textproduct: Pueblo

KEY MESSAGES

- Cooler but continued dry today, with critical fire weather conditions for the San Luis Valley and Upper Arkansas River Valley.

- Widespread high fire danger Thursday through Saturday.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/

Issued at 1231 AM MDT Wed Mar 11 2026

Currently...Impressive cold front pushing south across the Palmer Divide this evening, bringing initial northerly gusts of around 40- 45 mph. After an hour or so, north winds should settle down to around 20 mph, as the cold air pours south into the southeastern plains. There will be some patchy low to mid clouds overnight, with minimum temps dropping into the 20s and 30s for most areas.

Today and Tonight...A much cooler but continued dry day today after the passage of the cold front, with stronger north winds lingering across the far eastern plains through at least the first half of the day. High temps today along the I-25 Corridor and the eastern plains are forecast to only warm into the mid 40s to mid 50s, but farther west the high valleys will not see the full effect of the frontal passage. Temps there will still climb into the mid 50s to around 60F with persistent humidity levels in the 10-15 percent range. As gusty winds develop by midday, critical fire weather conditions are likely, so decided to go ahead and issue a Red Flag Warning for the San Luis Valley, and for Lake and Chaffee counties though the main concern there will be the valley bottom. Overnight low temps tonight will drop into the 20s to around 30F for most locations, though Alamosa will likely dip into the upper teens.

LONG TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/

Issued at 1231 AM MDT Wed Mar 11 2026

Thursday...After one cool, more normal day, Thursday bounces right back as an upper jet lays across MT and WY, and the tightening pressure gradient will produce strong and gusty westerly winds. The downslope component will help boost temps into the 70s once again for the plains, and 60s for the high valleys, while at the same time topography boosts wind speed for those usual gap flow locations. Therefore, had to issue a Fire Weather Watch for a good portion of the forecast area starting late morning and lasting into the early evening.

Friday and Saturday...Continued strong west-northwest flow aloft will keep the warming trend in place along with high fire danger concerns. Additional fire weather highlights are probable. Look for highs on Fri in the 60s to near 70F for the high valleys, and 70s to near 80F for the plains. On Sat, temps will warm into the 60s to around 70 for the high valleys, and mid 70s to mid 80s for the plains - around 20 degrees above seasonal normals areawide.

Sunday through Tuesday...A cold front late Sat night into early Sun morning will drop high temps by 25-30 degrees for Sunday, while the high valleys remain above normal. The blend of models indicates slight warming for Monday, then right back into the heat for Tuesday. Moore

AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z THURSDAY/

Issued at 509 AM MDT Wed Mar 11 2026

KALS...VFR conditions through the next 24 hours. Gusty northwest winds are expected from mid morning into the afternoon, with gusts near 25 kts. Winds will subside by late afternoon and through the overnight period.

KCOS and KPUB...winds and CIGS will be the main concern this morning into early afternoon. Model guidance suggests strong north to northeasterly winds, especially at KCOS this morning, however, surface observations from the terminals has been light for the past few hours. Did include winds near 15 kts at both terminals this morning and will continue to monitor. CIGS near 2 to 4 kft will continue into late morning hours, clearing this afternoon. Winds look to shift east southeast this afternoon and weaken, shifting north at KCOS, and westerly at KPUB overnight into Thursday morning.

PUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

Red Flag Warning from 1 PM this afternoon to 7 PM MDT this evening for COZ220-224. Fire Weather Watch from Thursday afternoon through Thursday evening for COZ222-224-227-228-231>233. Fire Weather Watch from Thursday morning through Thursday evening for COZ229-230.