Weather alerts for the NWS Denver CO forecast area

000
FXUS65 KBOU 281114
AFDBOU

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO
514 AM MDT Wed Oct 28 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Another night of fog with visibility below 1/4 mile in the South
  Platte River Valley and the far eastern plains of Colorado. 

- Mild and mostly dry through the work week.

- Unsettled weather potentially returning late in the weekend and
  early next week. There are many scenarios for how the weather
  will turn out but snow in the mountains is the most likely
  impact from this system. One possibility results in the lower
  elevations seeing their first snowfall of the season.  

&&

.DISCUSSION /Through Tuesday/...
Issued at 124 PM MDT Tue Oct 27 2026

Current observations show areas of fog over parts of the northeast 
CO plains. A Dense Fog Advisory is currently in effect for Sedgwick 
and Phillips counties, where visibilities have dropped below 1/2 
mile. The Dense Fog Advisory may have to be extended later tonight 
as the fog continues to expand west, with patchy fog reaching as far 
west as Greeley. Subsidence and a patch of mid level clouds should 
limit fog potential over the Denver metro. We expect fog to diminish 
by mid morning due to daytime heating, with the South Platte River 
valley likely clearing last.

Cross-barrier (west-southwest) flow will make Wednesday quite a 
breezy day, particularly early in the day as mountain wave and 
downsloping enhancement occurs. Wind gusts up to 35 mph will be 
possible at the high elevations, with gusts up 55 mph possible above 
12,000 ft MSL. Temperatures will run above average for the plains 
and Denver metro, with highs reaching the upper 60s and low 70s. If 
an opaque mountain wave cloud is able to persist into the afternoon, 
as was seen on Monday, temperatures could stay a couple of degrees 
cooler for areas directly under the cloud cover. Flow aloft weakens 
and turns southwesterly on Thursday. Winds should remain light due 
to the weakening pressure gradient, and this should be a sunny fall 
day with temperatures only slightly above normal for the time of 
year.

Moisture from the remnants of Tropical Storm Vance will be advected 
north into our region on Friday. However, the bulk of the moisture 
should remain well to our south and east, mainly over the Texas 
Panhandle and central Plains. We have kept some 15-30% PoPs over the 
easternmost counties of our CWA, where some light rain seems 
reasonable late Friday evening. For the rest of our area, an 
increase in high clouds may be all that transpires as a result of 
this first plume of moisture.

Moisture remains elevated on Saturday, with precipitable water (PW) 
values generally between the 75th and 90th percentile of climatology 
over much of the state. A shortwave trough should bring enough QG 
ascent for a few sprinkles (15-25% chance) over the eastern CO 
plains, and rain/snow showers over the mountains (30-50% chance) in 
the afternoon.

The synoptic pattern becomes more complex on Sunday as an upper 
level trough and a subtropical jet approach the Four Corners. The 
subtropical jet is set to channel impressive Pacific moisture to 
parts of Arizona and New Mexico, akin to an atmospheric river. At 
this time, the bulk of the moisture plume appears to stay well to 
our south once again. Southwest flow aloft may still bring 
anomalous moisture to north-central CO, although this regime would
primarily favor downsloping, which is not ideal for meaningful 
precipitation over the mountains of our CWA or the Denver area. 
Nevertheless, cloud cover and at least some light rain seems 
increasingly likely for Sunday, with light snow above 10,000 ft 
MSL. 

A strong cold front is set to bring below average temperatures on
Monday, with model guidance suggesting quite a bit of spread in 
solutions. With lingering moisture over the area, some mountain 
snow accumulations are becoming increasingly likely during the day
on Monday. While a few deterministic and ensemble members do 
hint at least some dustings or light snow accumulations over the 
Palmer Divide and parts of the Denver metro, ensemble means 
suggest temperatures that would not be supportive of snow 
(40s-50s). This will be a system to watch as snow levels are
likely to reach the foothills. 

&&

.AVIATION /12Z TAFS through 12Z Thursday/...
Issued at 512 AM MDT Wed Oct 28 2026

VFR conditions will prevail for all terminals through the TAF
period. Current SW drainage flow at KDEN/KAPA is light, and
forecast to remain so (< 8 kts) through 15-16Z, before winds
lighten further and become VRB. Expect modest E flow to become
established early afternoon, and turn to drainage at KDEN/KAPA
mid-evening.

&&

.BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
Dense Fog Advisory until 10 AM MDT this morning for COZ048-050-
051.

&&

$$

DISCUSSION...AA
AVIATION...BRQ