Approaching storm system will bring wind, but we’ll stay dry
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) - Wind gusts up to 25-30 mph are possible Thursday and Friday as a strong storm system tracks over Colorado and begins a transition toward a cooler, Autumn-like weekend.
Our Next Weather Maker
We’re tracking a storm system over the Pacific Northwest will dig southeastward through Thursday and Friday. It will increase the wind across Western Colorado as it tracks overhead. It’s a moisture-starved storm system, so it will bring the wind but not much rain until it crosses the mountains and finds a moisture-rich environment over the Plains.
Turning Cooler This Weekend
A drop in temperatures of nearly ten degrees is likely from Thursday to Friday across Colorado’s Western Slope. That will mean high temperatures go from 80s to 70s while morning low temperatures go from 40s and 50s to 30s and 40s. We’re not likely to freeze or even frost, so we’re not quite to the point where we need to drain our swamp coolers or sprinkler systems. Not yet. But it is time to break out the jackets and coats, particularly in the mornings.
Warming Again Next Week
The colder weekend will be followed by warming starting on Monday. Temperatures will steadily climb from upper 70s and lower 80s on Monday to low-to-mid 80s on Wednesday. Longer-range forecast trends indicate a high probability of above-normal temperatures through much of the next two weeks. “Normal” is based on averages over the past thirty years. It changes, so it’s a moving target. Normal will ease back from upper 70s for highs and upper 40s for lows at Grand Junction on September 25 to lower 70s for highs and middle 40s for lows on October 3. The expectation is that we’ll be warmer than that. That still leaves room for some appreciable cooling.
Our Next 24 Hours
This evening will be partly cloudy. Sunset is at 7:15 PM. We’ll cool from lower 80s at 6 PM to lower 70s at 8 PM, then to mid-to-upper 60s at 10 PM. The rest of tonight will be partly cloudy to mostly clear after 2 AM. Low temperatures by morning will be near 57 degrees around Grand Junction, 51 degrees around Montrose, 53 degrees around Delta, and 46 degrees around Cortez. Thursday will start with more clouds and a few showers in the morning. Clouds will clear, and we’ll become mostly sunny. Wind gusts up to 25-30 mph are possible. High temperatures will be near 81 degrees around Grand Junction, 77 degrees around Montrose, 80 degrees around Delta, and 77 degrees around Cortez.
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