textproduct: Pueblo

KEY MESSAGES

- RED FLAG Warnings expanded to include the lower eastern slopes of the southeast mountains.

- Cold front moves through Monday evening, cooler weather all areas thereafter.

- Snow showers return to the forecast for the high country starting Tuesday night, with rain and snow possible on the plains by Thursday and Friday.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH TUESDAY/

Issued at 234 AM MST Mon Feb 9 2026

Westerly flow aloft increases on Monday bringing unseasonably warm, dry and breezy conditions to southern CO. Critical fire weather conditions will be the primary concern for the eastern slopes of the southeast mountains and adjacent I-25 corridor and southern plains. Added zone 225 (southeast mountains) to current suite of Red Flag Warnings as humidity levels below 15 percent will be easily achieved along the eastern slopes where HREF probabilities of greater than 25 mph winds are running around 70% or greater. Juxtaposition of gusty winds with low humidity is not as great over eastern Las Animas County where the surface low sets up, but western and southern portions of the zone could still see a couple hours of red flag conditions so will maintain current highlights. Other areas that could see spotty critical fire weather conditions will be southern and northern portions of El Paso county, and portions of Central Chaffee county. But conditions do not look as persistent or widespread enough to expand highlights. Otherwise, temperatures today will be well above normal with temperatures approaching records for this date of:

KCOS: 71 in 1996 KPUB: 78 in 1996 KALS: 59 in 2018 KALS will have the best chance of a tie or record break.

A disturbance in westerly flow aloft passes to the north sending a dry cold front through the southeast plains tonight. North winds will be gusty (30-35 mph) for a few hours behind the front, especially northern areas. This will result in a 15-20 degree cool down across the plains though temperatures will still be a few degrees above climatological normals with highs topping out in the lower to mid 50s. The mountains and valleys cool off around 3-5 degrees as heights aloft decrease slightly. Isolated showers will be possible in the afternoon across the northern central mountains but not expecting any appreciable moisture.

LONG TERM /TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY/

Issued at 234 AM MST Mon Feb 9 2026

Tuesday Night and Wednesday..

Overnight lows tomorrow night are finally closer to seasonal normals following our cold front, with most locations cooling down into the teens and twenties by Wednesday morning. Light snow showers continue over the San Juans and central mountains, though little to no accumulation is expected through the overnight hours. Snowfall rates increase a bit throughout Wednesday as southwest flow increases and better moisture gets pulled into the region ahead of the approaching trough. Accumulations for Wednesday and Wednesday night still look to remain focused over the San Juans and central mountains where orographics will be best favored, but totals look to climb into the 2 to 4 inch range for both ranges through Wednesday. Daytime highs for plains and mountain valley locations look to soar right back into the 60s and 50s respectively, which is around 15 to 20 degrees warmer than normal, but well shy of any records. Winds will be gusty, especially along our eastern mountains and adjacent plains. The southern Sangres are likely to see gusts around 55 mph or so Wednesday afternoon. We remain dry east of the Continental Divide, but humidity values recover back into the 20% range, which should help to keep fire weather concerns at a minimum through mid-week.

Thursday Onwards..

By Thursday, models bring the trough onshore and towards the Great Basin. Snow chances increase and spread into our eastern mountains throughout the day, possibly pushing into the plains by Thursday night or Friday. Temperatures cool down closer to normal for this time of year. Snow chances persist into Friday night, though forecast qpf amounts are trending downwards for all areas. Models bring the trough past us by around Saturday, which will allow us to dry out and warm up a bit through next weekend if the forecast stays on track.

AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z TUESDAY/

Issued at 1003 PM MST Sun Feb 8 2026

VFR conditions are expected at all three TAF sites, KCOS, KPUB, and KALS, for the next 24 hours. West winds with gusts to around 25kt are likely through the afternoon hours at both KCOS and KPUB. A weak cold front comes through late in the period, bringing in northerly winds. Few to scattered mid and upper- level clouds are expected throughout the forecast period.

PUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

Red Flag Warning from 10 AM this morning to 6 PM MST this evening for COZ221-222-225-228>230-233-237.