textproduct: Pueblo

KEY MESSAGES

- High Fire Danger and historically warm temperatures are expected on Saturday.

- A cold front arrives early Sunday morning, bringing cooler (but still warmer than normal) temperatures for Sunday and Monday.

- Continued anomalously warm temperatures and critical fire weather concerns are expected for next week.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/

Issued at 116 PM MDT Fri Mar 20 2026

Currently..

At noon, temperatures have climbed into the 70s and low 80s across all of our lower elevations, with Springfield sitting at 86F, Fort Carson at 78F, and Trinidad at 81F. Winds are mainly light and are either following typical diurnal patterns, though portions of El Paso are seeing gusts to around 20 mph. Dewpoints are in the teens and 20s, and relative humidity values are in the single digits. Even Leadville is currently reporting an RH of 12%.

Rest of Today and Tonight..

Abnormally dry conditions are expected to persist today as climate records continue to fall across the area. Pueblo broke our all-time March record yesterday, and both Alamosa and Colorado Springs tied theirs. Those records will likely fall again today in all three locations, with April records in jeopardy tomorrow. Today's winds remain light which is very good news for fire weather concerns, but that changes tomorrow as well. Overnight low temperatures remain closer to where our seasonal highs should be, with Colorado Springs only falling into the upper 40s and low 50s tonight. Overnight humidity recoveries will also be poor given a slight uptick in winds increased mixing, and warm overnight temperatures, with much our plains and eastern mountains only "recovering" into the 20% range. This will set the stage for increased fire danger tomorrow.

Saturday..

The ridge begins to flatten overhead on Saturday, leading to increased westerly flow over our area. Jet support is lacking for any high wind concerns, but west winds gusting to 45 mph will still be possible over the high country and down into the I-25 corridor, especially through our gap flows. Abnormally dry conditions look to persist as well, with single relative humidity values persisting across the entirety of south central and southeast Colorado. Downsloping winds will also cause temperatures to soar well into record territory tomorrow, with all-time APRIL monthly high temperatures that might be broken

Standing April Record Forecast C. Springs 87 88 Pueblo 94 94 Alamosa 80 81

Historically hot temperatures, dry conditions, and gusty west winds will lead to high fire danger across the high country for all elevations lower than where current snowpack exists, and for all of our mountain adjacent plains. A Red Flag Warning is in place for all zone along and west of I-25 from 11 AM through 11 PM tomorrow. Please be extremely cautious with trailer chains tomorrow, and take care not to start a wildfire. Any new starts will be extremely difficult to control!

LONG TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/

Issued at 116 PM MDT Fri Mar 20 2026

Saturday Night and Sunday..

Critical fire weather conditions persist into Saturday night, and our Red Flag Warning does not expire until 11 PM, when winds finally begin to subside, and temperatures manage to cool down enough to bring humidity values up into the 20% range. A cold front eventually backs across our plains late Saturday night into Sunday morning, bringing dewpoints up into 30s and humidities into 50%-70% range by Sunday night. This quick reprieve will help to stabilize fire weather concerns on Sunday, though portions of the southern San Luis Valley, where effects of the cold front will arrive latest, may still have fire weather concerns into Sunday afternoon. Daytime highs look to sit a solid 20 degrees cooler on Sunday afternoon, with most locations in the 70s for lower elevations. Though this will feel significant following the past several days, this is also still around 15 degrees or so warmer than normal. Chance for meaningful precipitation with this system continue to dwindle, though light showers may be possible over the central mountains and the higher elevations of the Pikes Peak region.

Monday Onwards..

We go right back into zonal flow by Monday, allowing temperatures to warm back into the upper 70s and low 80s. Monday will be dry, with critical fire weather concerns likely across the San Luis Valley and the southern I-25 corridor, portions of the Upper Arkansas River Valley and Fremont County may see critical fire weather conditions as well. Ridging builds back in over the region through midweek, allowing temperatures to soar back into the 80s and 90s. The good news is that winds look to be somewhat marginal for Tuesday and Wednesday, but a transition to southwest flow on Thursday may lead to more widespread fire weather concerns, before the arrival of our next possible cold front around the next Friday timeframe.

AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z SUNDAY/

Issued at 542 PM MDT Fri Mar 20 2026

VFR at all taf sites the next 24 hrs. W-SW winds will increase at all terminals Sat afternoon, with gusts 20-25 kts from 20z into the evening.

CLIMATE

Issued at 134 PM MDT Thu Mar 19 2026

LCD sites March 20th-21st Record Highs

ALS...Fri...Mar 20...72F...2004 ALS...Sat...Mar 21...72F...1997

COS...Fri...Mar 20...76F...2017 COS...Sat...Mar 21...75F...1995

PUB...Fri...Mar 20...84F...2017 PUB...Sat...Mar 21...82F...2016

The all time record March max temp for Alamosa .........is 76. The all time record March max temp for Colorado Springs is 81. The all time record March max temp for Pueblo ..........is 87.

PUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

Red Flag Warning from 11 AM to 11 PM MDT Saturday for COZ220>230-237.