Red Flag Warning 35, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

962 
WWUS85 KBOU 160533
RFWBOU

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO
1133 PM MDT Wed Apr 15 2026

COZ245-249-162200-
/O.UPG.KBOU.FW.A.0026.260416T1700Z-260417T0300Z/
/O.EXA.KBOU.FW.W.0035.260416T1700Z-260417T0300Z/
Central and East Adams and Arapahoe Counties-Washington County-
1133 PM MDT Wed Apr 15 2026

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM TO 9 PM MDT THURSDAY FOR
WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR SOUTH PARK, THE SOUTHERN FRONT
RANGE FOOTHILLS, PALMER DIVIDE, AND ADJACENT PLAINS SOUTH OF
I-76...

The National Weather Service in Denver has issued a Red Flag
Warning for wind and low relative humidity, which is in effect
from 11 AM to 9 PM MDT Thursday. The Fire Weather Watch is no
longer in effect.

* AFFECTED AREA...Fire Weather Zones 245 and 249.

* TIMING...From 11 AM to 9 PM MDT Thursday.

* WINDS...South to southwest winds increasing to 15 to 20 mph 
  with gusts up to 30 mph.

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...As low as 8 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.

&&

$$

COZ214-216-241-246-247-162200-
/O.CON.KBOU.FW.W.0035.260416T1700Z-260417T0300Z/
Central and Southeast Park County-
Jefferson and West Douglas Counties Above 6000 Feet/Gilpin/Clear
Creek/Northeast Park Counties Below 9000 Feet-
Elbert/Central and East Douglas Counties Above 6000 Feet-
North and Northeast Elbert County Below 6000 Feet/North Lincoln
County-
Southeast Elbert County Below 6000 Feet/South Lincoln County-
1133 PM MDT Wed Apr 15 2026

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM TO 9 PM MDT THURSDAY FOR
WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR SOUTH PARK, THE SOUTHERN FRONT
RANGE FOOTHILLS, PALMER DIVIDE, AND ADJACENT PLAINS SOUTH OF
I-76...

* AFFECTED AREA...Fire Weather Zones 214, 216, 241, 246 and 247.

* TIMING...From 11 AM to 9 PM MDT Thursday.

* WINDS...Southwest 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 35 mph.

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...As low as 8 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.

&&

$$

152 
WWUS85 KBOU 161833
RFWBOU

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO
1233 PM MDT Thu Apr 16 2026

COZ214-216-241-245>247-249-170300-
/O.CON.KBOU.FW.W.0035.000000T0000Z-260417T0300Z/
Central and Southeast Park County-
Jefferson and West Douglas Counties Above 6000 Feet/Gilpin/Clear
Creek/Northeast Park Counties Below 9000 Feet-
Elbert/Central and East Douglas Counties Above 6000 Feet-
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-
Washington County-
1233 PM MDT Thu Apr 16 2026

...RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM MDT THIS EVENING
FOR WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR SOUTH PARK, THE SOUTHERN
FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS, PALMER DIVIDE, AND ADJACENT PLAINS SOUTH
OF I-76...

* AFFECTED AREA...Fire Weather Zones 214, 216, 241, 245, 246, 
  247 and 249.

* TIMING...Until 9 PM MDT this evening.

* WINDS...Southwest 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 35 mph.

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...As low as 8 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.

&&

$$

255 
WWUS85 KBOU 170305
RFWBOU

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO
905 PM MDT Thu Apr 16 2026

COZ214-216-241-245>247-249-170415-
/O.EXP.KBOU.FW.W.0035.000000T0000Z-260417T0300Z/
Central and Southeast Park County-
Jefferson and West Douglas Counties Above 6000 Feet/Gilpin/Clear
Creek/Northeast Park Counties Below 9000 Feet-
Elbert/Central and East Douglas Counties Above 6000 Feet-
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-
Washington County-
905 PM MDT Thu Apr 16 2026

...RED FLAG WARNING HAS EXPIRED FOR WIND AND LOW RELATIVE
HUMIDITY FOR SOUTH PARK, THE SOUTHERN FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS, 
PALMER DIVIDE, AND ADJACENT PLAINS SOUTH OF I-76...

Winds have weakened and humidity continues to increase across the
area, therefore the Red Flag Warning was allowed to expire.

$$

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO
549 AM MDT Wed Apr 15 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Drier today with mild temperatures.

