796 
FXUS65 KBOU 152341
AFDBOU

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO
541 PM MDT Tue Sep 15 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Cooler weather today. Limited shower and storm chances, mostly 
  over the higher terrain. 

- Temperatures bounce back tomorrow, but then average near or 
  even slightly below seasonal normals through next weekend. 

- Unsettled pattern rest of this week. Thursday looks like the
  highest opportunity of measurable rain and a locally heavy 
  rainfall threat.

&&

.DISCUSSION /Through Tuesday/...
Issued at 256 PM MDT Tue Sep 15 2026

Temperatures across our entire CWA are currently in the 60s and 70s, 
with even cooler readings at mountain peaks and ridges, a reminder 
that fall is just around the corner. However, the monsoon is not 
over just yet, with daily chances for showers and storms persisting 
through at least Saturday. Rain chances today remain very low (<20%) 
for the Denver metro and east CO plains given the cooler 
temperatures and limited instability as we sit in a post-frontal 
airmass. The high terrain will have a better chance for showers and 
storms late this afternoon and evening, although coverage will be 
scattered to isolated in nature. 

At the upper levels, a closed low pressure system over northern 
California and slight ridging to our northwest will turn flow aloft 
south-southwesterly by tomorrow afternoon, which will increase 
monsoonal moisture advection. We expect shower coverage to increase 
tomorrow afternoon and evening, with widespread shower development 
over the mountains as precipitable water (PW) rises to values that 
are greater than the 90th percentile of climatology. Temperatures 
over the Denver metro will still have a chance to climb into the 
80s before cloud cover increases late in the afternoon. 

By Thursday morning, a disturbance tracks through Arizona and onto 
southern Colorado. As the previous AFD stated, the arrival of this 
disturbance will be key in the coverage and intensity of rainfall on 
Thursday. An arrival by early afternoon would coincide with peak 
instability and moisture, which would imply a better chance for 
widespread showers and storms over both mountains and east CO 
plains, including the Denver metro. With this scenario, the threat 
for localized heavy rainfall and flash flooding would also be 
higher. Looking at flash flooding parameters, moisture alone looks 
quite impressive, with PW values as high as 5 standard deviations 
above normal for the time of year. High-res model guidance also 
shows warm cloud layer depths as deep as 4,000-7,000 ft, and storm 
motions around 20KT. With these ingredients in mind, at least some 
localized flash flooding seems possible, although the spatial 
footprint of the heaviest precipitation remains unclear. 

For Friday, moisture remains about 100-150% of normal, and a weak 
upper level trough begins to track eastwards providing yet another 
push for showers and storms. Depending on the evolution of this 
trough and another shortwave to the south over the Four Corners, 
Saturday could also be an active day, particularly for the high 
terrain as moisture remains well above normal through Saturday 
evening. Temperatures will remain slightly below normal Thursday 
through Tuesday, with afternoon highs in the mid 70s for low 
elevations, and 50s-60s for the mountains. Long-range model
ensembles show a series of upper level troughs and disturbances 
tracking through the western United States, which introduces quite
a bit of uncertainty next week. 

&&

.AVIATION /00Z TAFS through 00Z Thursday/...
Issued at 541 PM MDT Tue Sep 15 2026

ACARS and forecast soundings continue to show a strongly capped 
airmass. Showers and thunderstorms have not survived moving off 
the higher terrain and the chance a shower survives  and reaches 
DEN and APA in the next few hours is very low. Southeasterly winds
will continue. A Denver cyclone southwest of Denver tracks north 
of DEN and APA. This causes southeast winds to shift to the 
southwest late this evening. Eventually, we expect a weak turn to 
the north or northwest around 09-10Z.  Cross sections show a good 
amount of mid and high cloud cover for tonight and Wednesday with 
ceilings expected to stay above 6000 feet. A storm system moving 
out of the Desert Southwest will bring scattered to numerous 
showers and thunderstorms to the Central Rockies Wednesday 
afternoon, but the best chance for showers and thunderstorms in 
the Denver area is expected after 00Z Thursday.

&&

.BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
None.

&&

$$

DISCUSSION...AA
AVIATION...BM