Warming up before rain turns us cooler again

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KJCT) - Mostly sunny skies return to the Western Slope once again, and we’ll start warming over the next couple of days. The warm up is short-lived as our next rain chances moves in later this week.

Sunny Skies, Warmer Temperatures

The morning got off to a clear and cold start, though breezy conditions kept temperatures from getting as cold as we would have gotten otherwise. Those breezy conditions may help to warm us up this afternoon with sunny to mostly sunny skies through much of the day. Clouds will increase a little later this afternoon and into the evening, then some of those clouds continue to linger around tonight. Clouds will once again be on the increase on Wednesday, but we should still see enough breaks in the clouds during the day to see enough sunshine to make it our warmest day of the week with highs across much of the region at least reaching the middle and upper 50s.

Here Comes the Rain (and Snow) Again

Our next system moves into the Western Slope early Thursday morning, starting with a further increase in clouds through sunrise. Our morning drive on Thursday should be fine, then mountain snow and valley rain moves back in through the rest of the day. The rain and snow still seems to be pretty scattered, so we won’t see rain or snow all day, but there could be a couple of different quick rounds of rain and mountain snow through the day on Thursday. Some will even linger around into Thursday night and early Friday morning, then we’ll start drying out again on Friday while some spotty snow could continue in a couple of higher elevation locations.

The Warm Up Starts Over

We’ll turn drier and cooler on Friday with mostly cloudy to cloudy skies and highs back down into the middle and upper 40s to lower 50s. Mostly sunny skies quickly move back into the region by the weekend, and we’ll quickly start turning warmer again as well. By Sunday we’ll see plenty of sunshine, a few passing clouds, and high temperatures jumping right back up into the upper 50s and lower 60s.

Wet and Unsettled Next Week

Another system moves through the region on Monday and Tuesday. For now it looks like the rain and snow will start late Monday afternoon and into Monday evening, then continue through the opening half of the day on Tuesday. That one is still a week out, and will likely need forecast changes for timing as this week progresses. Keep checking back for additional updates, but enjoy that beautiful and warm weekend before then.

Next 24 Hours

Sunny skies continue through the early afternoon, then we’ll see a bit more of a transition to mostly sunny and partly cloudy skies. Highs should reach 49° in Grand Junction, 47° in Montrose, 50° in Delta, and 51° in Cortez. Mostly clear to partly cloudy skies continue into tonight with lows falling to 31° in Grand Junction, 27° in Montrose, 30° in Delta, and 28° in Cortez. Clouds will continue to increase on Wednesday, but we should still see enough sunshine to get highs up to 59° in Grand Junction, 58° in Montrose, 60° in Delta, and 61° in Cortez.

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