Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

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235
FXUS65 KBOU 292337
AFDBOU

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO
437 PM MST Mon Dec 29 2025

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Warming trend through Wednesday with dry and mostly sunny
  conditions regionwide.

- Light snow expected for the mountains Thursday afternoon through
  Friday, favoring the Park Range.

- The lower elevations will remain warm and dry through the
  weekend.

&&

.DISCUSSION /Through Monday/...
Issued at 108 PM MST Mon Dec 29 2025

A cool airmass remains firmly in place today, easily giving us
our coldest day of the upcoming week, with much of the lower
elevations surrounding the Denver metro and South Platte River
Valley still in the 30`s as they sit below a lingering inversion.

That cold air will begin to scour out notably on Tuesday as high
pressure over the western CONUS encroaches on Colorado, including
in our mountains. The high valleys, although not quite as cold as
this morning when they saw temperatures dip into the -10 to -20F
range, will remain cold tonight with the coldest locations
dropping below zero. Meanwhile the lower elevations should climb
into the low to mid 50`s, with abundant sun throughout the region.

Temperatures will continue to warm into Wednesday as high pressure
expands eastward. Expect continued dry conditions will only a
modest increase in cloud cover. Dry and much warmer than normal
conditions will extend all the way through this weekend for our
plains and urban corridor, with very minor day-to-day temperature
fluctuations.

Conversely, the mountains will have a more distinct change come
Thursday afternoon into Friday, when a transition to westerly flow
aloft and the emergence of a weak shortwave most prominent at the
700b level will boost moisture and bring some light snowfall.
Beyond the increased moisture and modest orographic flow, there
will be little in the way of synoptic support to enhance snowfall,
so accumulations and travel impacts should be relatively minor.
The Park Range will again be favored in this pattern, with
approximately a 75% chance of exceeding 4" of snow. Those
probabilities drop to less than 10% for the I-70 corridor.
Forecast confidence for the high country in particular decreases
considerably for the weekend and beyond with many mixed signals in
ensemble guidance.

&&

.AVIATION /00Z TAFS through 00Z Wednesday/...
Issued at 437 PM MST Mon Dec 29 2025

Mostly clear skies and unrestricted visibility will persist
through the TAF period. Winds will become light and variable
through 01Z and then transition to normal south/southwest winds
that will persist through 16-17Z Tuesday. There is just a slight
(20%) chance a weak mountain wave could bring a temporary shift in
winds to the west/northwest between 09Z-14Z. Otherwise the
aforementioned winds will follow a continuation of the normal
diurnal trend to light north/northeasterly flow after 20Z Tuesday.

&&

.BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
None.

&&

$$

DISCUSSION...BRQ
AVIATION...20