nolan Doesken, the state climatologist based at Colorado State University, said today that federal and academic scientists across the country this week agreed that Colorado’s Front Range is in a “moderate drought,” which means the next three months are pivotal going into the summer.
Doesken is a contributor to the U.S. Drought Monitor, which this week listed the Front Range as the area of Colorado suffering most, along with extreme southeastern Colorado, from lack of precipitation.
“We’re at the beginning of the most critical time of year – spring – where the water that falls from the sky has a greater effect on the state water supply than any other time of the the year,” said Doesken. “We’re at that point where it could go either way.”
Doesken said the Front Range received less than two inches of water over the past five months. That’s half the precipitation the area typically receives, said Doesken.
The high in Denver Saturday is expected to be 43 and the high Sunday around 54.
Temperatures next week will range from 39 on Tuesday to 54 on Thursday. There is only a slight chance of precipitation next week in Denver.
The Weather Service has issued a red flag warning for the far eastern plains and southeast and southcentral Colorado with wind gusts of 30 to 50 mph.
Combined with humidities dropping below 15 percent and very dry fuels, the combination will result in “favorable conditions for extreme fire behavior with rapid rates of spread,” the forecasters say.
The warning is in effect from 10 a.m. this morning until 7 p.m. tonight.
A second red flag warning has been issued for the Front Range foothills, including Jefferson and west Douglas counties, and the towns of Bailey, Central City, Georgetown and Idaho Springs. The warning is in effect from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today. Winds are expected to be 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 45 mph.
In addition to the red flag warnings today, forecasters have issued a “fire weather watch” from Saturday morning to Saturday evening for all of the southeastern plains and El Paso and Teller counties. A fire weather watch means that critical fire conditions are expected to develop. Strong winds, low humidity and warm temperatures “will create explosive fire growth potential,” said the Weather Service.
The extreme northwestern Colorado mountains do have a winter storm warning for today through midnight Saturday. Southwest winds ranging from 10 to 20 mph with gusts to 35 mph will produce areas of blowing or drifting snow. Snow accumulations in the northwest mountains will total from 9 to 16 inches, said forecasters.Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
