Colorado Weather: Near Record Heat This Week Will Raise Rivers And The Fire Danger

DENVER (CBS4) - Colorado's Front Range will experience high temperatures in the 70s and 80s each day this week. And as temperatures rise, so will the concern about fire danger and rising rivers in the mountains.

The week will kickoff with temperatures reaching close to 80 degrees in the Denver, Boulder and Fort Collins areas Monday afternoon. The last time Denver reached 80 degrees was last October.

The normal high temperature in Denver for the final few days in April is about 65 degrees. In addition, temperatures could approach records on Thursday. The current record for Denver is 90 degrees set in 1992. At this time, that record seems safe but the city should be close with upper 80s.

Overnight lows will also stay quite mild this week with temperatures only dipping into the 40s and 50s at lower elevations. And by the end of the week, even higher mountain areas will stay above freezing. This set off the annual "meltout" this week with a lot of melting snow. Some rivers including portions of the Colorado River and Arkansas River will be running high and fast by next weekend. Most river basins in the state still have above normal snowpack. The exception is the Upper Rio Grade in southern Colorado. But for most of the high country, there is more snow than normal that will melt in the coming weeks and months.

Fire danger is also concern this week with the combination of warm temperatures, virtually no chance for rain, low humidity and occasionally gusty winds. The primary concern is Friday. That is when Red Flag Warnings seem most likely because of stronger winds.