Red Flag Warning 30, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

812 
WWUS85 KBOU 021857
RFWBOU

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO
1257 PM MDT Thu Apr 2 2026


COZ247-030615-
/O.NEW.KBOU.FW.W.0031.260403T1800Z-260404T0000Z/
/O.CON.KBOU.FW.W.0030.000000T0000Z-260403T0200Z/
Southeast Elbert County Below 6000 Feet/South Lincoln County-
1257 PM MDT Thu Apr 2 2026

...RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM MDT THIS EVENING
FOR WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR SOUTHERN LINCOLN COUNTY...


...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM NOON TO 6 PM MDT FRIDAY FOR 
WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR SOUTHERN LINCOLN COUNTY...

The National Weather Service in Denver has issued a Red Flag
Warning for wind and low relative humidity, which is in effect
from noon to 6 PM MDT Friday.

* AFFECTED AREA...Fire Weather Zone 247.

* TIMING...For the first Red Flag Warning, until 8 PM MDT this 
  evening. For the second Red Flag Warning, from noon to 6 PM 
  MDT Friday.

* WINDS...West 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 45 mph.

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...As low as 11 percent.

* IMPACTS...Conditions will be favorable for rapid fire spread. 
  Avoid outdoor burning and any activity that may produce a 
  spark and start a wildfire.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions
are either occurring now....or will shortly. A combination of
strong winds...low relative humidity...and warm temperatures can
contribute to extreme fire behavior.

&&

$$

COZ246-030615-
/O.NEW.KBOU.FW.W.0031.260403T1800Z-260404T0000Z/
North and Northeast Elbert County Below 6000 Feet/North Lincoln
County-
1257 PM MDT Thu Apr 2 2026

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM NOON TO 6 PM MDT FRIDAY FOR
WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR NORTHERN LINCOLN COUNTY AND EASTERN
ELBERT COUNTY...

The National Weather Service in Denver has issued a Red Flag
Warning for wind and low relative humidity, which is in effect
from noon to 6 PM MDT Friday.

* AFFECTED AREA...Fire Weather Zone 246.

* TIMING...From noon to 6 PM MDT Friday.

* WINDS...Northwest 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 45 mph.

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...As low as 14 percent.

* IMPACTS...Conditions will be favorable for rapid fire spread. 
  Avoid outdoor burning and any activity that may produce a 
  spark and start a wildfire.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions
are either occurring now....or will shortly. A combination of
strong winds...low relative humidity...and warm temperatures can
contribute to extreme fire behavior.

&&

$$

904 
WWUS85 KBOU 030144
RFWBOU

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO
744 PM MDT Thu Apr 2 2026

COZ247-032100-
/O.EXP.KBOU.FW.W.0030.000000T0000Z-260403T0200Z/
/O.EXT.KBOU.FW.W.0031.260403T1400Z-260404T0100Z/
Southeast Elbert County Below 6000 Feet/South Lincoln County-
744 PM MDT Thu Apr 2 2026

...RED FLAG WARNING NOW IN EFFECT FROM 8 AM TO 7 PM MDT FRIDAY
FOR WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR LINCOLN COUNTY...

...RED FLAG WARNING WILL EXPIRE AT 8 PM MDT THIS EVENING FOR WIND
AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR ALL OF NORTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL
COLORADO, INCLUDING SOUTHERN LINCOLN COUNTY...

* AFFECTED AREA...Fire Weather Zone 247.

* TIMING...From 8 AM to 7 PM MDT Friday.

* WINDS...Northwest 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 45 mph.

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...As low as 10 percent.

* IMPACTS...Conditions will be favorable for rapid fire spread. 
  Avoid outdoor burning and any activity that may produce a 
  spark and start a wildfire.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions
are either occurring now....or will shortly. A combination of
strong winds...low relative humidity...and warm temperatures can
contribute to extreme fire behavior.

&&

$$

COZ238>245-248>251-032100-
/O.EXB.KBOU.FW.W.0031.260403T1400Z-260404T0100Z/
Larimer County Below 6000 Feet/Northwest Weld County-
Boulder And Jefferson Counties Below 6000 Feet/West Broomfield
County-
North Douglas County Below 6000 Feet/Denver/West Adams and
Arapahoe Counties/East Broomfield County-
Elbert/Central and East Douglas Counties Above 6000 Feet-
Northeast Weld County-Central and South Weld County-Morgan County-
Central and East Adams and Arapahoe Counties-Logan County-
Washington County-Sedgwick County-Phillips County-
744 PM MDT Thu Apr 2 2026

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 8 AM TO 7 PM MDT FRIDAY FOR
WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR THE I-25 CORRIDOR AND ALL OF
NORTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL COLORADO...

