LIVE- Severe storms over the plains Thursday...

Indexé : 2026-05-22

[00:00:13][music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Mhm.

[00:02:09]>> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Another attorney commercial with big promises? Millions of dollars, practicing law 24 hours a day, blah, blah, blah. Let's get rid of the smoke and mirrors. None of that really matters. What does matter? Having a medical doctor as your attorney. That matters.

[00:03:19]>> [music] >> Hey there, crew. Good morning to you. It is Thursday. It is May 21st. You are on Peaks to Plains Weather, and I'm Chief Meteorologist Matt Meister. This is Mornings with Meister. We do it every Monday through Friday at 6:30, and we just go until we need to be done here.

[00:03:38]And I'll tell you what, we've got a busier day on the way today. Some of you firing up here early this morning. Tammy is saying good morning.

[00:03:48]Uh, it's got Southern Colorado on there, as well, and saying good morning. Love the rain.

[00:03:55]But would like to see the sun for a few hours today. We get spoiled in Colorado.

[00:03:59]I I know that. And Isaac's want some nice warm weather tomorrow evening.

[00:04:06]I don't know if I can do that. We'll see. I don't know what you have, but obviously heading into a holiday weekend where lots of people have big plans. So, let's get outside here early this morning and let's talk about what we've got out the door. It's going to be a different day than yesterday, that's for sure. On Wednesday, we hit 57 in the Springs and 58 up toward Pueblo. You see Salida only hit 50 as well. So, there were cool areas yesterday. Some spots got into the 70s. Trinidad hit 77. We get more areas warmer today than we've had the last couple of days, especially in and around Colorado Springs, up over Teller County, up over the Palmer Divide. And we had some rain around yesterday, couple thunderstorms embedded in there as well. The strongest storms were over Las Animas County and southern Otero County. You see those brighter greens there where a couple of spots may have had more than an inch of rain.

[00:04:59]There were some small hail with those cells as well as we moved through the early evening yesterday. There was a severe thunderstorm warning down there between about 7 and 7:30.

[00:05:09]Today is a different day because the storms that we do get today are going to be strong.

[00:05:15]Now, not so much up against the Front Range, but out across the Eastern Plains. And it's kind of focus on Eastern Colorado because as the storms move into Kansas later on, they are going to fall apart. And so, I'll show you that evolution here coming up in a little bit. That's kind of my biggest like focus for our time together today. Some of the mountain areas quite a bit cooler, especially along and west of the Continental Divide than this time yesterday, but across Eastern Colorado, especially the far Eastern Plains, we are warmer than yesterday. And some of that is because we have low-level moisture on the increase. In fact, you see from Pueblo off to the east this morning where we do have some low clouds, there's some areas of fog. We've got uh dew point temperatures around 50, really, really close to what our air temperature is and because the atmosphere is saturated, that's why we have some fog out there this morning and there might even be a little bit of drizzle or light shower activity here over the next couple of hours. I'll show you that in a second. Still cool up against the front range. Uh Colorado Springs at 42, we've got 39 in Walsenburg this morning and some of the mountain areas are running in the 20s.

[00:06:19]Big mountain valleys, Gunnison and Alamosa are running in the 20s, but it is a quieter day than it was yesterday. You can see the sun is out in Woodland Park. Yesterday morning, we were still looking at some snow around here and then you see uh midway between Colorado Springs and Pueblo, we do have some clouds overhead this morning and especially over the eastern plains. Like I said, we do have some low clouds and so a place like Eads will see some showers develop this morning. Then we get a little bit of a break, some sun comes out, we charge the atmosphere up for some thunderstorms here as we head into the afternoon and over the plains, it's those storms that will be strong.

[00:06:57]So, we're going to get to that here in a second, but first I want to tell you about an event that is upcoming in Colorado Springs and if you are a customer of Colorado Springs Utilities, I want to invite you to attend the State of the Utility.

[00:07:12]Uh you know, it affects all of us obviously with water issues that we've got across Colorado, um the cost of getting power into our homes and you know, a lot of us like complaining about things, but you have an opportunity to participate here. Not only hearing from the CEO about the challenges and the work underway to strengthen our future from an energy perspective, but there's an opportunity to see your investments in action, learn some things from experts as well. That is going to be on June 24th at 8:00 in the morning.

