Better rain chances bring potential flooding issues to the region

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KJCT) - After a dry and warm weekend and start to the new work week, here comes the rain once again to the Western Slope. We’ve already seen a few showers right along the Utah and Colorado state line through the early portions of the morning, and that’s where much of the better rain chances should stay through the rest of the morning and into the early portions of the afternoon. Rain will continue to increase in coverage and intensity through the afternoon, and some rain could continue to fall through the evening and overnight hours as well. The clouds and rain will keep temperatures in the 70s for the most part, but some places could reach the upper 70s and perhaps even the lower 80s before rain turns us cooler later this afternoon. A Flood Watch is in effect from noon Tuesday to midnight Thursday night and into Friday morning for all areas along and south of Interstate 70 across the Western Slope. Some rain will continue overnight tonight, otherwise we’ll see cloudy to mostly cloudy skies with lows in the upper 50s.

We may get a little bit of a break from the rain early Wednesday morning, but rain returns in a big way through the rest of the day. Showers and a few thunderstorms will once again be widespread across a good portion of the Western Slope by Wednesday afternoon, and quite a bit of that rain could be heavy at times. In addition to the rain, cloudy skies will likely keep temperatures from leaving the upper 60s for many of us. Heavy rain will continue in several locations overnight Wednesday night and into early Thursday morning as well with lows in the middle 50s.

Thursday will be a bit drier for many of us, but we’ll still see scattered showers and a couple of thunderstorms through the day. The best rain chances will be in the southwestern corner of the region in places like Cortez and Durango. A few scattered showers and storms could continue into Thursday evening, then we should be drying out just about everywhere through the day on Friday. Multiple locations around the region will see rainfall totals between half an inch to and inch and a half, but some rainfall totals in excess of two inches are possible in the southern portions of the region, including Cortez and Durango.

Drier air brings sunny skies back into the Western Slope into the weekend, ushering much nicer weather into the region. Temperatures will be right around seasonal norms each afternoon, with highs in the middle and upper 70s and some lower 80s into the start of the new work week.

Meteorologist Zack Webster

Copyright 2022 KJCT. All rights reserved.