The National Weather Service in Denver has issued a Red Flag
Warning for wind and low relative humidity, which is in effect
from 8 AM to 7 PM MDT Friday.

* AFFECTED AREA...Fire Weather Zones 238, 239, 240, 241, 242, 
  243, 244, 245, 248, 249, 250 and 251.

* TIMING...From 8 AM to 7 PM MDT Friday.

* WINDS...Northwest 20 to 35 mph, with gusts around 45 mph. Gusts
  as high as 60 mph near the foothills of Boulder and Larimer 
  Counties. 

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...As low as 16 percent.

* IMPACTS...Conditions will be favorable for rapid fire spread. 
  Avoid outdoor burning and any activity that may produce a 
  spark and start a wildfire.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions
are either occurring now....or will shortly. A combination of
strong winds...low relative humidity...and warm temperatures can
contribute to extreme fire behavior.

&&

$$

COZ246-032100-
/O.EXT.KBOU.FW.W.0031.260403T1400Z-260404T0100Z/
North and Northeast Elbert County Below 6000 Feet/North Lincoln
County-
744 PM MDT Thu Apr 2 2026

...RED FLAG WARNING NOW IN EFFECT FROM 8 AM TO 7 PM MDT FRIDAY
FOR WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR ALL OF NORTHEAST AND EAST
CENTRAL COLORADO, INCLUDING EASTERN ELBERT AND NORTHERN LINCOLN 
COUNTIES...

* AFFECTED AREA...Fire Weather Zone 246.

* TIMING...From 8 AM to 7 PM MDT Friday.

* WINDS...Northwest 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 45 mph.

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...As low as 13 percent.

* IMPACTS...Conditions will be favorable for rapid fire spread. 
  Avoid outdoor burning and any activity that may produce a 
  spark and start a wildfire.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions
are either occurring now....or will shortly. A combination of
strong winds...low relative humidity...and warm temperatures can
contribute to extreme fire behavior.

&&

$$

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO
1156 PM MDT Wed Apr 1 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Areas of fog northern Denver suburbs to portions of the
  northeast plains early this morning.

- Quick but brief warm up today, with breezy southwest winds and
  locally critical fire weather conditions developing in the
  afternoon.

- Turning blustery and colder tonight through Friday. Another
  round of snow in the mountains, this one with more impacts due
  to colder temperatures. Plains still look mostly dry with only
  isolated light showers possible.

- Dry with a gradual warming trend this weekend through early next
  week.

&&

.DISCUSSION /Through Wednesday/...
Issued at 1155 PM MDT Wed Apr 1 2026

One system is moving out with showers ending and clearing skies
across the plains. The exception is some fog developing over the
northern sections of Denver which should spread/migrate slowly
northward into the early morning hours Thursday as light southerly
drainage winds spread down the South Platte River Valley. That fog
will burn off by mid morning, allowing more sunshine and warming
temperatures. Highs will quickly rebound from the cooler readings
of the last couple days as sunshine, downslope, and warm
advection under a flat ridge all join forces. It will become
breezy in most areas, but likely not until afternoon, and
potentially not until very late afternoon or early evening in a
few spots north of Denver which will hold inversions the longest.
Highs should still be able to reach the lower 70s over most of the
plains. See Fire Weather Section for more info regarding winds
and humidity and locally critical fire weather conditions.

For tonight and Friday, the next upper level disturbance will
move into the region. This is a more compact and colder upper low
than the last, but the track will be too far north (through
Wyoming) to bring us much chance of precipitation east of the
mountains as significant downslope develops. The mountain areas,
however, will see a quick blast of healthy snow starting this
evening but diminishing about as fast overnight as more stable air
arrives along with drying aloft. Thus, snow totals will be
marginal for any highlights, but we do expect some travel impacts
as temperatures will be considerably colder with this storm
system. Some impacts may linger into Friday as models suggest a
bit of wrap around moisture impacting the mountains mainly north
of I-70, but additional accumulations should be light as moisture
looks relatively limited. A strong cold front will blast across
the plains this evening with a period of gusty winds and colder
temperatures. It's not impossible we see a brief light shower
behind the front given the jet location and frontogenesis, but
overall moisture looks meager and downslope dominates. By Friday,
the flow turns more west/northwest and strong subsidence develops
as shown in quite impressive QG fields. 700 mb winds increase to
35-40 kts and given the subsidence we will see healthy mixing and
momentum transfer. Thus, most plains locations including the I-25
Corridor should see 40-45 mph wind gusts through the day. However,
with the impressive subsidence would not be surprised to see
stronger gusts especially in the wind prone areas near the
foothills and near the Wyoming border where gusts to 55 mph seem
reasonable - close to High Wind Criteria. We'll continue to
monitor with later updates.

