Hot with bursts of wind, afternoon thunderstorms, rain

The mostly sunny, hot weather baking metro Denver and other cities along Colorado’s Front Range will continue Tuesday until possible late afternoon thunderstorms bring rain and bursts of wind, according to the National Weather Service.

Cloudier conditions will help contain heat ahead of storms over the next two days, weather service meteorologists said. The afternoon storms Tuesday, mostly after 5 p.m., may produce wind gusts at speeds up to 40 miles per hour, meteorologists said, estimating the likelihood of rain at 30%.

The high temperature will be 95 degrees in Denver on Tuesday, decreasing to 62 degrees at night, forecasters said. On Wednesday, the high temperature is expected to be 89 degrees, decreasing to 82 degrees later in the week.

On Wednesday and Thursday, thunderstorms will increase, forecasters said. Severe storms, dropping heavy rain and hail, are expected in areas along the Interstate 25 corridor and on the high plains of eastern Colorado.

In the mountains, temperatures were expected to stay below 90 degrees.

Increasing clouds will help temperatures to be a couple degrees cooler today. Scattered showers and thunderstorms will develop this afternoon. Some of the showers will produce brief gusty winds up to 40 mph. Thunderstorm activity will increase over the next two days. #cowx pic.twitter.com/Dq6CKONunr

— NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder) July 18, 2023

But the temperatures in southern Colorado and the southeastern plains on Tuesday were expected to be hotter. Weather service forecasters anticipated a near-record high of 103 degrees in Pueblo, approaching the record of 105 degrees set last year.