210 FXUS65 KBOU 121121 AFDBOUArea Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO 521 AM MDT Fri Sep 12 2025
.KEY MESSAGES...
- Scattered showers and thunderstorms expected through Saturday.
- Cooling temperatures through the weekend.
- Unsettled, uncertain pattern for most of next week.
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.DISCUSSION /Through Thursday/... Issued at 204 PM MDT Thu Sep 11 2025
Early afternoon convection has been a bit more widespread than originally thought across the I-25 corridor. Initial convective cells that initiated near the base of the foothills in a shallow upslope flow regime have drifted east over the last couple of hours, though radar indications are that these have become less organized and outflow dominant. We`ll likely continue to see brief pulses up along the surface convergence between the outflow and continued east/northeast flow, but widespread rain chances are still fairly low for any given point across the rest of the urban corridor. Further northeast, better moisture prevails (sfc Tds in the 50s) and SPC Mesoanalysis suggests anywhere from 1000-2000 J/kg of MLCAPE along with 30-40kt effective bulk shear. However, it`s still fairly capped there and guidance generally keeps things quiet out there. We could also see a strong storm or two over the higher elevations, but modest instability will limit the severe potential.
South-southwesterly flow aloft should continue into tomorrow as a trough axis slowly advances east towards Colorado by Friday morning. Guidance develops a pretty good plume of showers and embedded thunderstorms by Friday morning from southwest Colorado into our I-70 mountain corridor, which slowly pushes north/northeastward through the day. The expansive cloud cover, along with cooler mid-level temperatures from the approaching trough, should keep temperatures several degrees cooler than today (upper 70s to low 80s). We`ll see how much of that moisture can make it into the lower elevations... but the better chances for precipitation will be across the southwestern/western portions of the CWA.
The trough axis is expected to sharpen and become negatively tilted by Saturday night or Sunday morning as the primary shortwave ejects into Colorado. The increasing QG ascent and moisture should lead to better coverage of showers and storms across the lower elevations. While there are still some timing differences to resolve, the majority of deterministic/ensemble guidance favors Saturday afternoon into Saturday night for the Denver area, with chances for rain lingering across the northeast corner Sunday.
As we get into next week, models have trended towards a cooler/more unsettled pattern as a closed 500mb low drops from the Pacific Northwest towards Wyoming, placing our region in a cooler, more zonal flow across the forecast area. While there may be a brief warmup Monday or Tuesday, temperatures should continue to be near normal. After a drying trend Sunday through Tuesday... a gradual increase in moisture is anticipated by mid-week next week.
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.AVIATION /12Z TAFS through 12Z Saturday/... Issued at 514 AM MDT Fri Sep 12 2025
VFR conditions will prevail for all terminals through the TAF period. For this morning, S/SW flow will remain in place, with occasional gusts 15-20 kts mixing in at times from weak, high- based -SHRA. These will be isolated during the morning, and mainly confined to the S and SW of the Denver metro.
Wind direction will shift to the W/NE 17-19Z, with -SHRA/-TSRA potential increasing after 20Z. The most favorable window for -TSRA impacts and BKN-OVC CIGS ~060-070 will be 22Z-02Z, but showers may linger through the evening.
Gusty outflow winds in the vicinity of any convection will be the primary concern, with moderate to high confidence in peak gust potential near 35 kts. Expect a return to southerly drainage flow overnight.
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.BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None.
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DISCUSSION...Hiris AVIATION...Rodriguez
NWS BOU Office Area Forecast Discussion