Today’s weather setup is similar to yesterday, as Colorado is situated between a broad high pressure ridge to the southeast and a broad trough<\/span> to the north (see image below). The shortwave<\/span> that initiated storms along the northeastern and eastern border of Colorado yesterday is now moving up into Minnesota. Strong mid-level flow is largely confined within the trough<\/span> to the north of Colorado. Weak (10-20 mph) mid-level southwesterly\/westerly flow is present over Colorado today, as indicated by the 500 mb analysis overlaid on the satellite image below. Some mid-level energy and moisture are creating some clouds over southern Colorado (blue on water vapor image below). This mid-level energy will increase chances for light showers over the southern mountains today. However, dew points<\/span> are quite dry over Colorado this morning, with 10Fs over northwestern Colorado and 30Fs over southern Colorado. This dry surface air will limit rain accumulation at the surface. The Grand Junction sounding this morning shows a record low PW<\/span> value of 0.26 inches, which shows just how dry the airmass is over western Colorado. No flooding is expected today.<\/p>\n The eastern border of Colorado is the only place where some moisture is able to hang on, where dew points<\/span> are in the 50Fs. Farther west over the Urban Corridor, the air is much drier, with dew points<\/span> in the 30Fs and a below-normal Denver PW<\/span> value of 0.43 inches. A broad area of low pressure will remain over the plains of Colorado, but small pressure gradients will generally favor weak westerly and northerly winds over the plains. This will not allow higher moisture east of Colorado to be pushed west into Colorado, so much of the low-level moisture that exists along the eastern border of Colorado this morning will be mixed out with diurnal heating today. In fact, temperatures will climb to near-record levels along the Urban Corridor and plains regions today. There still exists a low chance of thunderstorms developing along the eastern border of Colorado today, but the limited moisture will cut down on instability and potential rainfall from these storms. No flooding is expected.<\/p>\n
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