Snow Squall Warning 1, NWS Pueblo, CO

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Pueblo CO
703 PM MDT Tue Mar 18 2025

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Damaging Winds and High Fire Danger remain possible through
  this afternoon and into this evening.

- Damaging Winds remain over the plains tonight, switching to
  northerly after sunset. Light, but wind driven, snow will be
  possible across the Continental Divide, the Palmer Divide, and
  the eastern plains, where Winter Weather Advisories are valid
  through 6 AM Wednesday morning.

- Relatively quiet weather expected for much of the long term
  period, with some light snow showers during later parts of
  this week and through the weekend.

&&

.UPDATE...
Issued at 654 PM MDT Tue Mar 18 2025

Upper level low pressure system and the associated surface low
was moving across the eastern plains this evening, with strong
winds continuing to be reported for many locations, as well as
snow showers and some visibility restrictions. A cold front has
crossed the Palmer Divide and will surge south across the plains
through the evening hours, bringing the possibility of a quick
blast of precipitation as well as a significant wind shift to
the gusty winds. As the low continues east, wraparound strong
northerly flow will persist across the I-25 Corridor and eastern
plains into Wednesday.

Updated forecast grids with latest obs data, along with allowing
the Dust Advisory for the plains, and the High Wind Warning for
the San Luis Valley/Sangres/vicinity of Walsenburg and
Trinidad, to expire. Strong and gusty winds will continue this
evening, but the threat of the excessive and damaging high winds
is diminishing in those areas. Moore

&&

.SHORT TERM /THROUGH WEDNESDAY/...
Issued at 232 PM MDT Tue Mar 18 2025

Currently..

Southwest winds in excess of 60 mph have been ongoing since early
this morning across much of the area. Strongest winds this afternoon
are shown in area observations stretching mainly across the southern
Sangres and the I-25 corridor. Temperatures are in the 50s and 60s
with relative humidity values in the teens most areas. Blowing dust
has been observed on area webcams and observations since around 10
am this morning, with lowest visibilities currently located in the
San Luis Valley. Visibilities down to around 1 mile have been seen
in dust.

Rest of Today and Tonight..

Damaging winds are expected to continue out of the west-southwest
throughout the rest of this afternoon. An abrupt wind shift to
damaging north winds is expected with the arrival of a cold front
later this evening, tracking from northeast to southwest across our
plains tonight. This is the reason for the two separate High Wind
Warnings, one to show the damaging winds before the front out of the
southwest, and another to show damaging post-frontal northerly
winds. With the earlier winds, expect continued reduced visibility
in blowing dust to be possible across the plains. With the post-
frontal northerly push, reduced visibility in blowing snow will be
possible, especially across the Palmer Divide and our far eastern
plains. Snow totals are rather low, but dangerous travel due to
reduced visibility is expected in all of these areas. For this
reason, Winter Weather Advisories for blowing snow have been issued
on top of the High Wind Warnings for Northern El Paso, Kiowa, Bent,
Prowers, and Baca Counties. Winter Weather Advisories for wind
driven snow remain in place over the Continental Divide as well. All
Winter Weather Advisories are valid through 6 AM.

Wednesday..

Though precip chances dwindle fairly early in the morning on
Wednesday, winds remain elevated into the early afternoon hours. For
this reason, High Wind Warnings remain in place through Noon for
much of our plains and the I-25 corridor. Very light snow will
continue to be possible over the Continental Divide and the highest
elevations of the Pikes Peak region through the afternoon, with all
areas dry by evening. Daytime highs will be much cooler, though
still near seasonal norms for many locations. Temperatures look to
top out in the 40s and low 50s for our plains and mountain valleys.
Relative humidity values increase slightly behind the front as well,
which should help to stave off any fire weather potential for
tomorrow.

&&

.LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY/...
Issued at 232 PM MDT Tue Mar 18 2025

Wednesday Night: Heading out of the midweek week day, quieter
weather starts to make a return. The storm system that brought the
active early week weather will be exiting the area. While it does
so, forcing and moisture will lessen, and given this, any remaining
showers are expected to quickly dissipate during the evening hours,
with dry conditions prevailing overnight. otherwise, winds will
lessen and become light, with most cloud cover dissipating during
the evening to early overnight hours as the system pulls eastward.
Temperatures will be a chilly thanks to colder air spilling in from
the system, with much of the area falling to below seasonal values.

