National Weather Service Forecast Discussion

Thornton Weather Forecast   
Today's Forecast Story   
918
FXUS65 KBOU 301141
AFDBOU

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO
441 AM MST Tue Dec 30 2025

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Warming trend through Wednesday with dry and mostly sunny
  conditions.

- Light snow expected for the mountains Thursday afternoon through
  Friday, favoring the Park Range.

- The lower elevations will remain warm and dry through the
  weekend.

&&

.UPDATE...
Issued at 240 AM MST Tue Dec 30 2025

Weak northwesterly flow aloft will be in place over the CWA today
and tonight with an upper ridge to the immediate southwest and west
of Colorado. The cooler air has moved off to east with high
temperatures expected to warm to a bit above seasonal normals
today. Little to no cloudiness is expected today. Will make minor
grid changes to temperatures only.

&&

.DISCUSSION /Through Monday/...
Issued at 108 PM MST Mon Dec 29 2025

A cool airmass remains firmly in place today, easily giving us
our coldest day of the upcoming week, with much of the lower
elevations surrounding the Denver metro and South Platte River
Valley still in the 30`s as they sit below a lingering inversion.

That cold air will begin to scour out notably on Tuesday as high
pressure over the western CONUS encroaches on Colorado, including
in our mountains. The high valleys, although not quite as cold as
this morning when they saw temperatures dip into the -10 to -20F
range, will remain cold tonight with the coldest locations
dropping below zero. Meanwhile the lower elevations should climb
into the low to mid 50`s, with abundant sun throughout the region.

Temperatures will continue to warm into Wednesday as high pressure
expands eastward. Expect continued dry conditions will only a
modest increase in cloud cover. Dry and much warmer than normal
conditions will extend all the way through this weekend for our
plains and urban corridor, with very minor day-to-day temperature
fluctuations.

Conversely, the mountains will have a more distinct change come
Thursday afternoon into Friday, when a transition to westerly flow
aloft and the emergence of a weak shortwave most prominent at the
700b level will boost moisture and bring some light snowfall.
Beyond the increased moisture and modest orographic flow, there
will be little in the way of synoptic support to enhance snowfall,
so accumulations and travel impacts should be relatively minor.
The Park Range will again be favored in this pattern, with
approximately a 75% chance of exceeding 4" of snow. Those
probabilities drop to less than 10% for the I-70 corridor.
Forecast confidence for the high country in particular decreases
considerably for the weekend and beyond with many mixed signals in
ensemble guidance.

&&

.AVIATION /12Z TAFS through 12Z Wednesday/...
Issued at 439 AM MST Tue Dec 30 2025

Models continue to show weak, normal diurnal wind patterns at DIA
today and tonight. There will be no ceiling issues.

&&

.BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
None.

&&

$$

UPDATE...66
DISCUSSION...BRQ
AVIATION...66

NWS BOU Office Area Forecast Discussion