textproduct: Grand Junction

KEY MESSAGES

- Gusty winds and anomalously warm temperatures are the story for the remainder of week into the weekend. Northwest Colorado valleys will see gusts in the 40 to 50 mph range Thursday with gusts exceeding 40 mph at times through the weekend.

- Light mountain snow is possible over the northwest Colorado mountains Sunday and Monday as a weak disturbance clips the northern Divide.

- Anomalously warm temperatures around 20 degrees or so above normal are possible next week, increasing the probability of accelerated snowmelt with dry conditions expected.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT/

Issued at 1205 PM MDT Wed Mar 11 2026

Still a few low clouds hanging around the peaks of the Gore Range and around Vail Pass late this morning but satellite trends indicate these clouds are rapidly dissipating with sun breaking out and wet roads at the passes at this time. Overall, we should see mostly sunny skies today with cooler temperatures closer to normal following the passage of yesterday's cold front. Breezy conditions also remain, especially across the northwest Colorado valleys due to the presence of a persistent upper level jet to our north. This will remain the case through the rest of the week into the coming weekend...more on that in the Long Term section. On Thursday, a strong 150 kt jet streak will move through the Intermountain West and Northern Rockies, with the gradient tightening due to its passage. Although conditions will remain dry with no precipitation expected, stronger winds are expected across northwest Colorado valleys where gusts look to be in the 40 to 50 mph range. Therefore, decided to issue a Wind Advisory for the NW CO valleys to include the Central and Lower Yampa River Basin (COZ001-002) from 10 am MDT until 8 pm MDT Thursday. Elsewhere, gusts look to be in the 25 to 35 mph range for much of the area. Due to the deeper mixing and high pressure building back in from the southwest, we will see temperatures on the rise with highs climbing 10 degrees higher than the cool snap today. This puts highs from near normal today to around 10 to 15 degrees above normal by Thursday afternoon.

LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/

Issued at 1205 PM MDT Wed Mar 11 2026

The long term forecast looks to generally be hot, dry, and windy. The exception to the hot and dry conditions will occur in the Sunday to Monday timeframe due to a trough passage. On Friday mixing with the southern edge of the jet aloft will allow for elevated afternoon wind gusts. Moisture in the flow near the jet will advect into our northern mountains late in the workweek, which could allow for a few light, isolated showers along the Park Range Friday afternoon. Otherwise, dry conditions are expected through sometime Saturday afternoon. A developing trough will clip the northeastern portion of our CWA during the later half of the weekend, and advect a bit more moisture to the region. This is expected to bring a few inches of snow to the northern and central Colorado mountains through late Monday, stronger afternoon wind gusts over the weekend due to an increased pressure gradient, and cooler daytime temperatures on Sunday. The center of high pressure will move eastward through the week, which is expected to gradually increase our high temperatures to over 20 degrees above normal by Wednesday. This could mean highs near or above 80 degrees for some of the desert valley areas on Wednesday. The strong winds through the long term period, coupled with low relative humidities in some areas, will lead to fire weather concerns. However, fuels are not expected to be critical.

AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z FRIDAY/

Issued at 525 PM MDT Wed Mar 11 2026

VFR conditions under mainly clear skies will prevail over the next 24 hours. Wind will be a concern to flight operations however as strong winds aloft mix down to the surface on Thursday as we heat by mid-day. This will initially mean localized areas of LLWS which then become gusts of 25 to 45 mph over northern and mountain areas during the afternoon and evening hours. Mountain wave turbulence can also be expected.

GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

CO...Wind Advisory from 10 AM to 8 PM MDT Thursday for COZ001-002. UT...None.