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In Brief:
The moisture flow has improved and afternoon storm chances are getting better. We won't see extreme heat for a while, but the air will get noticeably more sticky feeling. A short wave and associated weak front will move through the state Thursday leading to our best chance of measurable rainfall and thunderstorms out of the next week to 10 days.
Forecast Discussion:
The water vapor satellite image shows a dramatic improvement of moisture flow over Colorado from the tropics (see the discussion for Monday for the progression in images - Figure 1). This is because the upper-level high center has shifted almost to the Texas panhandle (Figure 2). I drew the troughs and ridges and height centers on Figure 2 back on Figure 1 so you can see the reflection of air flow patterns in the moisture image.
For today (Wednesday)- we'll see more cloud cover and a bit better chance of a storm than we saw Tuesday (Figure 3).
The Longer Range Forecast:
A trough will cut into the ridge and pass over Colorado Thursday (Figure 4) and will bring a wind shift, surface convergence and an enhanced chance of storms and wider-spread rainfall (Figure 3). Beyond that we hover in the upper 80's F and lower 90's F with daily thunderstorm chances.
