textproduct: Grand Junction

KEY MESSAGES

- Temperatures begin to heat up again. Multiple high temperature records will likely be broken Friday and Saturday across the region as hot and dry conditions remain through the weekend.

- Isolated storms favoring the high terrain are possible early next week with coverage increasing by late next week.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 1038 PM MDT Thu Aug 6 2026

HOT AND DRY THROUGH THIS WEEKEND:

High pressure remains positioned across the west with the center of the high sliding over the Four Corners Friday and Saturday. This will allow temperatures to heat up a bit more with lower valleys seeing triple digit heat. The hotter temperatures will be concentrated over the Grand Valley and lower desert valleys of east-central and southeast Utah where Heat Advisories have been issued earlier for both Friday and Saturday. With the center more overhead, the gradient winds will relax some so even though relative humidity will be very dry in the single digits, winds overall should remain below critical fire weather thresholds. Some localized critical fire weather conditions are possible at times but not widespread enough to warrant Fire Weather highlights. Some moisture does look to work in from the west around the high on Saturday and Sunday, which looks to at least result in a bit of cloud cover. Isolated storms are possible over the eastern Uintas and southern San Juans but look to produce gusty outflow winds over any wetting rain. Confidence is pretty low though at this point as the air mass remains hot and dry with little in the way of forcing to sustain any convection if it does develop.

POTENTIAL MOISTURE RETURN NEXT WEEK:

A few shortwaves are forecast to track over the Northern Rockies Sunday evening into next week, trying to break down the ridge in place a bit and in turn allow for moisture to begin sneaking in underneath the high. This pattern looks to introduce more cloud cover and potential for afternoon convection mainly forming over the high terrain. It may take some time for the atmosphere to overcome this persistent hot and dry air mass but better potential for wetting rain (mainly over the higher terrain) and more storm coverage is possible late next week as a trough enters the west coast and nudges the high further east to draw up more of a southerly flow. If this comes to fruition, temperatures would cool down a bit with highs closer to normal for this time of year which the current NBM guidance is indicating for late next week. Highs are currently around 10 or so degrees above normal in this hot, dry pattern so this would be a welcome change.

AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z SATURDAY/

Issued at 508 AM MDT Fri Aug 7 2026

Mainly clear skies and light winds will keep VFR in place over the next 24 hours in most areas. There will be haze in the air from smoke and there is a very low probability of MVFR conditions in localized areas.

GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

CO...Heat Advisory from 1 PM this afternoon to 8 PM MDT this evening for COZ006. Heat Advisory from 1 PM to 8 PM MDT Saturday for COZ006. UT...Heat Advisory from 1 PM this afternoon to 8 PM MDT this evening for UTZ022-027. Heat Advisory from 1 PM to 8 PM MDT Saturday for UTZ022-027.