Somewhat cooler and unsettled weather makes an appearance in Kiowa County for the week.
Monday will start off with a high in the mid-70s and 20-25 mile-per-hour winds continuing to midnight. Gusts could reach 35 mph.
For the remainder of the work week, highs will be in the 60s, with overnight lows in the upper 30s to low 40s.
Strong to severe storms are possible over the far eastern portion of southeast Colorado Saturday, including most of Kiowa County.
Temperatures will rise to the low 80s for the day, accompanied by 15-20 mile-per-hour winds gusting to 35 mph in the afternoon. Showers and thunderstorms could form after 4:00 p.m. Overnight temperatures will fall to the mid-40s.
Sunday and Monday will see highs in the mid-70s and wind speeds falling to 10-15 mph.
While a significant portion of the state is still abnormally dry, last weekend's rain and snow brought welcome relief in drought conditions.
Following several days of wet weather and 3-4 inches of desperately-needed rain, an upper low pressure system continues to slowly make its way north to share precipitation with Kansas and Nebraska.
The week will gradually warm, starting with a high in the upper 40s Sunday in Kiowa County, increasing to the mid- to upper 50s through Tuesday, then steadily increasing to a high near 80 Saturday. Likewise, overnight lows start near freezing Sunday night and increase to the mid-40s by Friday night.
A number of tornadoes and funnel clouds were spotted Friday (April 15, 2016) across southeast Colorado.
According to the National Weather Service, two tornadoes occurred in Kiowa County south of Eads and caused no damage.
A Tornado Warning was issued at 1:51 p.m. The first tornado occured from approximately 2:09 to 2:13 p.m. The second tornado lasted from 2:23 to 2:36 p.m.
The photos below are of the tornado tracks and a tornado spotted just south of Eads in the early afternoon.
After a high in the low 70s Friday, much cooler temperatures along - with much-needed moisture - will dominate the weekend in Kiowa County and across the region.
Starting Friday afternoon, severe thunderstorm development is likely. Large hail, strong winds, and heavy rain can be expected between 1:00 p.m. and midnight. The greatest threat for severe weather is between 4:00 and 10:00 p.m. Tornadoes are possible.
Even with rain in parts of southeast Colorado Sunday night into Monday morning, drought conditions continued to expand, and worsened in Baca County according to data released April 14, 2016, by the National Drought Mitigation Center.
The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for Thursday (April 14, 2016) from 12:00 to 7:00 p.m. for most of eastern Colorado including Kiowa County to due high fire danger.
In addition to Kiowa County, all or most of the eastern counties are under the warning. Only Baca and Prowers counties are completely excluded.
Temperatures will be in the upper 70s to low 80s across the region, with south winds 15 to 30 miles per hour, gusting to 40 mph. Relative humidity is expected to drop as low as 12 percent.
While some uncertainty about details remain, confidence is growing that a storm system bringing much-needed moisture will impact a large portion of Colorado, including the eastern plains and Kiowa County, beginning Friday afternoon.
An upper low pressure system drops into northern Arizona Friday afternoon and begins slowly moving across northern New Mexico, bringing snow, rain and thunderstorms to the mountains and spreading to the eastern plains.
