It’s going to be a hot and rainy weekend throughout Southwest Colorado, but the monsoons aren’t here yet.
According to Jim Pringle, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Junction, there will residual moisture hanging around the Four Corners on Saturday and Sunday.
“In a nut shell, there will be high temperatures with a chance of late afternoon showers and thunderstorms,” Pringle said. “We are going with a 30 to 40 percent chance of rain for both days.”
Highs on Saturday and Sunday are expected to remain in the upper 80s, with storms rolling into town in the evening.
“This is pretty typical for this time of the year, so plan your activities for the morning hours and be prepared to go indoors as the afternoon approaches,” Pringle said.
The monsoons aren’t expected to start until later next week, meteorologist Julie Malingowski said.
“We got a pre-monsoonal surge of moisture over the last week, but we are anticipating drier air to move in over the next few days,” Malingowski said. “We will still see afternoon storms, but they won’t be as efficient of rain makers.”
Monsoons are characterized by a high-pressure system sitting east of the Rockies, over Texas and Oklahoma, Malingowski said. A shift in wind patterns funnels moisture from the Gulf of California and the Pacific Ocean to the Southwest, streaming moisture clockwise around that high pressure, sparking storms.
Weekend evening temperatures will likely be in the mid- to upper 50s, Pringle said.
mrupani@durangoherald.com