- Locally critical fire weather conditions over the plains
  Thursday afternoon.

- Next system moves in Friday with much colder temperatures and
  snow for most locations.

- Hard freeze likely Friday night and into Saturday morning with
  lows in the upper teens to mid 20s.

&&

.DISCUSSION /Through Tuesday/...
Issued at 1145 PM MDT Tue Apr 14 2026

Satellite and RAP analysis products show today's shortwave
continuing to push eastward, with only a few lingering showers
across the plains left on radar.

Wednesday should be warmer and drier across the forecast area as
weak zonal flow develops behind the departing trough. Mid-level
temperatures should warm several degC and forecast highs return to
the 60s across most of the plains. A little bit of moisture is
expected to linger across the high country leading to a bit more
cloud cover there, with mostly sunny skies across the plains.

Thursday will likely be the warmest day of the work week this
week, with southwesterly flow aloft increasing ahead of our next
(stronger) trough axis. Temperatures are expected to warm up into
the mid to upper 70s across most of the plains... and combined
with low relative humidity values... another day of widespread
elevated to critical fire weather conditions will be possible. See
the Fire Wx section below for additional details.

The focus of the forecast period continues to be Thursday night
through Friday night, as a strong trough axis swings across the
region. Tonight's guidance hasn't changed significantly with the
synoptic scale details of this event, with the trough axis
quickly pushing across the state during the day Friday. A rather
strong cold front looks like it will push into the plains late
Thursday night or sometime Friday morning, with 700mb temperatures
dropping to as cold as -8 to -11C by Friday afternoon. While the
trough is rather quick to move across the region, there would
still be a narrow period (<12 hours) of favorable upslope and QG
ascent to work with during the day Friday. Unsurprisingly,
ensemble guidance strongly favors a modest (around 0.15-0.4") QPF
forecast which would lead to generally light snow amounts across
most of the Front Range and I-25 corridor. We'll continue to watch
trends closely here as we get into the range of the HRRR/RRFS and
other CAMs. A cold overnight is likely on Friday night with a hard
freeze expected across most of the lower elevations.

We may be slow to warm on Saturday, but there's good agreement in
a broad ridge developing across the western CONUS by later in the
weekend or early next week. Highs should climb to above normal
values by Sunday and continue through early/mid-week next week.

&&

.AVIATION /12Z TAFS through 12Z Thursday/...
Issued at 549 AM MDT Wed Apr 15 2026

VFR will persist through the TAF period, with only FEW-SCT clouds
10,000 feet AGL or higher. Winds are starting this valid period
more westerly than normal, and overall see little change in those
winds through about 17-18Z. Weak inversion is in place so
sunshine wshould help bring a little more mixing and thus W-NW
component 18Z-01Z, before transitioning back to normal S-SW winds
by 03Z-05Z Thursday. KBJC will likely see stronger winds with
gusts to 30 kts possible this morning due to mountain wave
enhancement, but even there winds should settle in speeds this
afternoon as flow aloft weakens a bit. Overall, there is higher
than normal confidence with those wind trends, although can't
totally rule out (20% chance) of brief disruptions in the expected
wind progression.

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...
Issued at 1145 PM MDT Tue Apr 14 2026

Dry, southwesterly flow aloft is expected to develop on Thursday
ahead of Friday's storm system... leading to widespread elevated
to critical fire weather conditions across the forecast area. Good
agreement across Tuesday afternoon's guidance and from most of the
available 00z guidance tonight that we'll see humidity drop to
critical thresholds across most of the lower elevations, with some
models advertising single digit RH values Thursday afternoon. The
bigger question is how much wind will develop across the lower
elevations Thursday afternoon. The NBM appears to be far too
aggressive with gusts, and even after adjusting down our forecast
wind grids are about 5-10 mph stronger than some higher resolution
guidance. With mid-level (700mb) flow around 20-25kt, it seems
reasonable to expect at least a few hours of >25 mph gusts. Given
that the flow is predominantly SW/WSW, much of the I-25/I-76
corridors may be partially sheltered.

