textproduct: Pueblo

KEY MESSAGES

- Rain and snowfall rates increase this afternoon through tonight, with precipitation coming to an end from northeast to southwest throughout tomorrow.

- Travel impacts look to remain mainly confined to the high country, where Winter Storm Warnings and Winter Weather Advisories remain in place through tomorrow.

- The Palmer Divide and the San Luis Valley are likely to see a few inches of wet, slushy snow late tonight into Friday morning, mainly on grassy and elevated surfaces.

- Near freezing temperatures remain possible Friday night into Saturday morning on the plains.

- A warming and drying trend is expected for Saturday through Monday, before another possible system towards midweek.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT/

Issued at 110 PM MDT Thu Apr 30 2026

Rest of Today and Tonight..

Scattered showers remain draped across much of the forecast area. Lightning is not present yet, but there is enough clearing over Fremont County and the northern Sangres that we may begin to see lightning activity and heavier precipitation rates within the next hour or two. Temperatures are mostly in the 40s on the plains, with Springfield and Alamosa both sitting at 54F as of Noon, and far northeastern portions of El Paso County sitting in the upper 30s. This lull in precipitation looks to persist for another couple of hours, before enough clearing and instability push off the mountains to initiate our stronger convection in places later this afternoon as better forcing arrives. This will increase coverage and intensity of precipitation across the area this afternoon through tonight as the trough to our west continues to dig south and upslope deepens over our region. Precipitation is expected to remain all liquid rain below 8000 feet through the daytime hours, with a transition to snow possible down to 7000 or even briefly 6000 feet overnight and into the early morning hours of Friday. For the the lower elevations though, accumulations are expected to remain light and mainly confined to grassy and elevated surfaces. Travel impacts are not expected tonight across the plains, but may be possible over the Palmer Divide and the San Luis Valley early Friday morning near sunrise. Accumulations in these areas may reach 2 to 4 inches at most on elevated surfaces, but roads are expected to stay wet through much of the night.

Tomorrow..

Near freezing temperatures early in the morning may help to change some rain over to flurries and light snow for some areas, but travel impacts and accumulations are expected to remain confined to the higher terrain. Another push of shortwave energy in the trough to our west pushes past us throughout the morning and early afternoon hours, keeping precipitation chances alive over the high country through much of the day. With the better forcing drifting south though, chances come to an end from northeast to southwest over the plains throughout the morning and early afternoon. This next push of energy does bring in some better snow chances for the San Juans late tomorrow morning into Saturday morning though, which will definitely help them to not feel so left out. QPF totals have come down just slightly over the San Juans with this model run, so have held off on advisories once again, but totals look to be in the 6 to 10 inch range over the San Juans for tomorrow. As clearing happens on our plains though, daytime highs look to climb back into the 50s and low 60s with light winds. Overnight lows tomorrow night are also expected to dip down close to freezing under clearing skies on the plains. For now, have held off any freeze highlights, given that temperatures look to only briefly approach the freezing mark across the plains.

LONG TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/

Issued at 110 PM MDT Thu Apr 30 2026

Saturday..

Ridging develops for Saturday and into the beginning of next week. Remnants of the weak shortwave look to linger over the Four Corners region for a bit, helping to keep chances for isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms over the high country and our southern plains. Convection does not look to be severe, but any storms that do develop should manage to bring wetting rains. On the plains, precipitation is not expected, and daytime highs look to be near normal for this time of year. Most lower elevation locations look to warm into 60s and 70s with fairly weak winds.

Sunday Onwards..

Ridging continues into Sunday and Monday, allowing our warming and drying trend to continue. Highs look to rise into the 70s and 80s on the plains for both Sunday and Monday. Chances for showers and thunderstorms continue, especially on Monday, as models push a low onshore over California and moist southwest flow inches towards our forecast area. Models still show a lot of disagreement about the track and progression of this system, but in general it looks to weaken before making its way towards the Four Corners region towards Tuesday or Wednesday. As it comes through, chances for a cooler and wetter pattern will likely emerge depending on its track and timing.

AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z SATURDAY/

Issued at 527 PM MDT Thu Apr 30 2026

MVFR conditions at KCOS and KPUB could drop into the IFR category for both terminals tonight, but this will be most likely at KCOS once winds shift around from the southeast and fog develops. Both vis and cigs could drop into the LIFR category around 12z but winds look fairly light and could stay northerly which may keep conditions IFR. Cigs lift around 15z with a slow improving trend expected. Showers will be possible again Fri afternoon but odds look too low as the atmosphere remains quite stable.

KALS will see VFR to intermittent MVFR conditions as showers move over the site through the evening. Cigs could remain MVFR into the overnight hours, though should return to VFR by mid morning Friday. Showers may affect the terminal again Friday afternoon as they push off the mountains. Will carry VCSH for now after 22z. -KT

PUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

Winter Weather Advisory until noon MDT Friday for COZ058-063- 076-078. Winter Storm Warning until midnight MDT Friday night for COZ072>075-079-080. Winter Storm Warning until noon MDT Friday for COZ081-082.