It’s wacky Colorado weather — in the extreme.
For much of Thursday the entire eastern half of the state, including Denver, will be under a red flag warning because of very dry conditions that have continued through much of March.
But Thursday night a blizzard watch will blanket a big chunk of the same area including the south metro area and the eastern plains. A soaking rain and snowstorm should help alleviate dangerous fire conditions.
During the day Thursday will be mostly sunny with a high of 73 degrees. Strong south to southwest winds with gusts up to 28 mph are expected, according to the National Weather Service in Boulder.
The red flag warning will be in place between noon and 6 p.m.
Conditions are expected to change rapidly in the late afternoon and evening.
“The combination of strong winds and snow could produce blizzard conditions later tonight along Interstate 25 south of Denver toward Monument and Interstate 70 east of Denver to just west of Limon,” a weather service bulletin said.
In the Denver metro area, rain will begin falling before 3 a.m. Friday. Between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. the rain is expected to turn into snow, weather forecasters say. Winds will gust to 55 mph on Friday. The precipitation is expected to turn back into rain again between noon and 3 p.m.
The mountains and foothills could get between 8 and 12 inches of new snow. The eastern plains could get between 2 and 6 inches of snow, according to the NWS.
Temperatures are expected to remain in the 50s and low 60s Saturday and Sunday. Rain returns to the forecast Sunday and a chance for rain continues through Wednesday.
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