[00:07:44]Program begins at 8:30. It's at Colorado Springs City Hub, which is on Austin Bluffs Parkway just to the east of Academy. And you know, you have an opportunity to participate here. And uh I recommend that you do. I plan on being there to learn about what has been happening and what is on the way in the future.

[00:08:05]All right. We are going to investigate what is up with our storms today, right after this. We don't know what the weather is going to be like around here.

[00:08:13]I do get really anxious during storms.

[00:08:15]>> That's why they chose Hail Guard. When performance leads, confidence follows.

[00:08:19]Backed by the first and only asphalt [music] shingle system with a hail warranty. That just gives us more peace of mind. This is the only asphalt product on the market that has the manufacturer warranty [music] targeting the hail damage. It gives me a lot of confidence as a contractor. Engineered for enhanced impact performance. [music] Built to protect homes and reputations.

[00:08:37]Hail Guard shingles, built for hail.

[00:08:41]Okay. It's time to talk about this wave coming in from the northwest. And you can see that there are some showers, there's some snow up across Yellowstone early this morning around Jackson Hole as well. That's the system that's going to help bring us the severe thunderstorm chance today because there's some cool air in the mid levels of the atmosphere with it. A little jet streak with it as well. That's going to rotate off to the east here across northern Colorado. And that is going to increase our wind shear as well. So, it's kind of a classic eastern Colorado severe weather day.

[00:09:12]Were to be frank with you, some of the parameters that we look at, like if you were in another part of the country that that gets severe thunderstorms, they'd be laughing at these. But we've got the benefit of terrain and elevation on our side, and that's what makes things a little bit different. Like I said, we're going to be warmer today. We get more areas over the plains into the 70s and higher into the 70s than we had yesterday. And Colorado Springs will get close to 70, Denver will get into the upper 60s as well. So, especially from El Paso and Lincoln County northward, we'll notice a warm up compared to what we had yesterday. And mountain areas will get warmer as well as we end up in the 60s and 70s. These high temps will come in the middle part of the day before storms start to develop. There's a south breeze over the plains this morning that's bringing in that moisture laden air at the surface. That will continue today.

[00:10:03]So, watch what happens with the dew points here as we move through the morning. They don't really change. And when you 50s kind of a magical number for Eastern Colorado, when you get there, if you have other ingredients in place, we start thinking severe thunderstorms. And so, as we hit the afternoon, what we see here is the environment for thunderstorms is stronger or more significant out across the Eastern plains than it is across the Front Range. This is where we'll see the storms develop, but as they move into this area that has more water, more fuel for storms, that's where we'll see the thunderstorm strengthen here as we move into the afternoon. So, through the course of the morning with the moisture overhead in place, increasing from the surface, there'll be some showers around. Some areas of fog, some low clouds out here as well. We'll keep those around through about 10:00 and then we'll decrease that. Then we hit the early part of the afternoon and with more sunshine, we hit our high temps.

[00:10:59]And then here come the development of storms. And we'll use the terrain to do that. So, the Palmer Divide, the mountain areas, and down across the Raton Mesa. Things will get strong quick, but I think anything severe is east of the Front Range. The timing we're watching is the pretty typical stuff. Early afternoon into the middle part of the afternoon. And the first severe thunderstorm is probably going to be to the south of the Arkansas River.

[00:11:25]Kind of watching Otero County into Bent County here. And then another area that we'll see terrain always helps storms to spin a little bit more is up across the Palmer Divide here. And then as storms move east into the late part of the afternoon and early part of the evening, they'll start to line out a little bit, and that is what will start to reduce the severe weather threat because they'll become outflow dominant. They'll start to collapse as they move into western Kansas. There's a little window when those individual cells are the strongest they're going to be before they start to line out and collapse to maybe get a tornado in eastern Colorado. And I think that would be focused in a couple areas.

