textproduct: Pueblo

KEY MESSAGES

- Dangerous fire weather conditions on Thursday due to strong southwest winds gusting 40 to 50 mph, and single digit relative humidity values.

- An upper storm system will move across the area Thursday night through Friday, with snow over the Mountains, down to about 6 kft Friday night.

- A return to dry and mild conditions for the weekend into mid next week.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH THURSDAY/

Issued at 1142 AM MST Wed Mar 4 2026

Currently...quiet weather has spread across southern Colorado early this afternoon as an upper shortwave ridge moves overhead. Temperatures are cool, with mid 50s to lower 60s across the Plains, and 40s over the San Luis Valley.

Rest of today and tonight...the upper shortwave ridge will continue east across Colorado into the Central Plains tonight, while the next upper storm system moves into Utah. This will force increasing southwesterly flow across the region. Highs this afternoon will top out mainly in the 50s and 60s, with light winds and clear skies. Winds look to increase overnight, which will help keep overnight lows mild across the Plains, with 30s and 40s. This coolest readings will be along the lower Arkansas River Valley with lows near freezing. Teens and 20s are forecast for the San Luis Valley.

Thursday...southwesterly flow will continue to increase across the region. Strong, gusty winds will spread across much of southern Colorado by late morning. Much drier air will also move into the region, with widespread relative humidity values under 10 percent. Winds will likely gust in the 40 to 50 mph range, with a few higher gusts possible along the southern I-25 corridor. A Red Flag Warning is now in effect from 10 AM to 7 PM for the San Luis Valley, Eastern Mountains and across the Plains. Both El Paso and Pueblo Counties saw decent rainfall yesterday evening, however, portions of the counties remained dry with little precipitation. Enhanced mixing will help temperatures warm quickly with 70s to low 80s across the Plains.

LONG TERM /THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY/

Issued at 1142 AM MST Wed Mar 4 2026

Thursday night through Saturday...the upper trough over Utah is forecast to track eastward across Colorado Thursday night through Friday night. Snow will spread into the Continental Divide Thursday evening, and continue through Friday night, clearing by Saturday morning. At this time, snow rates look minor, with generally 3 to 6 inches through this period over the Central Mountains, mainly north of Cottonwood Pass. As the upper trough shift east on Friday, precipitation will spread east into the Palmer Divide by the morning. A strong cold front will then push south across the Plains by the early afternoon. The RRFS, NAM and ECMWF are fast with precipitation, forcing it south along the Eastern Mountains, into the I-25 corridor once the front goes through. The GFS is slower, and limits precipitation to the Palmer Divide, southeast across the Plains north of Highway 50. Given the GFS looking like an outlier, blended with the RRFS, NAM and ECMWF, with rain and snow south along the Eastern Mountains, and adjacent Plains Friday afternoon and evening. Precipitation type will depend on when it starts. Early timing may keep the lower elevations rain longer, then changing over to snow as colder air advects into the region by the evening. As for snow amounts, Teller County could see a quick 2 to 5 inches, with elevations above 6 kft seeing an inch or two by Saturday morning. Precipitation will diminish across the region Saturday morning, with clearing conditions heading into the afternoon. As for temperatures, highs on Friday will depend on frontal timing, with 40s and 50s across the Plains. Given the north winds behind the front, it will feel much colder. Saturday, temperatures will begin to rebound with mostly 50s across the Plains and San Luis Valley.

Sunday through Wednesday...the upper pattern for late in the weekend into mid next week will feature an upper low tracking across Mexico into Texas, with broad longwave troughing across the Northern Plains. Not much in the way of precipitation expected across the region, with possibly a couple of snow showers over the Central Mountains Sunday into Monday. Weak energy embedded in the northwesterly flow will lead to more fire weather conditions, beginning Sunday, and prevailing each afternoon Monday and Tuesday due to gusty winds and low humidity values. Enhanced mixing will help temperatures warm into the 70s early next week.

AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z FRIDAY/

Issued at 437 PM MST Wed Mar 4 2026

At KALS, VFR the next 24 hrs, with light winds overnight becoming sw and increasing through the day Thu. A few gusts to 30 kt are likely after 20z.

At KPUB and KCOS, VFR the next 24 hrs. Winds overnight will become light drainage, then weak s-se upslope flow develops after sunrise on Thu. While much of the region will see gusty s-sw winds through the day on Thu, both KPUB/KCOS will see lighter s-se winds into mid-afternoon, before winds become more s-sw and increase after 22z as deeper mixing finally develops.

PUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

Red Flag Warning from 10 AM to 7 PM MST Thursday for COZ222- 224>237.