Rain returns to the Western Slope

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) - Rainy days ahead will bring an end to the two-day break we’ve had from the rain. And would you believe it if we told you Colorado’s first snow has fallen? Snow was seen Thursday morning from Alma on the high peaks within the Mosquito Range, which are just west of Highway 9 - which runs between Breckenridge and Fairplay.

Our Next 24 Hours

This evening will be mostly sunny to mostly clear. Sunset is at 8:06 PM, and the last light of the day will fade from the sky at 8:33 PM. Clouds will begin increasing as we cool from lower 90s around 6 PM to upper 80s around 8 PM. We’ll cool into the 70s by 11 PM. The rest of tonight will become increasingly cloudy. Low temperatures will be near 68 degrees around Grand Junction and 62 degrees around Montrose. Friday will be cloudy to mostly cloudy with scattered showers and thunderstorms. Storms will be most common over the mountains until after about 3-4 PM when they blow downwind over the valleys. Locally heavy storms can bring localized flash flooding, especially over the burn scars of recent fires. Storms can also bring gusty winds and frequent lightning. High temperatures will average near 87 degrees around Grand Junction and 82 degrees around Montrose. More rainy areas can be cooler by up to 10 degrees. Drier areas can be a few degrees warmer.

Soggy At Times This Weekend

Scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected through this weekend, too. They will especially favor the mountains. Saturday could become stormy over the valleys, but storms will be fewer than on Friday. By Sunday, storms may be almost exclusive to the mountains. Keep that in mind if your weekend plans involve the mountains at all - especially along the Continental Divide.

Drying Next Week

There is still some disagreement among our forecast data for Sunday and Monday and how rainy those days will be locally. We’re favoring the overall drier solutions, but realize that this is a low-confidence forecast that can change for both days. Drier days will be warmer. If the forecast trends more rainy, we’ll be cooler. The signals are more definitively in favor of drying and warming from Tuesday on, and much of next week will be without rain.