[00:12:09]More so away from the Arkansas River and onto the higher terrain that separates the Arkansas River Valley from the South Platte River Valley in northeastern Colorado. That shows the potential for thunderstorms to rotate, and it's those storms that we would watch for some hail between 1 and 2 inches in diameter and maybe an isolated tornado as we move through the I would say the window for that is something like 2:00 to 5:00, maybe 2:30 to 5:30. Give me a little bit of wiggle room in there before those storms start to line out cuz once they do so, the chance of having a storm rotate is just less.

[00:12:49]So, that's something that we're going to watch for here as we move through the day today. We will have live coverage.

[00:12:54]If you haven't downloaded the Peaks to Plains weather app yet, you should because that is going to help us give you a digital shoulder tap when things are coming your way to give you a heads-up about that. Mary and I work really hard at that, so we want to, you know, make sure you and your family are safe. So, go ahead and download the Peaks to Plains weather app and tell your friends about it. If you haven't yet, we would appreciate that as well as we work to keep our community safe. We have a a visitor early this morning.

[00:13:21]It's one of my faves. Let's see if he bailed out. Are you still there, Jim? I see a frozen face of Jim, so it looks like he took off, which is fine.

[00:13:30]You know, if he wants to pop back in, you can. You can always join the show by using our links that we've got for you, vmex.at, and then you have two options.

[00:13:39]zmsjk with the S and K being capitalized and 1rjsl1 with the J and S being capitalized. If you're over the Eastern Plains, put these into your phone today as a contact, and then you can join us on Peaks to Plains Weather. And if you are in a place where it's safe, but you're looking at what is probably going to be a beautiful supercell thunderstorm with beautiful structure that you'll see from a long ways away. You can help us with that. If you see a funnel cloud hanging out of it or something, you know, we would invite you to join and be a part of our coverage. That's what it's all about. All righty, let's bring him in early this morning. He's ready to roll here. Jim Martin is joining us. Jim, good morning to you, my friend. How are you out on the patio?

[00:14:25]Doing well. It's a little chilly out here. I like it.

[00:14:28]Well, that's why you you're bundled up.

[00:14:29]You've got the classic Colorado layers there.

[00:14:32]Exactly. So. Yeah. What is What's Jim Martin thinking this morning?

[00:14:37]Oh, I'm loving this gentle rain that comes over a long period of time, so.

[00:14:42]It's a lot better than 1 in 30 30 minutes, so. Right. That's That's runoff zone, right? How much have you had at Casa de Martin?

[00:14:51]Uh just under an inch, so.

[00:14:53]In my inappropriately placed water meters.

[00:14:57]If well, >> [laughter] >> I did do I did do a site survey of your yard and be like, this one this one's not going to be accurate. But you've got a couple of them, and you know, we're in the middle of a city. You've got to do what you've got to do.

[00:15:09]What plans do the Martins have for the holiday weekend? Cuz I know everybody's kind of getting excited about that.

[00:15:15]I think we're going to kind of lay low and just hang out with some good friends, so.

[00:15:20]Nice.

[00:15:20]>> Hopefully you'll be in that mix, so I don't know what you have. You have like graduation. You have Whitney's graduation on the agenda. Okay. Well, awesome. Well, we would love to see you at that party. Yeah, things are getting wild here over the next, I don't know, three or four days in the Meister house.

[00:15:36]We've got the baccalaureate tonight. My wife has been like the planner of that.

[00:15:40]I'm helping run sound and whatnot for that. And then graduation, Jim, is tomorrow morning outside at 8:00 a.m. Do you think that was a good idea by the planners that be at her school?

[00:15:53]I think it's a little early, but being a morning person, I don't mind it too much. I I've sat at many a graduation at 11:00 and noon when I'm taking off layers because I'm dripping in sweat.

[00:16:05]So. Right. Yeah, if you're going to do it outside, I'm not sure there's a a good time, really. Like a perfect time cuz they used to do it at like 6:00 in the evening and they were dodging thunderstorms. And with how their football field set up, like everybody's staring into the sun if you're like, "My eyes, I can't see the graduates."

[00:16:23]>> [laughter] >> You know, all of that. But I guess there's there's no winning when you're a planner. I know that. Um Jim, have you had your coffee yet early this morning?