While many locations in the plains may see critical fire weather
conditions, GEFS Hot Dry Windy Index plumes suggest higher
confidence of approaching/exceeding the 90th percentile of the
HDWI across South Park into Lincoln county, with far more spread
along and north of I-70/I-76. For those reasons, we've opted for a
relatively small Fire Weather Watch from South Park into the
Palmer Divide and adjacent plains for Thursday, though it's
possible the day shift will need to make additional refinements
after evaluating the full suite of Wednesday's 12z guidance.

&&

.BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
Fire Weather Watch from Thursday morning through Thursday
evening for COZ214-216-241-245>247-249.

&&

DISCUSSION...Hiris
AVIATION...20
FIRE WEATHER...Hiris

Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO
325 AM MDT Wed Apr 15 2026

COZ030>051-160930-
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-
325 AM MDT Wed Apr 15 2026

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

.DAY ONE...Today and Tonight

Mild and dry weather can be expected today.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday

Critical fire weather conditions may develop again Thursday
afternoon as warmer, very dry, and breezy southwest winds develop.
The breeziest winds with gusts to 25-35 mph can be expected from
South Park and the southern Front Range Foothills eastward across
the Palmer Divide area.

A colder storm system will bring snow to most of the forecast
area by Friday. Slick road conditions and travel impacts can be
expected in most of the mountains, foothills, and even the Palmer
Divide Friday and Friday evening. Lighter snow accumulations will
be possible on the plains.

A warming trend and return to dry weather can be expected for the
weekend into early next week.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation will not be needed today or tonight.

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Denver CO
808 AM MDT Wed Apr 15 2026

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

0500 AM     Snow             1 SSW Copper Mountain   39.48N 106.16W
04/15/2026  M8.0 Inch        Summit             CO   Public

0600 AM     Snow             3 SW Breckenridge       39.47N 106.09W
04/15/2026  M4.0 Inch        Summit             CO   Public

0600 AM     Snow             4 SSE Keystone          39.56N 105.94W
04/15/2026  M4.0 Inch        Summit             CO   Public

0600 AM     Snow             2 SSE Loveland Pass     39.63N 105.87W
04/15/2026  M6.0 Inch        Summit             CO   Public

0516 AM     Snow             2 SSE Winter Park       39.87N 105.77W
04/15/2026  M10.0 Inch       Grand              CO   Public

0600 AM     Snow             1 W Elkdale             40.04N 105.89W
04/15/2026  M2.0 Inch        Grand              CO   Public

0500 AM     Snow             1 WNW Loveland Pass     39.67N 105.90W
04/15/2026  M9.0 Inch        Clear Creek        CO   Public

            Over 48-hr period.

0600 AM     Snow             2 SW Blue Valley        39.68N 105.52W
04/15/2026  M3.0 Inch        Clear Creek        CO   Public

0600 AM     Snow             1 SW Eldora             39.94N 105.59W
04/15/2026  M4.0 Inch        Boulder            CO   Public

&&

Preliminary Local Storm Report...Summary
National Weather Service Denver CO
809 AM MDT Wed Apr 15 2026

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

0500 AM     Snow             1 SSW Copper Mountain   39.48N 106.16W
04/15/2026  M8.0 Inch        Summit             CO   Public

0600 AM     Snow             2 SSE Loveland Pass     39.63N 105.87W
04/15/2026  M6.0 Inch        Summit             CO   Public

0600 AM     Snow             4 SSE Keystone          39.56N 105.94W
04/15/2026  M4.0 Inch        Summit             CO   Public

0600 AM     Snow             3 SW Breckenridge       39.47N 106.09W
04/15/2026  M4.0 Inch        Summit             CO   Public

0516 AM     Snow             2 SSE Winter Park       39.87N 105.77W
04/15/2026  M10.0 Inch       Grand              CO   Public

0600 AM     Snow             1 W Elkdale             40.04N 105.89W
04/15/2026  M2.0 Inch        Grand              CO   Public

0500 AM     Snow             1 WNW Loveland Pass     39.67N 105.90W
04/15/2026  M9.0 Inch        Clear Creek        CO   Public

            Over 48-hr period.

0600 AM     Snow             2 SW Blue Valley        39.68N 105.52W
04/15/2026  M3.0 Inch        Clear Creek        CO   Public

0600 AM     Snow             1 SW Eldora             39.94N 105.59W
04/15/2026  M4.0 Inch        Boulder            CO   Public

&&