Summer heat is bearing down on Colorado, raising the likelihood of flooding along some rivers and streams, while sparking fire dangers in other parts of the state.
Northwestern and north central Colorado are under a flood warning today, while parts of the Western Slope, southern mountains and southern Front Range are under a red flag warning for fire danger.
Both flooding and fire warnings are being driven, in part, by the soaring heat.
“The onset of summer is here,” said Dave Barjenbruch, a meteorologist and spokesman with the National Weather Service in Boulder.
The weather today and tomorrow will be critical in Colorado, Barjenbruch said, but forecasters see the possibility of monsoon moisture kicking into the state, perhaps sometime next week.
“It would be a very good thing for us,” Barjenbruch said of a possible hike in moisture.
In the meantime, skies over Denver will be sunny and hot, with the high temperature soaring to about 98 degrees today and 94 degrees tomorrow, the weather service said.
The record temperature for today and tomorrow is 102 degrees, set in 1990.
High temperatures will be in the mid- to upper-90s across most of the eastern plains today, where late afternoon and evening thunderstorms are possible.
In northern Colorado the flood advisory continues for the Colorado River near Granby and Kremmling; and portions of the Cache la Poudre River above Fort Collins and near Greeley.
Temperatures in the northern mountains above 9000-feet in elevation will climb into the upper-60s and lower-70s today, fueling a rapid snow melt runoff, Barjenbruch said.
In southern Colorado, hot weather, low humidly, steady winds and dry ground fuels are prompting fire warnings for wide spread areas below 8,000-feet in elevation.
Weather conditions in southern Colorado have forecasters concerned about “explosive fire growth potential.”
The red flag fire warning also includes the central mountains and parts of the eastern plains.
“Conditions are still ripe for fire growth,” Barjenbruch said. “The father south you go, the less snow there was in the mountains.”
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