[00:16:33]Having a little bit of Zero Dark Thirty right now. So.

[00:16:36]>> [sighs] >> Jim, that's what I'm having this morning.

[00:16:40]Look at that. Brothers from another mother.

[00:16:43]Absolutely. All right, my man. Well, thanks for checking in with us. I appreciate it. You are always welcome here as you know, Jim Martin. He makes my He's just one of my dear friends in life and I appreciate him so much making a little bit of time this morning.

[00:16:57]That's how easy it is. We just have a little conversation and get to enjoy each other a little bit. It is time to enjoy Smart Living in Southern Colorado with Kathy Skaggs. And when we come back, we'll start to work on our forecast for the next couple days.

[00:17:12]>> [music] >> Hi. I'm Kathy Skaggs with Diligent Homes and I'm a real estate advisor in the Pikes Peak region.

[00:17:22]Talk about it, but the wind [music] here can be just as hard as hail. It can be constant, changing [music] even the shape of mountains and over time that really adds up. As a homeowner, it can have a [music] definite effect over time, slowly wearing things down. Wind can impact roof shingles by lifting >> [music] >> or even loosening them over time and cause a fence to lean or even blow over.

[00:17:47][music] Dust and debris can wear on all the exterior surfaces. The wind can [music] also change how you use and enjoy your outdoor spaces. Some of the homeowners that [music] I work with have done a number of things to deal with their windy situations. One of them reinforced [music] their fencing and created wind resistant landscaping. A recent buyer reached out to one of my trusted landscapers [music] and they did two things. Created a wall on their northern side of the patio so that they could grill and relax without the wind making it so difficult. [music] They also planted some tall shrubs that acted as a windbreaker. These are the details I help my clients [music] think through so there are fewer surprises at closing. If you need help finding the right professionals to maintain or repair your home, I've [music] got trusted resources. And if you're thinking about buying or selling, I'll help you navigate all of this with confidence. Head to diligent.homes to find out more and reach out anytime [music] at cathy@diligent.homes and I'd be happy to connect you.

[00:18:53]Whatever your real estate needs [music] are, remember I'm here for you. Diligent brings you home.

[00:19:00]>> [music] >> Cathy has a real caring heart, that's what I love about her. Diligent.homes is her website and may I suggest that you check her out if you are looking to sell or buy your home and get a new lodging for your family in Colorado Springs. She is great. Time to check out our short-term forecast here and I'm going to start with the storms moving [music] into Kansas this evening because during the overnight behind the upper level wave that's driving our severe storms today, we get a cold front to come into the area. And as that happens overnight with the departing thunderstorms across Kansas and Oklahoma falling apart, we may get some showers up across the Palmer Divide as the front comes in overnight. And so you see Skycast is picking up on that chance here from about, oh, let's say Lyman, maybe out east of Denver around Bennett and then east out toward northeastern Colorado. More likely to see things there than we will in the southern part of the state, but I want to make you aware of that possibility as we head into early Friday. Kind of cool behind that front for the Palmer Divide and northeastern Colorado. Denver will be in the 30s, so will Lyman, Kiowa, Agate, Elizabeth, Elbert into Douglas County. The northern parts of the Pikes Peak region may end up in the 30s as well for Black Forest, for Palmer Lake and Monument. You get into Colorado Springs, chilly as well as we're in the low 40s. And there will be a little bit of a north breeze in the morning. Where the front is kind of moving through as the day starts will be a little bit warmer in the mid-40s to around 50 over southeastern Colorado.

[00:20:35]And I still think we're getting some of the mountain and valley areas to around freezing overnight. It should be a little bit warmer than what we've got out there this morning, but I think Alamosa, Gunnison, the big valley floors probably still down around freezing. So you see a little bit of a north breeze tomorrow morning as that front comes in.

