Dry break continues Thursday before rain returns Friday

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) - Wednesday brought us an overall break from the rainy weather that started our week. The break will last into Thursday before scattered showers and storms increase again going into the weekend.

Our Next 24 Hours

This evening will be mostly sunny. The valleys will be dry, but a couple of showers or thunderstorms are possible over the mountains. We’ll cool from near 90 degrees around 6 PM to mid-80s by 8 PM, then into the 70s by 10 PM. The rest of tonight will be mostly clear. Low temperatures will be near 65 degrees around Grand Junction and 57 degrees around Montrose. Thursday will be mostly sunny with a small chance for a stray shower or thunderstorm over the mountains. We’ll be unseasonably warm with high temperatures near 94 degrees around Grand Junction and 89 degrees around Montrose.

Rain Returns Friday

Showers and thunderstorms will increase again on Friday. The increase in rain will help us mellow the warmth. High temperatures on Friday will be in the low-to-mid 80s. Rain can fall heavily at times, and localized flash flooding is possible. A couple of storms can bring abundant lightning and gusty winds. The storms will begin over the higher elevations and then blow downstream to the valleys in the afternoon and evening.

Weekend Preview

Saturday and Sunday could be a repeat performance. Scattered showers and thunderstorms are possible both days. The scattered nature of the storms means that we won’t all get rain. Showers and storms will likely be fewer on Sunday than on Saturday, so if you’re looking for a drier half of the weekend, Sunday is your best bet. Mornings will generally be dry, too, off of the mountains.

Drying Next Week

Forecast data shows mixed signals for Monday. The weather setup is still marginally favorable for spotty to scattered showers and thunderstorms. It may be that most of the activity is over the mountains. It also may be that Monday trends drier with time. For now, we’re holding the rain chance down to just 20%. We’ll make adjustments to that forecast as we have more data to work with over time and confidence increases one way or the other. There are stronger signals that the mid-to-upper level wind flow will shift and blow from the north on Tuesday and Wednesday, effectively shutting down the monsoon next week. That could mean a return to above-normal temperatures.

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