textproduct: Pueblo

KEY MESSAGES

- Cold front moving across the area early this morning bringing gusty winds to the plains.

- Some snow over the central mtns mainly north of Cottonwood pass this morning.

- Critical fire weather conditions today over most of the region.

- Dry and warmer over the weekend but unsettled pattern develops into next week with a better chance of precip, especially late in the week.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/

Issued at 1237 AM MDT Fri Apr 3 2026

A cold front was pushing south across the Palmer Divide early this morning. Airmass behind the front is very dry so not sensible weather is associated with the boundary except for gusty northeast winds.

Today...

Main concern today is fire weather conditions. Although cooler is is moving into the region today, the airmass behind the front is very dry, and this will allow for critical humidity values (<15%) to develop this afternoon. Wind will be gusty with 25 to 35 mph over the plains and gusts to 45 mph over the valleys and mtns. These conditions will allow for Red Flag conditions to become widespread over the region, and a Red Flag Warning is in effect for today.

Otherwise, expect it to be cooler today with max temps in the 55 to 65F range plains and 50-55F over the valleys. Skies will generally be partly cloudy with breezy to windy conditions all areas.

Tonight...

A cool night is likely with nearly all areas getting below freezing tonight. The only areas which will remain above freezing will be the immediate banana belt areas (immediate mtns/plains interface regions) where min temps will fall into the mid 30s. Interior valleys will fall in to the 10s. It will be dry all areas

LONG TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/

Issued at 1237 AM MDT Fri Apr 3 2026

Weekend..

Dry and mild with mainly diurnal wind flow. Likewise no fire weather concerns this weekend. Temps will be about 5F warmer Sunday as compared to Saturday.

Into Next Week...

Overall a gradual warming trend is expected and 80s should return by mid week. Additionally, the atmospheric column will moisten up somewhat so we should see a chance of afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms develop, with best chances over the higher terrain.

From midweek onward, another cool front is fcst to push across the region dropping our temps down 10 to 15F as compared to mid weeks temperatures. Additionally, we should see a better chance of precip over the entire region as broad mid level troughieness develops over to the west of us, and this should continue to bring better moisture into the region. Hopefully, by next weekend a broad slow moving mid level trough is fcst to develop just to our west and this should bring a much better chance of precip to the entire region along with cooler temperatures. \/Hodanish

AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z SATURDAY/

Issued at 954 PM MDT Thu Apr 2 2026

VFR conditions are expected at KALS, KCOS, and KPUB through 24 hours. Gusty southwest winds, around 25-30 knots or so, will linger across the terminals for a few more hours this evening. Expect a few hours of LLWS at KALS tonight, and while stronger flow will be present at KCOS and KPUB, mixing currently looks to remain strong enough to bring gusts closer to the surface.

Around 08Z-09Z, a front will move in over the plains, bringing stronger north-northwest winds to the terminals. Gusts will be in excess of 30 knots, lingering through most of Friday. KPUB specifically may see a few hours of post-frontal southeast winds before gusty northwest flow dominates the entire area through the end of this forecast period.

PUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

Red Flag Warning from 11 AM this morning to 8 PM MDT this evening for COZ222-224-227>232-234>236.