DENVER – Denver’s weather forecast for the remainder of the July 4th holiday weekend shows an increasing chance of a few severe storms as temps soar to above normal conditions.
“Today, we're under a marginal risk (level 1 of 5),” said Denver7 chief meteorologist Lisa Hidalgo. “One of the bigger issues with today's cells will likely be some gustier winds and lightning out across the Eastern Plains. We could also see some larger hail, but there’s a better chance tomorrow of seeing that.”
As of Saturday at 11 a.m., the National Weather Service (NWS) in Boulder had not issued any severe weather watches.
You can always check the latest Colorado severe weather alerts at this link on Denver7.com.
“Isolated/scattered thunderstorms to form early this afternoon along the foothills and I-25 corridor and then spread east across the plains,” said NWS forecasters. “Storms will be the strongest and most numerous over the Eastern Plains where better moisture and instability will reside.”
The Denver7 will publish a weather blog later Saturday afternoon if severe storm warnings start to fire.
Here’s how Hidalgo expects Saturday's storms in Colorado to unfold.
“By about 12 o'clock, we're going to get into the mid-to-upper 80s, still under plenty of sunshine. By that point, it’ll be dry through early afternoon – with a few thunderstorms starting to pop up between about 2 and 3 o'clock,” said Hidalgo. “It’ll be pretty widespread, but those storms will roll east and there's a chance you're going to get some rain, lightning, thunder, and some gustier winds, especially over the northeastern corner of the state.”
If you’re planning on watching the fireworks show at the Rockies game tonight, Hidalgo added the storms should be east of Denver by that point.
“Things should get going right around 10 o'clock. We'll see some mid-70s by that point and it’ll be pretty comfortable with some clearing skies for that show here tonight,” said Hidalgo.
Skies clear overnight before Sunday’s weather forecast for Denver shows a better chance at a severe thunderstorm with isolated tornadoes along the eastern plains.
“And the risk of severe weather is going to go up a bit Sunday as we go from a marginal to a slight risk (level 2 of 5) and it's going to be over those Eastern Plains where we could see some of the larger hail and potentially even some isolated tornadoes. Denver7 will be tracking that on Sunday afternoon.”
DENVER WEATHER LINKS: Hourly forecast | Radars | Traffic | Weather Page | 24/7 Weather Stream
Click here to watch the Denver7 live weather stream.