[00:20:50]That'll swing around out of the east in the afternoon. Meanwhile, the southwest wind picks up over the mountain areas, over the San Luis Valley where it might get a little bit gusty. And those two currents of wind coming together is still going to keep a chance of some showers and thunderstorms around tomorrow. It'll be cooler over the plains. Quite a few of us that are in the mid-70s today will be in the upper 60s and low 70s, so we cool down a little bit. Colorado Springs, we only get into the low 60s with 50s up on the north end, and that'll be cooler than today as well. Mountain areas don't change too much. Alamosa, I think we get into the low 70s today, we're probably there tomorrow as well. And then in the Wet Mountain Valley, I think we're kind of hanging out in the mid-60s for our Friday. And so as we head into the afternoon, and we bring in a little bit from the mountains interacting with the cooler upslope over the plains, you can see that we'll develop some showers and some thunderstorms again.

[00:21:43]They will have the tendency to be moving sort of west-southwest to east-northeast tomorrow. And as some of those storms interact with the higher terrain of the Palmer Divide, they may strengthen a little bit as they move away from Colorado Springs. That's probably where the best chance of thunderstorms is on Friday. And as we move through the evening, we still keep the chance of a couple showers around.

[00:22:05]Whitney's graduation party is tomorrow night, so am I in the best graces of my wife with the weather forecast? I'm not.

[00:22:15]That's [snorts] how it goes. I mean, what can you do? Sometimes I have to be the bearer of bad news. We will see things slowly decrease as we head through Friday. And we'll watch for the chance of a thunderstorm in the mid to late evening across the Raton Mesa. So that's kind of where we are as we head into the start of the holiday weekend.

[00:22:33]And you know, I want you to be ready for that. Like I said, whether it's good or bad news, I've got to bring it to you.

[00:22:38]And so that is what it is. Let's check in with you guys this morning. Ben's checking in, he says the rain is great.

[00:22:44]I'm with you, man. I'm all about that.

[00:22:47]Vicky wants to know about the rain here in Sugar City. Hopefully we covered that with a chance of storms for you today. I think they'll be more likely north or south of you, Vicky, but I can't rule it out. Here's hoping that you get some.

[00:23:00]Brad says good morning. And Cass says that after the rain she had last night in Callahan, she's just got some dense fog on the Palmer Divide this morning.

[00:23:10]Yeah, we are pushing that moisture laden air up against the higher terrain on the southern slopes of the Palmer Divide and so it is a little bit of a grey start out there for some of us. That's going to change a little bit over the weekend.

[00:23:22]We'll talk extended forecast when we come back. You're watching Mornings with Meister on Peaks to Plains Weather. At Phil Long Ford Motor City, we've been around for 80 years. That's like 560 in dog years. Basically, we're the top dogs of Colorado. And thanks to our deals, selection, and service, we've earned some pretty loyal customers. And our GM, Mark, he's the most loyal guy I know.

[00:23:44]Even after I chewed up a shoe. It was delicious. Great trucks, amazing deals, and belly rubs for dogs. Come see why Colorado drives Phil Long Ford Motor City. Hey guys, where's my shoe? Oh.

[00:23:58]Emergencies are unpredictable, but you don't have to be unprepared. Peak Alerts sends you targeted emergency [music] alerts in real time for the places that matter to you most, so you know what's happening and what to do next. Know first, act fast. That's the power of Peak [music] Alerts. This is John May, general manager of Petrali Roofing up on another customer's roof doing a free 21-point inspection.

[00:24:18]>> [music] >> If you'd like us to take a look at your roof, give us a call today.

[00:24:21]719-375-8773.

[00:24:24]We'd be happy to take a look and see the condition of your roof.

[00:24:27]>> [music] >> Petrali Roofing, we're a diamond certified Tamko installer, which means we can offer a industry-leading [music] 25-year workmanship warranty to give you peace of mind in the storm. Call Petrali Roofing 719-375-8773.

[00:24:41]Schedule your free inspection today.

[00:24:44]>> [music] >> We don't know what the weather is going to be like around here. I do get really anxious during storms.

[00:24:50]>> That's why they chose Hail Guard. When performance leads, confidence follows.

[00:24:53]Backed by the first and only asphalt [music] shingle system with a hail warranty. That just gives us more peace of mind.

[00:24:59]>> This is the only asphalt product on the market that has the manufacturer warranty targeting [music] the hail damage. And it gives me a lot of confidence as a contractor.

