Warm, windy conditions bring a high fire danger to Colorado on Thursday

It was an unseasonably warm October. In fact, we’ve only seen two days of below-normal temperatures, and warm weather returns across Colorado next weekend.

A weak cold front will move into the state Thursday morning and significantly increase winds. These strong winds will bring a high fire risk across much of the metropolitan area and plains. The foothills in Boulder, Golden and Arvada could experience gusts up to 50 mph. Watch for gusts of 30 to 40 mph near downtown Denver. With warm temperatures, dry conditions and gusty winds, we will be mindful of the potential for fires to spread quickly.

Temperatures will rise to the low to mid 70s on Thursday under mostly sunny skies. These afternoon high temperatures will be about 10 to 15 degrees above normal for late October.

Although it is a dry front, it will help cool temperatures Friday to the mid to upper 60s, still above normal for this time of year.

The October heat and sunshine are making a comeback across the country this weekend! Highs will climb into the upper 70s on Saturday and into the lower 80s on Sunday. Denver will be close to the record high temperature of 83 degrees, last reached in 2016.

It will be the heat before the next storm as high temperatures climb into the lower 80s again Monday afternoon. The current record temperature is 82 degrees, the last time was in 2016, so it could be a record temperature!

So far it looks like the weather situation will finally change a bit next week! A storm will hit the highlands from Tuesday to Wednesday, bringing rain and snow. Look for scattered showers around the Front Range Tuesday afternoon and evening. If lows drop enough overnight, it looks like this storm could bring Denver its first frost and snow of the season early Wednesday morning. Stay tuned as we will have more details as the system gets closer to Colorado.

Watch the full forecast in the video player below:

Warm, windy conditions bring a high fire danger to Colorado on Thursday

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