textproduct: Pueblo

KEY MESSAGES

- Very warm with some 80F readings on the plains today.

- RED FLAG WARNING today a good part of the plains and Fremont county.

- Windy Wednesday with critical fire weather conditions possible plains and some wind driven snow central mtns

- Critical Fire Weather conditions continue for parts of the region THU, FRI and SAT.

- A bit cooler weather SUN into next week

UPDATE

Issued at 258 AM MST Tue Feb 24 2026

HRRR and HREF mean continues to show a 3 hour window of sufficiently low RH and gusty winds across Teller and northern El Paso counties before humidity levels increase during the late afternoon as moisture advects over the mountains. Have added Teller and northern El Paso counties to the current suite of Red Flag Warnings for today. Winds will be strongest across Teller county and spread in earlier, but humidity levels will be lowest across El Paso county. So window for critical fire weather conditions will be during the late morning and early afternoon across Teller county, and in the afternoon across northern El Paso where it may take a bit longer for winds to spread in. Any burning should be avoided today in the Red Flag areas. -KT

SHORT TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/

Issued at 1209 AM MST Tue Feb 24 2026

Today...

Main concern is Fire Weather conditions expected for parts of the region today as winds will be in the 25 to 40 mph range, with RH values in the 8 to 15% range. It is going to be very warm today with readings mainly 75 to 80F range most of the plains with 60s in the San Luis Valley. It is going to be breezy to windy all locations in advance of a short wave in the NW flow aloft moving towards the region and the lee trough intensifying over the plains.

Tonight...

Winds will decrease after sunset. It will be mild tonight especially just east of the mtns and over the Raton Mesa with lows only n the 40s. 20s will occur over the northeast sections of the southeast plains. 20s will occur in the valleys.

LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY/

Issued at 1209 AM MST Tue Feb 24 2026

Wednesday...

Winds will be quite strong over most of the region on this day as the gradient aloft will be quite tight. Winds in the mtns will be gusting in th 40 to 70 mph range over most mtn ranges with 30s t0 40s in the valleys and 25 to 35 mph on the plains. However, guidance continues to show a rather moist airmass moving over the region, and this will keep dwpts up in the 20s over most of the region. This in turn will lead to RH values mostly in the 15 to 20 percent range, and these values are just above Critical Fire Weather criteria. For now, decided to leave the Fire Weather Watch in place of this day over parts of the plains and let later shifts get a look at the newer hi res guidance.

We will see some snow move in Tuesday night and last into Wednesday evening across the central mtns. The overall best chance of accumulating snow will be over the central mtns nor of Cottonwood Pass. Given the snow and wind, decided to hoist a winter wx advisory for the central mtn region.

We may see some passing showers over the lower elevations of the plains and the Pikes Peak region later Wednesday into Wednesday night.

THursday, Friday and Saturday...

A tad cooler Thursday than warming up again for Friday and Saturday. it will be dry. Critical fire weather conditions will be possible for the plains, especially along the gap flow regions along the mtns/plains interface.

Sunday into early next week...

Cooling off a bit in the digital database, However, DESI is still showing some extreme MAX temperature ranges across the plains as the Max temp 5th percentile showing 40s while the 95th percentile around 90F(!). Likewise, there is still quite a bit of variability in the guidance for later this weekend. If the cooler air comes in there could be a chance of some showers next week. Obviously, lot of uncertainty from Sunday onward.

AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z WEDNESDAY/

Issued at 440 AM MST Tue Feb 24 2026

VFR conditions expected at the TAF sites over the next 24 hours. Winds will be the primary concern with wind shifting out of the west to northwest through the afternoon and evening at all three terminals. Winds will be strongest at KCOS and KPUB today with gusts to around 25 kts. Otherwise expect variable high cloudinessat times. -KT

PUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

Winter Weather Advisory from midnight tonight to midnight MST Wednesday night for COZ058-060. Red Flag Warning from 10 AM this morning to 6 PM MST this evening for COZ221-222-226>233-237. Fire Weather Watch from Wednesday morning through Wednesday afternoon for COZ227>230-232-233.