Marine Weather and Tide Forecast for Cherry Creek, CO

DISCUSSION /Through Monday/
Issued at 1130 PM MDT Mon Apr 20 2026

The axis of an upper level ridge will be directly over Colorado on Tuesday which will lead to very mild temperatures. The I-25 corridor and eastern plains will have no trouble getting into the 80s with plenty of locations reaching the mid 80s. There will be mostly sunny skies with light winds and very dry humidity.

A shortwave trough will move from California to very far northwest Colorado by late Wednesday afternoon. Ahead of this trough, subsident, southwesterly flow will develop across our forecast area. This will lead to the warmest temperatures this week as highs across the I-25 corridor and eastern plains will be in the mid to upper 80s. There will be significant fire weather concerns due to very dry and breezy conditions and that are discussed further in the fire weather section below. Otherwise, a few late afternoon and evening snow showers are possible in the northern mountains with minimal accumulation expected. Across the very far northeast corner of the state, a dryline will either setup in Phillips and Sedgwick Counties or just east in Nebraska. SPC has those counties in a marginal risk of severe weather and if the dryline does setup in Phillips and Sedgwick Counties, a brief marginally severe storm could occur with strong winds and hail possible.

A cold front will move across our forecast area Wednesday night helping to cool temperatures and raise dew points slightly.
Thursday will see highs closer to normal with the mid to upper 60s across the plains. The challenge with Thursday's forecast will be to predict the strength and coverage of the mountain wave winds. A westerly push of wind behind the cold front with subsident flow will help develop these mountain wave winds. The initial thinking is that the strength of the inversion will be weak and the length of time of the west winds will be brief. This would result in a weak mountain wave where strong winds would not reach below 6,000 feet. However, there are a few ensemble members (10-20% of global ensembles) that have 60-70 mph winds at KBDU. So while the chance of strong winds reaching into lower elevations like Boulder and Golden is low, it is certainty possible. If this mountain wave pushes across lower elevations, a Red Flag Warning could be needed.

Friday through early next week, a longwave trough will be positioned over the western US. This will linger for a while due to an omega block in southeast Canada. During a typical year, such a long period of troughiness with multiple shortwave moving across Colorado would lead to a wet period for our forecast area and especially the northern mountains. So there is plenty of optimism for this upcoming pattern and PoPs are relatively high for the extended forecast. However, with such a significant drought ongoing, we all know this isn't a typical year. Humidity recovery leading up to low pressure systems coming across our area has been nothing short of terrible. So if we can overcome the lack of moisture, this period will have plenty of opportunities for healthy precipitation.

AVIATION /06Z TAFS through 06Z Wednesday/
Issued at 1129 PM MDT Mon Apr 20 2026

Drainage winds will conntinue overnight and then become light and variable by 16z. By 19z expect winds to have an ESE direction which will continue into early Tuesday evening. Winds will then become more SE by 02z. VFR conditions will continue thru the period.

FIRE WEATHER
Issued at 1130 PM MDT Mon Apr 20 2026

Southwest winds will bring in exceptionally dry air on Wednesday.
Dew points could reach the low single digits and with temperatures in the mid to upper 80s, relative humidity could fall to 4% across the I-25 corridor and eastern plains. Therefore, the fuels and the humidity will be at extremely critical levels.
Predicting the winds will be more difficult. During these southwest flow events, winds can be slow to develop and sometimes are weaker than expected for a while. Nonetheless, there is confidence that winds will gust between 35-45 mph which is why the Fire Weather Watch was upgraded to a Red Flag Warning. The northern foothills were added to the warning because that area will likely be the windiest spot.

There is a small chance (10-20%) a mountain wave will setup and produce strong winds in Boulder and Golden and nearby areas on Thursday. If this does setup, it would lead to critical fire weather conditions due to the strong winds and low humidity around 15%. However, the chance of strong winds is low enough that no highlights were issued at this time.

BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
Red Flag Warning from 10 AM Wednesday to midnight MDT Wednesday night for COZ214>216-238>251.