005 
FXUS65 KBOU 172352
AFDBOU

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Denver/Boulder CO
552 PM MDT Thu Sep 17 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Active weather pattern through Saturday. Locally heavy rainfall
  will be the greatest storm threat, although a couple severe
  storms possible Saturday. 

- Near or just above normal temperatures settling below normal for
  Sunday and Monday. 

- Trend toward drier weather by early next week.

&&

.DISCUSSION /Through Thursday/...
Issued at 138 PM MDT Thu Sep 17 2026

A very moist south-southwest flow aloft will continue through 
Friday between an upper level high over Texas and an upper level 
low to the northwest. Latest ACARS soundings show precipitable 
water values of 1.2 inches, about 220 percent of normal. The 
soundings also show a long skinny CAPE profile of about 500 J/kg, 
which favors heavy rainfall. Storms will move somewhat quickly, 
which will limit the heavy rain and flooding threat. Best chance 
for thunderstorms through this evening will be east of I-25 where 
it's been mostly sunny the past few hours and temperatures have 
climbed into the upper 70s to lower 80s. To the west of I-25, it's
been cloudy most of the day with on and off light rain. 
Temperatures have been slow to warm with 1:00 PM readings in the 
upper 60s to lower 70s. Light rain showers are expected to linger 
into the evening, with the radar showing additional showers lined 
up to the south-southwest.

The upper level low will slowly travel eastward across southern 
Idaho and Wyoming this weekend. Moisture decreases, but remains 
well above normal (140-180 percent of normal) through Sunday. Mid 
level temperatures will cool as the upper level low nears the 
region. MLCAPE reaches 600-1200 J/kg both days. Increasing 
westerly flow aloft around the upper level low will help produce 
good shear Saturday with 25-40 knots of bulk shear (0–6 km) and 
35-50 knots of bulk shear (0–6 km) Sunday.  High temperatures are 
expected to be mainly in the 70s with Sunday being a few degrees 
cooler, which could end up capping convection. The passage of a 
shortwave trough is expected to result in better 
shower/thunderstorm coverage on Saturday. Models hint at heavier 
rainfall over the northeast plains after 00Z Sunday.

On Monday, the upper level low will weaken as it exits the 
region. A new upper level low/trough moves over California and the
Great Basin. In the meantime, an upper level ridge will be 
centered over Texas. For Colorado, weak ridging is expected to 
prevail, resulting in dry conditions.

For Tuesday through Thursday, an upper-level ridge remains over
the south central and southeast part of the country, while
troughiness will be over the southwest. This pattern will allow
shortwave troughs to lift northward out of Mexico/the eastern
Pacific and move across the region. There isn't much agreement yet
on the location and timing of the shortwave troughs, but there
should be a day or two with at least scattered showers and
thunderstorms. Temperatures during this time frame will be near
normal with highs in the 70s across northeast Colorado.  

&&

.AVIATION /00Z TAFS through 00Z Saturday/...
Issued at 550 PM MDT Thu Sep 17 2026

Some scattered showers are still hanging around over the foothills 
and north of the Denver metro area. This late in the day, it's 
unlikely that any thunderstorms would develop in the vicinity of the 
TAF sites; however, those lingering showers could still produce some 
gusty outflows, as could some of the storms further north. As such, 
we've kept the PROB30 through 02Z for -SHRA and variable gusts. 
Winds will stay variable after showers move out of the area and then 
settle into drainage around 07Z.

We expect to see some more scattered storms/showers late tomorrow 
afternoon into tomorrow evening. Moisture should still be higher 
than normal, and models currently have a bit more instability over 
the area than we had today. While most convection tomorrow should
occur between 23Z-03Z, some models keep showers around as late as
06/07Z Saturday, so we've added in a PROB30 for showers at the 
end of the TAF period.

&&

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

&&

$$

DISCUSSION...BM
AVIATION...AGS