DENVER — Skies will be clear tonight with lows in the upper 50s to low 60s across the plains and upper 30s to mid-40s in the mountains.
Hot and dry weather will hold over Colorado on Thursday with highs in the middle 90s in Denver and near 100 degrees in southeastern Colorado. Gusty southwest winds and low humidity will increase fire danger, especially over western Colorado - a Fire Weather Warning will be in effect for the western quarter of the state.
Highs in Denver on Thursday will soar to the mid-to upper 90s, well above the average of 72 degrees and just shy of the record of 99 degrees - set on June 10th in 2013.
In the mountains, highs will be in the middle 70s to middle 80s with nighttime lows in the upper 30s to mid 40s.
Only isolated late-day thunderstorms will be possible, mainly over the far northeastern plains.
A thunderstorm Monday afternoon dropped a tornado north of Firestone that moved toward Platteville. The tornado was on the ground from just after 5 p.m. until around 5:45 p.m. The National Weather Service determined maximum winds at just under 100 mph from that tornado, making it an EF-1 on the Enhanced-Fujita Scale.
PHOTOS | Viewer images of the Weld County tornado
Temperatures will drop a little across Colorado Friday, as a weak cold front moves through the state. Denver and the eastern plains will cool by 10-15 degrees on Friday. This front will bring little, if any rain.
Warmer weather will quickly return over the weekend into early next week, with only a slight chance for thunderstorms Sunday and Monday.
It is a good thing our spring has been so wet over the eastern half of the state — drought conditions have pretty much ended for now. Western Colorado has not been as lucky and remains very dry.
At Denver International Airport, the total precipitation since Jan. 1 is over 10 inches — more than an inch above what we saw in all of 2020 — and that's about 5 inches above normal for the year to date.
The latest index shows drought-free conditions from Denver to Cheyenne and across northeast Colorado. Southeastern Colorado has also improved with nearly drought-free conditions around Pueblo. Western and central Colorado still need a lot of moisture to break free of the drought.
Click here to watch the Denver7 live weather stream.