Thursday - Sunday: For the later half of the week, relatively quiet
weather if expected outside of occasional light mountain showers and
critical fire weather potential on Thursday. Throughout this period,
a couple of shortwaves will pass over/near the region, generally mid
Thursday - mid Friday and late Saturday - early Sunday. In between
these waves, shortwave ridging or northwesterly flow will prevail.
With the wave passages, brief periods of heightened forcing are
expected, and with at least modest moisture in place, light isolated
snow showers are anticipated along the mountains where any forcing
will be maximized. Elsewhere dry conditions are expected. Beyond all
of that, pockets of increased cloud cover and breezy winds are
expected for much of the area. Speaking of winds, Thursday and
Friday may also have critical fire weather conditions across much of
the plains and San Luis Valley given the gustier winds and low
humidity values. As for temperatures, with the slightly unsettled
pattern, temperatures will fluctuate around and slightly below
seasonal values, with coolest days being Friday and Sunday.

Monday: For the start of the new week, quiet weather prevails for
south central and southeastern Colorado. An anomalously strong ridge
of high pressure will start to build across the western US. Given
the increased subsidence with this feature, dry conditions are
anticipated the region. Outside of that, occasional high level
clouds and relatively light winds are expected. Looking at
temperatures, a warming trend is anticipated, with temperatures
starting a quick warming to above seasonal values for late March.

&&

.AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z THURSDAY/...
Issued at 539 PM MDT Tue Mar 18 2025

A strong cold front will push south across the southeast Plains
this evening, with front reaching COS between 01-02Z. Gusty
northwest winds ahead of the front will switch to the north
and increase to 40-50kt behind the system. Also showers will
fill in behind the front with the potential for IFR/LIFR
conditions in blsn through 06Z. Aft 06Z, snow remains mainly
confined to the Palmer Dvd, though gusty northerly winds
30-40kt to prevail through Wednesday morning, before diminishing
into the afternoon.

PUB will also see the shift from gusty westerly to strong
northerly between 02Z-03Z, with precipitation likely staying
north and east of the terminal. Gusty north winds to slowly
diminish through Wednesday morning.

ALS will see gusty northwest winds 25-35kt diminishing through
the overnight hours, though will pick up again Wednesday morning
before diminishing late Wednesday afternoon.

&&

.PUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
Winter Weather Advisory until 6 AM MDT Wednesday for COZ058-
060-066-068-084.
Red Flag Warning until 8 PM MDT this evening for COZ226>237.
High Wind Warning until noon MDT Wednesday for COZ084>086-089-
093>099.
Winter Weather Advisory until 6 AM MDT Wednesday for
COZ095>099.

&&

UPDATE...MOORE
SHORT TERM...EHR
LONG TERM...SIMCOE
AVIATION...MW

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Pueblo CO
457 PM MDT Tue Mar 18 2025

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0453 PM     Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 4 S Cheraw              38.05N 103.52W
03/18/2025  M64 MPH          Otero              CO   ASOS

            ASOS station KLHX La Junta Airport.

&&

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Pueblo CO
458 PM MDT Tue Mar 18 2025

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0354 PM     Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 3 ESE Hoehne            37.27N 104.33W
03/18/2025  M59 MPH          Las Animas         CO   AWOS

            AWOS station KTAD Trinidad Airport.

&&

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Pueblo CO
459 PM MDT Tue Mar 18 2025

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0453 PM     Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 4 S Cheraw              38.05N 103.52W
03/18/2025  M67 MPH          Otero              CO   ASOS

            ASOS station KLHX La Junta Airport.

&&

Preliminary Local Storm Report...Summary
National Weather Service Pueblo CO
510 PM MDT Tue Mar 18 2025

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0453 PM     Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 4 S Cheraw              38.05N 103.52W
03/18/2025  M67 MPH          Otero              CO   ASOS

            ASOS station KLHX La Junta Airport.

0445 PM     Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 4 WSW Pinon             38.41N 104.67W
03/18/2025  M59 MPH          Pueblo             CO   Mesonet

            Mesonet station AW866 PUEBLO WEST.

0354 PM     Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 3 ESE Hoehne            37.27N 104.33W
03/18/2025  M59 MPH          Las Animas         CO   AWOS

            AWOS station KTAD Trinidad Airport.

0321 PM     Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 5 NE Blende             38.28N 104.50W
03/18/2025  M70 MPH          Pueblo             CO   AWOS

            ASOS station KPUB Pueblo Airport.

0253 PM     Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 5 NE Blende             38.28N 104.50W
03/18/2025  M64 MPH          Pueblo             CO   AWOS

            AWOS station KPUB Pueblo Airport.

0148 PM     Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 6 S Colorado City       37.86N 104.83W
03/18/2025  M74 MPH          Huerfano           CO   Mesonet

            Mesonet station CO029 025s066 Apache City.

1255 PM     Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 5 N Walsenburg          37.69N 104.79W
03/18/2025  M72 MPH          Huerfano           CO   AWOS

            AWOS station K4V1 4 N Walsenburg.

1252 PM     Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 2 S Alamosa             37.43N 105.87W
03/18/2025  M62 MPH          Alamosa            CO   ASOS

            ASOS station KALS Alamosa Airport.

&&