[00:25:06]>> Engineered for enhanced impact performance. [music] Built to protect homes and reputations. Hail guard shingles, built for hail.

[00:25:18]All right, the extended forecast includes the holiday weekend here. So, it's kind of a nice timing that a developing ridge will decrease the activity a little bit here. Give us more sun, give us more dry hours, and warmer temps. And so, as we head into Saturday and Sunday, you see the black lines here. That represents what we call increasing heights within the column.

[00:25:41]So, this is the 500 millibar pressure surface that I show you. And the higher that pressure surface is in the atmosphere is a representation of the warmth of the air mass that's overhead.

[00:25:53]We We won't totally get rid of the chance of a shower or thunderstorm over the weekend. I think there'll just be fewer of them around than we've had for this week. Then, as we head into early next week, we start to see things change up a little bit because a system approaches the Pacific Northwest. And it will kind of dive into the Great Basin here and then lift off to the northeast next week. And so, as we start to transition to southerly or southwesterly flow out ahead of that, I think we get a better chance of a thunderstorm at least over the mountains on Monday. When I show you the extended forecast here, this is a global model, and so it's picking up on the large-scale pattern across the Northern Hemisphere in the United States and on the other side of the globe and how the big weather systems are going to move. And so, it loses some of the fine you know, sort of scale detail that matter in Eastern Colorado. So, a lot of times, what you see here on this extended outlook ends up being kind of overdone to your eyeball from what it's going to actually be like. So, I like to point that out to you here. On Tuesday though, as that system gets a little bit closer and we have the second day in a row of kind of an increase in some moisture with southerly flow. I think we get a better chance of some storms across the area, particularly over the mountains, which might be a day to have some good thunderstorm coverage. Of course, that does come with a double-edged sword. We don't want to see any fire starts with the lightning and we have dealt with that recently. And then as that system starts to lift off to the northeast, I think we'll dry the atmosphere out a little bit as we move particularly into Thursday of next week.

[00:27:25]So, here's what the extended forecast looks like and we'll start off with tomorrow since we did the detail on today. It's a cooler day in Colorado Springs with a north breeze in the morning then a couple showers around into the afternoon. Same kind of deal on Saturday. Thunderstorms possible both days. As we head into Sunday and Monday, we're a little bit warmer. We're a little bit drier. Not totally going to take the chance of a shower out, but that's really good timing for the holiday weekend and for Memorial Day.

[00:27:50]Then we'll see the activity pick back up a little bit for a couple of days before we dry out a little bit more.

[00:27:55]Temperatures in the 70s here through the bulk of the extended forecast, which is actually pretty seasonal and not a big surprise in any way. So, as we look at the forecast for Pueblo here over the weekend, it's kind of the same story. I think our chances of catching even a stray shower in the afternoon Saturday, Sunday, and Monday is less than Colorado Springs. So, that's good news. We'll see the activity pick up with that system on Tuesday. And then we're probably starting to get some of the drier air coming in on Wednesday where areas farther to the north may still have a thunderstorm. And of course, the mountains this time of year tend to always have at least the best chance of the daily type afternoon and evening thunderstorms, but the likelihood's decreasing a little bit for Sunday and Monday and then picks up with that system for the middle part of next week.

[00:28:42]So, that is something that we'll keep an eye on. I I a lot of you are in and out.

[00:28:46]So, before I get out of here today, I'm going to go over the severe weather threat for southern Colorado one more time because that is kind of the most immediate and highest impact thing that we have to deal with on the forecast.

[00:28:59]And so, our severe weather sponsor here who makes our coverage possible on Peaks to Plains Weather is bringing us this look at what we've got today into tomorrow.