After that system, our weather settles down as the flow aloft
gradually relaxes. With flat ridging, we expect gradual warming
through early next week. There is good ensemble agreement with
temperatures through Sunday, and then some uncertainty Monday -
Wednesday with potential for backdoor cold fronts sloshing across
the plains. That said, the overall trend will be for warmer and
mostly dry weather. We're eyeing another potential storm system
for late next week...we'll need to keep em coming to aid our
current drought situation.

&&

.AVIATION /06Z TAFS through 06Z Friday/...
Issued at 1142 PM MDT Wed Apr 1 2026

Rain showers have moved off to the east and clouds are quickly
dissipating with skies becoming mostly clear. These clear skies
combined with light winds and recent rainfall will lead to fog. At
DEN, fog has quickly formed over the past hour with visibility
falling under a mile. Expect fog to set in through most of the
overnight hours at DEN and BJC with visibility falling to a
quarter mile or less. APA should see enough south wind to keep fog
from forming, but BR with a slight visibility restriction will be
possible. Southerly winds creep up from the south and will
provide enough drier air to scour the fog out at DEN, mostly
likely between 12-14Z.

Once the fog dissipates, VFR to prevail Thursday under mostly
clear skies. Southwest winds will continue through this afternoon.
Winds increase after 20Z with gusts to around 35 knots. Southwest
winds then decrease after 00-01Z, but a cold front will bring a
wind shift to the north to northwest and increase winds 03-05Z.

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...
Issued at 1155 PM MDT Wed Apr 1 2026

Thursday will see critical wind gusts to 30-35 mph and humidity
down to near 15% over the Palmer Divide area into east central
Colorado. However, we did have about a tenth of an inch of rain
from Elbert County through northern Lincoln County so that should
help today's fire concerns a little. Thus, we've opted to upgrade
only southern Lincoln County where little if any precipitation
occurred.

For Friday, strong and gusty west-northwest winds can be expected.
Humidity readings will be reaching near critical thresholds
despite the cooler temperatures. We may issue Fire Weather Watches
as humidity values drop to 15-20% (above criteria), but winds
will be stronger and gust to 40-45 mph in many locations of the
plains and I-25 Corridor.

&&

.BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
Red Flag Warning from noon to 8 PM MDT Thursday for COZ247.

&&

DISCUSSION...20
AVIATION...12
FIRE WEATHER...20

Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO
407 AM MDT Wed Apr 1 2026

COZ030>051-021015-
Jackson County Below 9000 Feet-
West Jackson and West Grand Counties Above 9000 Feet-
Grand and Summit Counties Below 9000 Feet-
South and East Jackson/Larimer/North and Northeast Grand/
Northwest Boulder Counties Above 9000 Feet-
South and Southeast Grand/West Central and Southwest Boulder/
Gilpin/Clear Creek/Summit/North and West Park Counties Above
9000 Feet-Larimer and Boulder Counties Between 6000 and 9000 Feet-
Jefferson and West Douglas Counties Above 6000 Feet/Gilpin/Clear
Creek/Northeast Park Counties Below 9000 Feet-
Central and Southeast Park County-
Larimer County Below 6000 Feet/Northwest Weld County-
Boulder And Jefferson Counties Below 6000 Feet/West Broomfield
County-
North Douglas County Below 6000 Feet/Denver/West Adams and
Arapahoe Counties/East Broomfield County-
Elbert/Central and East Douglas Counties Above 6000 Feet-
Northeast Weld County-Central and South Weld County-Morgan County-
Central and East Adams and Arapahoe Counties-
North and Northeast Elbert County Below 6000 Feet/North Lincoln
County-
Southeast Elbert County Below 6000 Feet/South Lincoln County-
Logan County-Washington County-Sedgwick County-Phillips County-
407 AM MDT Wed Apr 1 2026

This hazardous weather outlook is for northeast and north central
Colorado.

.DAY ONE...Today and Tonight

Mountain snow will continue through this evening with rain and a
rain/snow mix for the mountain valleys. Across the foothills and
plains, numerous rain showers and isolated thunderstorms are
expected. Roads will become slippery in the mountains, especially
over the mountain passes. 

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday

After a brief break in the snow on Thursday in the mountains, snow
returns during the afternoon as the next storm moves into the
Central Rockies. Snow continues overnight Thursday and tapers off
during the day Friday. Over the plains, mild southwest flow aloft
ahead of the storm system will bring mild and breezy conditions,
leading to elevated to locally critical fire weather conditions.
On Friday, windy conditions are expected across the plains behind
a dry cold front. This will again bring elevated fire weather
conditions. 

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation will not be needed today or tonight. |