Drier and warmer start to the new week

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) - After a wet and unsettled weekend, things are looking much drier and even a little warmer around the Western Slope to kick off the new work week.

Next 24 Hours

The morning starts off with mostly sunny to partly cloudy skies, but we will see a little more of an increase in those clouds as we head into the afternoon. We’ll also have to watch for some spotty rain and snow showers, mostly over the higher elevations along and south of the San Juan Mountains. A few raindrops are possible in Grand Junction, Delta, and Montrose today as well, but we should stay mostly dry with partly to mostly cloudy skies and highs in the lower to middle 50s. Any rain and higher elevation snow dissipates very quickly tonight, and we’ll see mostly clear to partly cloudy skies into Tuesday morning with lows in the lower to middle 30s. Clouds will gradually increase through the day on Tuesday, but we should stay dry until much later in the evening with highs in the middle and upper 50s.

Turning Wet and Unsettled Again

Clouds will start to increase later Tuesday afternoon as our next system approaches the region from the west. The first bit of mountain snow and valley rain will start developing Tuesday evening, then turn more scattered into Wednesday morning. Rain and snow will continue to become more widespread across the region through the day on Wednesday and into Wednesday evening. Colder air moves into the region Thursday morning, and we could see some of that valley rain transition over into snow. That transition will be more likely around Montrose and near the San Juan Mountains, while Grand Junction, Fruita, Loma, and Mack will likely see temperatures stay just warm enough that we don’t see a complete transition over to snow. Some snowflakes could still mix in with the rain, though. Rain and snow will begin to wind down through the rest of the day on Thursday. Snow accumulations should stay small, if any in the valleys. Another foot or more of snow is possible in the higher elevations around the Grand Mesa.

Drier and Cooler Close to the Week

We’ll continue to dry out and skies will clear overnight Thursday night and Friday morning with temperatures dropping into the lower to middle 20s. Mostly sunny skies settle back into place on Friday with high temperatures only reaching the lower and middle 40s. We’ll continue to stay dry into the weekend, but clouds will be on the increase once again with highs rebounding into the middle and upper 40s and lower 50s.

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