[00:29:10]And so, that is Tamko Building [music] Products and they make our thunderstorm update possible. And of course, Tamko has Hail Guard shingles that are beyond Class 4. Let's jump into the forecast here as we move into the afternoon. It is going to be driven and kind of the increase in some of the severe weather parameters that we look at because of a wave off to our northwest. That wave's going to rotate across northern Colorado here as we head into today and it is going to combine with significant low-level moisture to bring us a pretty good coverage here of some thunderstorms that are going to be strong east of the interstate as we head into the afternoon. It'll be a warmer day ahead of that wave. In particular, in the Pikes Peak region, we'll notice that up across the Palmer Divide in Park County where we've been kind of cool the last few days. The farthest south we've been, you know, we were in the 70s yesterday down across the southern tier. Trinidad, we hit 77 yesterday. Think we'll be close to that today. But it's this southerly flow that gets a chance of some showers going this morning and has been bringing in higher dew point air, moisture-laden air into eastern Colorado. And we're going to keep that around into the middle part of the day. So, the dew points that are producing some fog this morning, some overcast, even couple areas of drizzle are going to stay pretty much unchanged here as we move into the early part of the afternoon. We'll keep things in the mid-40s to around 50 as a generality, higher the farther east you go across the plains of Colorado. And that's usually how it works out. You can see we'll still have some dew points above 50 here as we hit the early afternoon.

[00:30:44]And so, the thunderstorm strength, in fact, the area supporting thunderstorms and the ingredients in place together is just more significant over the plains than it is over the front range. Not that we don't have energy for thunderstorms up against the eastern slopes of the mountains and along the interstate. That's going to be the formation area for the storms. And then, as they move off to the east, we will see them strengthen. So, we'll watch for the development of storms here in the afternoon up against the higher terrain of the Palmer Divide, up against the eastern slopes of the mountains. And then, as we move through the afternoon, we'll watch for those storms to kind of move east into an environment that is more favorable for the strengthening and organization of storms hitting the afternoon. Now, with all of the moisture around through the first few hours of the day, we'll continue to have a kind of gray start, some drizzle, some showers, especially east of Highway 71.

[00:31:42]But then, we get some sun to come out here in the middle part of the day, and that gets clouds developing over the mountains and starts the process of forming severe thunderstorms. Now, you see that happening here in the early part of the afternoon. This is actually a new run of Sky Cast since I just did this a little bit earlier on, and it is getting a little less excited about storms right along the interstate. But, that they are going to form kind of in this area is where I'm going to watch for storms to develop and then move off to the east. So, this kind of kidney bean shape is where things will develop and then move east. But notice here at 3:00 in the afternoon that already we have the terrain, you know, you get away from the Arkansas River and you get the effects of the Palmer Divide and then the higher terrain of the Raton Mesa down here. Those always play a role, and they will today as well. And so, there's a window between about 2:30 and 5:00 where the storms are going to be strongest later on today. And then, as they start to get toward Kansas, notice how they start to kind of become linear, they line out.

[00:32:52]It's this window here in the early part of the afternoon when these cells are individual and discrete where we have the highest chance of severe weather happening. Some of these cells could produce some hail between 1 and 2 in in diameter, and there is a threat of a tornado today.

[00:33:12]It's not a huge tornado day, but as these storms are strong before they start lining out, the computer models are picking up on some rotating updrafts.

[00:33:23]And those are the storms that we would watch to maybe produce a wall cloud, a funnel cloud, or perhaps a tornado. And then, how you see the likelihood of that rotating storm kind of splits up into southwestern Kansas, that's because the storms are lining out. And when that happens, it means they're becoming outflow dominant, they're starting to weaken, and starting to collapse, and that should continue this evening as those storms move east across Kansas.

[00:33:48]So, that's kind of where we are. Hope says, "Thanks, Matt." Uh Hope, you are very welcome.

[00:33:53]David is actually watching us from Hill City, South Dakota, where he's had all kinds of fun weather over the last couple of days. Uh he says, "Hopefully, southern Colorado doesn't get too severe. Don't want to come home to a mess." Yeah, you know, that's one of the things that that I always think about, right? I mean, we need the water, we don't want the lightning, um the potential to start storms. Obviously, we don't want hail. Uh certainly don't want any tornadoes or anything like that. We don't want straight-line wind that can cause some issues. So, what we'll do for the rest of the day here at Peaks to Plains Weather is be ready to take care of you. And so, I'm going to spend a little bit of time here and walk you through what you can do on the Peaks to Plains weather app. So, if you are out and about on the go here a little bit later on today, um you know, what tools do you have at your exposure in the Peaks to Plains weather app? Well, let's look at that together. So, I'm going to show you my phone. Peaks to Plains weather app's on the homepage.

