Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Issued by NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
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737 FXUS65 KBOU 301755 AFDBOU Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO 1155 AM MDT Sun Aug 30 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Active monsoon pattern continues Sunday and Monday. - Warm and dry pattern returns for most of the upcoming week. && .DISCUSSION /Through Saturday/... Issued at 1222 AM MDT Sun Aug 30 2026 There haven`t been too many significant changes in the large scale pattern over the last 24 hours. A broad upper ridge remains centered over the south central CONUS, with a trough noted over the northern Rockies... leaving the area in broad southwesterly flow aloft. This also puts us square in the middle of the monsoonal moisture, and there`s been a good amount of precipitation falling across northwestern Colorado, which has spread as far east as Grand/Jackson county. Overnight CAMs are actually in decent agreement in how today`s convective potential plays out. Most guidance pushes a cluster of showers and thunderstorms across Middle/North Park late this morning into the early afternoon, which then advances east into the Front Range and I-25 corridor by early/mid afternoon. The convective environment is marginally favorable across most of the lower elevations, with modest MLCAPE (~500 J/kg) but increased deep layer shear. We can`t totally rule out a few strong to severe wind gusts with any stronger showers/storms as convection continues to push eastward through the afternoon and evening hours. Monday still looks to feature the best chance of precipitation across most of our forecast area, as a more pronounced shortwave races across the state during the afternoon/early overnight hours. There`s timing differences across the various models, but reasonably good agreement that a convective cluster will develop across southwestern Colorado during the day, advancing into our forecast area by the mid/late afternoon hours. Like the past few days, meager surface/boundary layer moisture will limit instability, but the stronger synoptic forcing should lead to more widespread rainfall into Monday evening/Monday night. By Tuesday, the center of the 500mb ridge should slide east into the Ohio Valley, while a strong closed low spins off the coast of British Columbia. Across the region, southwesterly flow aloft will persist. Moisture will diminish through this timeframe, with enough drying by Wednesday and Thursday that only a couple of weak showers are in the forecast across the the high country. The forecast pattern becomes a bit more complex as we approach next weekend. The closed low near the Pacific Northwest coastline will eventually drift onshore, and its approach towards our area should lead to a more poleward component of the mid/upper level winds. Further complicating the pattern is the potential tropical cyclone development across the eastern Pacific, which could contribute to additional tropical moisture advection into the region by next weekend. There is a fairly large spread across the overnight guidance and it`ll likely be a while until we have a better handle on things, but the overall pattern would suggest that we`ll see precipitation chances increase towards the end of our forecast period. && .AVIATION /18Z TAFS through 18Z Monday/... Issued at 1145 AM MDT Sun Aug 30 2026 Radar as of 1745z shows a broken line of showers and thunderstorms moving through Grand, Jackson, and western Larimer counties. Based on the latest radar trends and CAMs, have kept a TEMPO and VCSH starting at 20z (adjusted KBJC to start at 19z) for the possibility of high-based showers and thunderstorms for much of the afternoon. These could bring gusty outflow winds in excess of 35 kts, rain, and briefly lowering ceilings. There is a ~30-40% chance that showers and thunderstorms linger through about 4z this evening. Behind the convection, winds should turn to drainage rather quickly... as early as 4z. Winds should turn clockwise to north-northeast to northeast by early tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow will be another day with a TEMPO and VCSH starting at 20z for similar threats- gusty outflow winds in excess of 35 kts, rain, and briefly lowering ceilings. Ceilings could briefly drop to around 7000 feet AGL given more mid-level moisture is expected to be present. A PRO30 or TEMPO will likely be needed past 0z Tuesday in the next update. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ DISCUSSION...Hiris AVIATION...MV