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914 FXUS65 KBOU 180601 AFDBOU Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO 1201 AM MDT Sat Apr 18 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Hard freeze expected across the plains tonight and into Saturday morning. - Elevated to critical fire weather conditions for the northern and northeastern plains Saturday afternoon. - Dry and warmer weather returns for early next week. && .DISCUSSION /Through Friday/... Issued at 1134 PM MDT Fri Apr 17 2026 Skies have cleared over most of the area and winds are generally 10mph or less, allowing temperatures to decrease to well below freezing tonight. Temperatures Saturday morning are forecast to drop into the upper teens to mid 20s across the plains, with temperatures in the single digits and low teens in the mountains. Temperatures are expected to warm above freezing around 8AM to 9AM across the plains, increasing into the upper 40s to upper 50s by the mid afternoon. The Fire Weather potential for Saturday is a bit uncertain. Models have strong low to mid level winds on the backside of the trough as it moves east. The strongest winds look to stay to our east, but 40mph 700mb winds are forecast to clip our northeastern counties in the morning to early afternoon, before they move east with the trough. The surface inversion should limit mixing in the early morning, but as temperatures warm we could start to see some of those higher wind speeds mix towards the surface before they move out of the area. With minimum RHs below 15% for much of the plains, we could see at least a few hours of critical fire weather conditions across the NE plains, where the stronger winds are expected. A Red Flag Warning will be in effect for this area from 1PM to 7PM Saturday. Temperatures will continue to warm into the middle of next week as an upper level ridge builds over the area. Highs are forecast to warm back above normal, with temps reaching into the 70s across the plains on Sunday and into the 80s for Tuesday and Wednesday. With the warm and dry conditions, we will have to keep and eye on fire weather conditions each afternoon during this time period. On Wednesday, the upper level low which is forecast to sit off the west coast of the U.S. for much of the forecast leading up to this point, will start to progress eastward. The exact path of the trough is still uncertain, but there is potential for it to impact our area Thursday. Right now, chances are low (051. Red Flag Warning from 1 PM to 7 PM MDT Saturday for COZ242-244- 248>251. && $$ DISCUSSION...AP AVIATION...AP