[00:34:51]And here's what you can do.

[00:34:54]And do this ahead of time. Take some time this morning. Go down to the weather map. I just clicked on that. And then in this little kind of hamburger menu in the bottom right-hand corner, there's like a little stack thing.

[00:35:06]You can go in there. You can change the maps. I always like kind of the darker map so that it helps me to see the data.

[00:35:13]But if I'm zoomed in on something, I like to have the the potential to use the satellite data to see, you know, like where when there's wildfires to see if there's homes and that kind of thing.

[00:35:24]And then at the bottom here, you can scroll through. You can go over to this little plus and you can look at the weather conditions that you want to see and the overlays that you want to have.

[00:35:36]So, on a day like today, I would want radar, so I would leave that. I would turn the storm tracks on cuz I want to see the motion of the storms. That also gives me information if I click on one of those tracks, gives me information about the storm that radar is seeing, the strength of it. You can also turn the lightning on. That's a good tool to have on. And then you can name it as a custom map and I'll just put Matt's saved. And so that the next time I leave the app and come back into it, that's saved for me there. Those parameters.

[00:36:12]And I've done this a couple of different times. I've got some examples of different things. Um I you can put the clouds and the radar on there and then in the bottom right-hand corner, you can use either the past or the future. So, if you have the future turned on like I do right here, I'm looking at model data going forward in time.

[00:36:32]And if I put the past on, I'm looking at over the last 3 hours, what the clouds and the radar in this instance have done.

[00:36:42]So, you have a bunch of tools there.

[00:36:44]We've tried really hard to make this a useful tool for you and your family. The other thing I want to point out to you today is in the top right-hand corner, up where there are three lines here, you can turn your location setting on. And I recommend doing that, because let's say you live in La Junta and you're driving to Lamar today.

[00:37:03]When you're in Lamar, you need to know about the immediacy of severe thunderstorms that are in your area. The follow me will do that. So, if a severe thunderstorm warning or a tornado warning is issued for where you are, we can take care of you that way if you have the follow me turned on. You can also use the tab up here to search other locations. So, maybe I'm going camping over the weekend in Creed.

[00:37:29]I can search Creed and yeah, Creed, Colorado is the one I want. Then it'll take my location to there and when that happens, then if I use the short-term forecast or the days ahead on the bottom, my forecast is for Creed. And so, that's really useful if again, maybe I'm heading to the mountains over the weekend. So, I'm going to put follow me back on because that's what I want. The other thing you can do up in the top right-hand corner with that menu is in the settings, you can turn on what type of alerts you do or don't want from Mary and I and also if you want the audio alerts that come with that. So, as an example here, the Peaks to Plains weather update that I have turned on, those are when Mary and I do a forecast video that we want you to know about, um you'll get in a push alert about that. You can also control the sounds on here at the bottom. So, I can turn the sound off for the Peaks to Plains weather update, like I have on mine. Normally, we do not send those with sound, but occasionally we will. And then I would suggest you keep the severe weather, the lightning, maybe you want to turn the precipitation one off. I'll turn that one off and show you how easy that is to do. But certainly, I would keep the sound on for the severe weather notifications. And then if you go to the weather notification types, you can turn on or off the ones that you do or don't want to get. So, for severe weather, you see severe thunderstorm warning, a watch, you know, a watch sometimes is issued. We'll probably get one of those today, which means there are conditions favorable for the development of severe thunderstorms ahead of the issuance of a warning. So, a watch is like heads-up, we expect something here in the next couple hours, and a warning is, "Hey, there's one happening now, and you should do something." So, I just like showing that to you, making that as useful as possible for you. And so hopefully that was helpful for you. I try to do that every now and then. I thought today was a good idea to do that. So, thanks for tuning in here to Peaks to Plains weather crew. Have a great day. We'll watch from 2:00 to 5:00 in the afternoon for some severe storms. A drier trend on the way for the weekend, especially Sunday into Monday. Have a good day.

[00:39:45]You've been watching Mornings with Meister on Peaks to Plains weather.

[00:39:55]>> [music] [music]