6:15 AM, Thursday, August 1, 2019
An area of high atmospheric moisture is moving across Colorado today. This will increase the amount of afternoon clouds and thunderstorms and keep the afternoon temperatures cooler than what we have seen lately. A few areas in the Front Range and eastern plains regions will probably see some heavy rain in the thunderstorms, so it is good to keep an eye out for localized flash flooding this afternoon and tonight.
The high moisture content of the atmosphere will decrease as we go into the weekend, so although the chance for thunderstorms will remain, the coverage of thunderstorms should decrease after today.
The Southwest monsoon
Moisture in the mid and upper levels today is connected with the tropical Pacific off the West Coast of Mexico. This pattern is relatively common in to mid to late summer and is referred to as the Southwest Monsoon or the Mexican Monsoon. Although it has been around intermittently for a couple weeks, today it is being combined with low level moisture from the Great Plains. That’s why we are in an somewhat enhanced risk that some thunderstorms may produce high rainfall rates.
