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 /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z SATURDAY/

Issued at 509 AM MDT Fri Apr 3 2026

VFR conditions are anticipated during the next 24 hours at all 3 taf sites, KPUB, KALS and KCOS.

A cold front has passed the region. Winds will start to pick up at COS by mid morning and become gusty from the northwest, and should last into the early evening hours before becoming light northerly.

KALS should see some breezy winds starting mid morning and lasting into early evening.

KPUB will likely not see breezy northwest winds until early to mid afternoon; decreasing mid evening.

PUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

Red Flag Warning from 11 AM this morning to 8 PM MDT this evening for COZ222-224-226>237.